Wall Street warriors: Brokerage firm helps veterans achieve financial freedom
NEW YORK (PIX11) – They’re the warriors of Wall Street: military veterans achieving financial freedom after being discharged from service.
“We create that pathway for them,” said Cal Quinn, a combat veteran who co-founded Bancroft Capital.
Bancroft Capital is a brokerage firm that, in part, leverages veterans’ battle-tested skills on the trading floor.
“They bring a commitment to excellence from their military service and reapply it to careers in institutional finance,” Quinn said.
Quinn is constantly recruiting his next apprentice, which is how he met Ryan D’Alesandro at Penn Station.
“I walked off the train to Citi HQ. I heard, ‘You boys going to Citi Group?’ I looked up and saw my [future] CEO, who’s roughly 9 feet tall,” D’Alesandro joked.
D’Alesandro had just been discharged from the Army after a paratrooper training accident left him with a traumatic brain injury. When college didn’t work out, he struggled to chart his next move.
“I suffered what a lot of veterans do — being on an ocean on a raft without a paddle,” he explained. “Luckily, I found my way to Bancroft."
For the past two years, the former soldier has been in a rigorous but rewarding training program.
The firm pairs finance veterans, like Danny Morales, with military veteran mentees.
“I never saw myself in finance, let alone next to another veteran,” Morales said.
But they get each other — and the hardships they’ve endured to get here. These shared experiences make Bancroft’s business model work.
In September alone, Bancroft’s 40 employees managed nearly $10 billion in transactions, according to the company.
“What is the earning potential for a veteran? As much as they’re willing to commit themselves to hard work,” Quinn said.
Quinn believes this built-in laser focus makes for successful bankers, traders, and analysts at larger firms.
“We’ve placed veterans all throughout Wall Street, in banks, in corporate America,” he said.
For D’Alesandro, who literally hit rock bottom, now the sky is the limit.