What Should LGBTQ Business Owners Look For in a Financial Advisor?
Stoy Hall, CFP, is the founder of Black Mammoth and the Modern Family Office. Inside the Modern Family Office is Black-led and built to stay in the Black.
Black Mammoth, Inc. is a Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein.
The playing field isn't level. Your advisor should know that, and be built to do something about it.
Let me be straight with you, in every sense. Most financial advice is written for a straight, married couple with a W-2 and a picket fence. If that's not your life, you've probably felt the friction, advice that doesn't quite fit, forms that don't have a box for your family, an advisor who's "totally fine with it" but has clearly never planned for it.
You don't need an advisor who's fine with you. You need one who's fluent in you. Here's how to tell the difference.
The playing field isn't level, and the data proves it
This isn't a feelings conversation. It's a numbers one. There are roughly 1.4 million LGBTQ-owned businesses in the U.S., according to figures cited by the U.S. Senate, and they don't get treated the same at the bank. Research from the Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research and the Movement Advancement Project found 46% of LGBTQ-owned businesses received none of the financing they applied for, compared with 35% of non-LGBTQ-owned businesses.
The income side tilts too. The Human Rights Campaign reports LGBTQ+ workers earn about 90 cents for every dollar the typical worker makes, and that number drops further for LGBTQ people of color. So you may be building your business with less access to capital and a smaller wage base underneath it. That's not a reason for despair. It's a reason to be sharper, more intentional, and better advised than the person who never faced the headwind.
Your business and your family plan are tangled together
For any business owner, the company and the household are the same bloodstream. For LGBTQ owners, that connection runs through terrain a generic advisor often doesn't know how to read.
Start with family-building. IVF, surrogacy, and adoption can add tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes six figures, and it's money that has to be planned for years ahead, not scrambled for in the moment. Then there's estate planning, where the gaps get expensive. Married couples get an unlimited marital deduction for assets passing to a spouse. Unmarried partners and chosen family don't inherit automatically at all. Without the right wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, and healthcare directives, your assets may not go where you intend, and the people you love most can be left with no legal standing. In a shifting legal and political climate, keeping those documents current isn't paranoia. It's basic protection.
What to actually look for
So here's your checklist. Four things, non-negotiable.
A fiduciary. This is a legal standard, not a vibe. A fiduciary is required to put your interests first. Anyone not held to it can legally sell you what pays them best. Ask, in writing, "Are you a fiduciary 100% of the time?"
Transparent, flat fees. Fee transparency is the whole ballgame. If you can't get a straight answer on how someone's paid, that is the answer. A flat fee means they win when you win, not when they sell you a product or gather more of your assets.
One team, not silos. Your CPA, your advisor, and your estate attorney should be working from the same plan. When your business strategy, tax planning, and estate documents are coordinated by people who actually talk to each other, that's a family-office model, and it's exactly where LGBTQ owners lose or save the most money.
Real cultural fluency. Not a rainbow logo every June. Ask them to walk you through how they've handled unmarried-couple estate planning, or family-building costs, or a name and gender-marker change on account titling. Fluent advisors have answers. Tourists have brochures.
The counterpoint worth knowing
Let me push back on my own community for a second. Your advisor does not have to be LGBTQ. Identity is not competence. I've seen committed allies who do the deep, unglamorous work of understanding your situation run circles around a same-identity advisor who coasts on the shared label.
The flip side is just as true: "LGBTQ-friendly" marketing means nothing on its own. Friendly is not fluent. The bar isn't whether someone accepts you, it's whether they can actually plan for the life you're living. Judge the work, not the logo, in either direction.
Your move: put them to the test
1. Ask the fiduciary question first. "Are you a fiduciary 100% of the time, and how are you paid?" The answer, and how comfortably they give it, tells you most of what you need.
2. Bring a real scenario. Ask how they'd handle your actual situation, unmarried partner, chosen family, a planned surrogacy. Listen for specifics versus vague reassurance.
3. Get your documents on the table. Whether you hire anyone or not, make sure you have a current will, the right trusts, healthcare directives, and beneficiary designations that match your intent. This is the highest-leverage protection you can put in place.
4. Check the coordination. Ask whether they'll work directly with your CPA and attorney. If everyone stays in their own silo, you're the one paying for the gaps.
An advisor who sees all of you
You've built something in a system that wasn't designed with you in mind. You deserve a financial partner who sees that clearly, and plans for it on purpose, instead of handing you advice built for someone else's life. That's the whole reason Black Mammoth exists: Black-led, built to stay in the Black, and built for the women, minority, and LGBTQ business owners the traditional industry has always treated as an afterthought. Your business, your family, your legacy, seen fully and planned for honestly. That's not a niche. That's just good work, finally done right.
Before you go: how organized is your financial life, actually?
Ten questions, two minutes, no email needed to see your result. Most business owners score lower than they'd guess. Find your number:
Receipts:
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR) & Movement Advancement Project: 46% of LGBTQ-owned businesses received none of the financing they applied for, vs 35% of non-LGBTQ-owned businesses, via LGBTQ Nation — https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/12/congress-considers-bill-to-protect-lgbtq-owned-businesses-from-lending-discrimination/
U.S. Senate (Padilla/Gillibrand): ~1.4 million LGBTQ-owned businesses; CFPB clarified ECOA prohibits lending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (per Bostock v. Clayton County) — https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-gillibrand-introduce-bicameral-bill-to-support-lgbtq-businesses-and-protect-against-lending-discrimination/
Human Rights Campaign: LGBTQ+ workers earn ~90 cents per dollar earned by the typical worker (lower for LGBTQ people of color), via Ellevest — https://www.ellevest.com/magazine/personal-finance/financial-planning-conversations-for-lgbtqia-couples
Bank of America Private Bank / Merrill: estate-planning considerations for LGBTQ+ couples, including the marital deduction gap for unmarried partners and the role of trusts and directives — https://www.ml.com/articles/lgbtq-estate-planning-considerations.html