Beatrice Advisors introduces services to cater to the investment needs of diverse millennial and Gen Z investors.

• Christina Lewis founded Beatrice Advisors with the goal of revolutionizing the way the wealthy and inheritors manage their fortunes.
• Since many young inheritors will be new to managing wealth amid the "great wealth transfer," the firm prioritizes education and accessibility.
• Lewis stated that the organization aims to welcome a more diverse group of wealth-holders in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender, while taking a holistic approach to managing a family's assets.

At 13 years old, Christina Lewis attended her initial asset allocation session with her wealth manager.

"The meeting was turbulent for my family, but [the advisor] was the only one who had the information I needed and knew how to talk to me about this new world I was in," Lewis said.

The sudden death of her father, Reginald Lewis, the founder of TLC Beatrice International and the first African American to build a business with $1 billion in revenue, left Christina with a large fortune and few answers.

Over the next 30 years, Lewis will work with six different institutional wealth managers and 12 different relationship managers. Her experience and success in forming her own family office and running two foundations have led her to her new venture: a multifamily office aimed at the next generation, targeting people like herself.

"Empowering families through inclusive thinking, diverse perspectives, and education leads to a healthier, wealthier, happier, and more functional family," she stated.

Beatrice Advisors, founded by Lewis, aims to revolutionize the way wealthy and inheritors manage their fortunes. With an estimated $84 trillion set to be passed down in the next 30 years, according to Cerulli Associates, Beatrice intends to lead the charge in managing the wealth of the younger generation.

Beatrice Advisors aims to prioritize education and accessibility for new wealth inheritors, while also welcoming a more diverse group of wealth-holders in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. The firm will adopt a holistic approach to managing family assets, taking into account not only financial considerations but also values, skills, and life paths.

To cater to the tech-savvy younger generations, the advisory firm has spent years developing a cutting-edge dashboard that offers a real-time, comprehensive view of their portfolio and assets.

"The clients drive the car, while we build the dashboard and provide advice," she stated.

Beatrice, like other multifamily offices, offers a personalized and confidential approach to managing the finances and logistics of a single family, while also sharing costs and resources with an investment firm.

Multifamily offices typically handle more than just investments; they also manage taxes, trusts, family governance, philanthropy, and legal issues. Due to their expertise in family wealth dynamics and governance, an increasing number of ultra-wealthy families are turning to multifamily offices for generational wealth transitions.

Reginald Lewis, the founder of TLC Beatrice Foods, began his own personal investing education at the age of 7 by teaching his daughter, Christina, how to manage his stock portfolio.

She stated that she would read the stock tables in the newspaper in the morning, followed by calling to obtain the evening's close after market closure. Additionally, she had a notebook where she kept track of all her data.

Following her father's passing, she collaborated with her first wealth manager to construct a portfolio of aggressive stocks. Among her selections were and Limited, as they aligned with her knowledge-based investment strategy.

Over the years, her wealth advisors frequently changed, with firms being acquired and relationship managers coming and going year after year. She found it challenging to find an asset manager who truly understood her, rather than viewing her as simply an extension of another organization.

Eventually, Beatrice established her own family office, BFO21, and recruited her own team. Although she will remain separate from BF021, there will be some overlap in team members and the two offices will exchange best practices, investments, and expertise.

Beatrice's president and chief investment officer, Meredith Bowen, a former partner at Seven Bridges Advisors, stated that the advisory firm will prioritize tax efficiency and custom tax structures.

Bowen stated that the aim is to develop a tailored investment infrastructure for each taxpayer.

Beatrice will focus on clients with net worth between $25 million and $300 million, with Bowen stating that larger families will greatly benefit from their services.

As a philanthropist, Lewis founded All Star Code, a nonprofit that teaches young men of color coding skills. She also co-founded Giving Gap, a database of vetted Black-founded nonprofits, and serves as vice chair of the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation.

By making wealth advice more accessible to a diverse and younger audience, Lewis aims to assist more families like her own.

I wanted alignment with the values and style of clients when searching for firms," she stated. "I believe Beatrice will be diverse and inclusive from the start.