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Investment Advisor & Personal Finance Expert
Lee Jenkins has always maintained a high level of performance, starting as the “Most Likely to Succeed” in his training class and becoming one of the nation’s most trusted financial advisors, according to On Wall Street magazine. He is currently a Managing Partner with Atlanta Capital Group, ranked as one of the top 33 independent investment advisory firms in the U.S. by Registered Rep magazine.
Lee’s investment career began in the 1980’s as one of 150 students in a stockbroker training class at the World Trade Center where his intellect, integrity, insight, and tenacity earned him the title “Most Likely To Succeed.” Lee’s fellow Wall Street trainees weren’t the only ones impressed with his potential; after graduating, a Wall Street firm made him the youngest African-American stockbroker ever hired by the company’s Atlanta office.
As an investment advisor, Lee flourished, rising to the position of Vice President of Investments at two major firms; Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Raymond James & Associates. Lee’s success is also evident by his induction into the prestigious President’s Club - first at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and later at Raymond James & Associates. In 1998 Lee received the Circle of Life Award at Raymond James for applying his financial expertise to impact his community.
At the turn of the century, Lee broke new ground by founding Jenkins Wealth Advisors, LLC. As the guiding force behind this independent advisory firm, Lee provided advice and managed investments for multi-millionaires, business executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities, religious leaders and educational institutions. Nine years later, in 2009, his firm merged with Atlanta Capital Group, combining client assets of more than $500 million.
Author, Columnist, Radio & TV Commentator
Best-selling author Lee Jenkins is the “go to” man, for TV networks like CNN, when an articulate, reliable, and insightful financial advisor is needed to address current issues. He reached over 10 million viewers as a guest panelist on the 2009 CNN Prime Time Special In God We Trust: Faith & Money in America and has been a guest commentator on CNN’s popular financial show Your Bottom Line with host Gerri Willis, and on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox network affiliate programs.
Before appearing on TV and radio, Lee was introduced to households across the country as the author of Taking Care of Business: Establishing a Financial Legacy for the African American Family, published in 2001 by Moody Publishing/Lift Every Voice. Within a year Taking Care of Business was recommended reading at the Harvard Divinity School’s Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) and on the Black Expressions Book Club list.
The warm reception of his first book encouraged Lee to continue making his message accessible and palatable for everyone, even those who lack a history of financial literacy. Blessed with a three-book deal , Lee has written two additional user-friendly books: What to Do When Your Money is Funny: Real Solutions to Financial Challenges (2007), and Lee Jenkins on Money (2009), which in 2010 made Black Christian Book Review’s best selling book list (based on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and BlackCBC.com ratings).
As Lee’s reputation for providing sensible financial advice began to spread, magazines and websites like Money, Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive, Black Enterprise Report, and the Atlanta Business Journal clamored for his opinions and commentary. After being courted by several media outlets, Lee agreed to pen a bi-monthly financial advice column for Gospel Today magazine.
Lee’s current venture The Legacy Project: God, Money & The Black Experience, is a financial curriculum and documentary that teaches money management from a biblical perspective. It is due out in the fall of 2010.
Speaker & Seminar Leader
Lee Jenkins does not fit the dry, boring stereotype many people have of a financial advisor. His personable, witty, and sincere demeanor helps him deliver engaging and informative seminars and sermons that have enriched the lives of more than a half-million people.
Once a small group leader, trainer, and seminar leader for Crown Financial Ministries, Lee has grown to develop his own series of financial lessons that are requested by corporations, churches, and schools around the country. Lee’s eye-opening seminars, sermons, and workshops have been attended by crowds up to 65,000 people.
Promise Keepers Men’s Conferences and Maximum Man Men’s Conferences have used Lee as a plenary speaker on numerous occasions. In the corporate, educational, and sports world, companies like Ernst & Young, Chick-Fil-A, University of Virginia, Duke University, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Atlanta Hawks have all benefited from Lee’s power-packed presentations.
Lee’s money management topics cover financial responsibility, financial freedom, faith and finances, wealth building, and legacy building.
Ordained Christian Minister
Lee Jenkins was raised in a Christian home and has always found comfort in God’s counsel. In 1991 Lee answered the call to become an ordained minister and now serves as an Elder and Minister-At-Large for Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the fastest growing non-denominational churches in America. Lee’s calling to advance the Kingdom of God focuses on financial stewardship, marriage and family, and business.
In 2008 Gospel Today magazine featured Lee as one of ten "New Kingdom Voices", citing his empowering sermons, seminars, books, and articles that teach people to handle money from a biblical perspective. Since founding Lee Jenkins Financial Ministries in 2000 Lee has helped tens of thousands of Christians strengthen their faith, empower their family, and increase their finances.
Business Consultant & Financial Coach
Lee’s business consulting clients include mostly high-net worth individuals, as well as small, medium, and large corporations. He currently advises many of these clients on issues of finance, diversity, philanthropy, and community outreach.
In the early days of Lee’s career, clients like Grammy Award-winning gospel artists, Kirk Franklin and The Winans hired him as a Business Manager, because of his excellent organizational, time management, planning, and interpersonal skills.
Lee has taken a special interest in the non-secular realm, working to help large and small churches with capital campaigns, financial stewardship initiatives, real estate acquisitions, church relocations, and leadership training. Through his consulting firm Lee Jenkins Financial Group and the programs he offers like Generosity U, Legacy Builders Financial Institute, and Generosity Partners, Lee works directly with pastors and church leaders to devise stewardship, business, and giving strategies that meet their needs.
Although his responsibilities continue to expand, Lee has found ways to share his message of financial freedom with everyday people. Lee’s Wealth Trainer program is an online, interactive financial coaching service that allows him to serve hundreds more people each year.
Former Standout Athlete & high school Football Coach
When meeting Lee Jenkins it’s not hard to imagine him as a young college athlete who was drafted in 1983 by the National Football League’s New York Giants and the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals as a defensive back.
Lee, often seen wearing the orange and white colors of his alma mater, the University of Tennessee Volunteers, was a subject of Once A Vol, Always A Vol: Proud Men of the Volunteer Nation, published in 2007. The book, which includes a Foreword by NFL MVP Peyton Manning, features Lee and 24 other former players who achieved enormous success on the field and after graduation.
The former Volunteer is now a volunteer coach offering advice, support, and mentoring to football players at a suburban Atlanta high school. Lee has been credited with helping student athletes earn Division-1 football scholarships, including his eldest son Martin, a football player at Clemson University.