Wall Street deserves widespread praise for its outreach to former military personnel, said former Navy veteran and National Football League star Phil McConkey.
"Wall Street and the financial services community sometimes doesn't get the best press in the world, but this sector deserves applause for the way it has engaged the military and veterans community," Academy Securities president McConkey said Friday before the MetLife Military Veterans Network in midtown Manhattan.
Academy Securities is a registered broker-dealer and certified disabled veteran business enterprise. Its leadership consists of all military veterans.
Among other Wall Street firms with an emphasis on putting veterans on staff, Drexel Hamilton now employs 28 veterans who served in a branch of the United States Armed Forces after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, or 64% of the 44 veterans employed by the firm. Of those 28 veterans, 21 are recognized as service disabled veterans, having suffered combat-related injuries while serving our country.
"It's all about creating not only jobs but careers for these incredibly courageous people," said McConkey.
McConkey, a Buffalo, N.Y.., native, played football for four years at the U.S. Naval Academy before fulfilling his five-year service obligation as a naval Aviator and nuclear weapons transshipment pilot.
"We are trying to bring the best of the military culture to financial services," he said in an interview following his speech at Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. headquarters.
McConkey played six years in the NFL, notably as a kick returner and wide receiver for the New York Giants' 1986 championship team. In Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena, Calif., he caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Phil Simms the Giants' 39-20 victory over the Denver Broncos.
He also was a broadcaster covering the team for CBS Sports and Fox New York, and won two New York sports Emmy awards for his work on the local telecast "Giants Today."
McConkey sees veterans playing a more influential role in Washington. "The last election? Forget about which side. There are more military veterans being elected. To have more veterans in Congress and in the Senate makes me feel better."
Former US Naval Officer Chance Mims founded Academy in 2009. It works in public finance, investment banking, equity and debt capital markets and institutional agency trading, both equity and fixed income. It launched its public finance arm in January 2012.
Earlier this month, Academy completed a $2 million Series A financing and expanded its board. The firm is also a protégé to JPMorgan Chase & Co. under the U.S. Department of the Treasury's mentor-protege program.
