As the 2016 presidential race heats up, former Clinton White House aide, Andrei Cherny, thinks the candidates should offer new solutions to help the American middle class.
“A lot of the old solutions just aren't actually yielding results,” Cherny said regarding the issues many average Americans face.
As the CEO of investment firm Aspiration, Cherny is looking to bridge the gap between Wall Street and Main Street. “Opportunities just haven't been available to every day investors,” he said.
To encourage more Americans to participate in the markets, the company has a ‘pay what you want’ model for its online investment platform. “People don't trust the financial industry and in order to build that trust...we find the first thing to do is to trust them,” said Cherny.
The system has been profitable for the firm, with consumers “living up to that trust and really responding in an amazing way,” affirms the CEO.
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With studies continuing to show America’s income inequality widening, Aspiration believes it’s serving the often ignored, under-invested middle class. “There are so many people out there who are just sitting on money in cash and in their savings account or checking account, don't really know what to do with it,” said Cherny.
Millennials are the majority of Aspiration’s clientele and the requirements they have for a money manager is very different from their parents’ generation. “They're looking for not only good investment products but they're looking for a company they can really believe in, one has a sense of mission and purpose,” he said.
Clarification: A previous version of this headline read: 'Fmr. Clinton aide: None of the candidates have solutions for middle class.' The headline now reads: 'Fmr. Clinton aide: Middle class problems need new solutions'
A previous version of the article said, "Cherny maintains that none of the real issues of average Americans have been addressed yet." The article now reads: "'A lot of the old solutions just aren't actually yielding results,' Cherny said regarding the issues many average Americans face."
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