Investment firm moves to Houston to help the Latino community with financial planning

A Mexico based investment firm moved it's U.S. headquarters from New York to Houston, with the aim of helping the Latino community with financial planning.

Banorte Securities International is the international investment arm of Grupo Financiero Banorte, the largest financial institution in Mexico.  BSI has had a branch in The Woodlands and is now also serving customers from its new headquarters on Westheimer in the Galleria.

SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTERS!

A 2018 UnidosUS report found that only 31% of Latino workers participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans compared to 48% for all other workers.

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation finds this is often due to a lack of access or financial education.

RELATED: SULLIVAN'S SMART SENSE

"Because we're a newer population to this country, we've been later to the game as far as retirement planning, understanding the tools and systems available to us to do retirement planning," explained financial planner Paul Roldan, speaking on behalf of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation.

Banorte-Ixe Securities International wants to change that by reaching beyond its high-net-worth clients.

"But also to what we call the mass affluent.  They don't have to be super-rich.  They just have to be successful professionals," said BSI CEO Xavier Ibarrola.

BSI says its brokerage services offer investment options including mutual funds, equities, and fixed income products with a globally diversified investment strategy to meet the client's goals.

"For those buys and sells, there's no commission there's no charge because it's asset management.  The way we charge is based on the total balance in the account.  And it goes from 75 basis points, or three-quarters of a point, all the way to 1.85%," said Ibarolla.

Ibarrola says BSI will also offer monthly financial education programs.

"We will be holding financial education seminars for the general public.  If they want to come and learn about financial education, we are going to be holding them once a month in the afternoon after the markets close," Ibarrola said.