Fredrick D Scott has launched Fredrick D Scott LLC (FDS), a venture capital and private equity firm that will principally invest in and acquire minority-focused financial and banking institutions.
Scott (pictured) was formerly the head of ACI Capital Group. Founded in August 2009 and registered as an investment adviser with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, ACI was a privately held investment banking and advisory firm that managed USD3.7bn in assets.
"My goal is to redefine and advocate for economic sustainability and wealth creation in our community," says Scott. "The minority banking industry, more specifically the African American owned banking segment, is fragmented and under tremendous pressure from larger and more robustly capitalised mainstream competitors who have embraced the growing diversity of the marketplace. I believe that, in addition to capital, I can contribute fresh energy and new strategies that would improve the competitive posture of African-American owned banking and financial services businesses, as well as advance the mission of multi-generational economic strength and wealth creation in our community."
The number of African-American owned banks across the US has dwindled. In 1994, 54 such banks were identified by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). At the end of 2012, there were just 28, leaving huge swaths of the African-American community without advocates and access to these traditionally "mission-based" institutions. Most had close ties to the local churches, families and businesses, had historically served as a boon to black businesses, and offered African-Americans resources they had been previously denied.
