BlackRock’s new program helps NBA draft picks secure their financial future, build generational wealth – Yahoo News
The iShares Future Baller$ program is working with five players expected to go in the first round, including Purdue’s Jaden Ivey.
A global investment management firm has announced a program to help five projected NBA draft picks learn more about securing their financial future and building generational wealth.
BlackRock, the global asset manager and technology company, launched the iShares Future Baller$ program with five players projected to go in the first round of the NBA draft next Thursday, June 23 — Jalen Duren (Memphis), Jaden Ivey (Purdue), Jaden Hardy (NBA G League Ignite), E.J. Liddell (Ohio State) and Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona).
This March photo shows Jaden Ivey of the Purdue Boilermakers in the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
As the largest exchange-traded funds (EFTs) provider, iShares gives investors access to asset classes like stocks, bonds, and more.
“To be able to have players invest and empower them on how they want to invest is rewarding for them in so many different ways,” Lauren Simmons, a groundbreaking stock trader, told theGrio. “That’s the conversation that we want to continue to keep having around financial literacy [and] investing.”
Simmons was the youngest-ever female and just the second Black female stock trader in New York Stock Exchange history.
Lauren Simmons (Submitted photo)
“We are excited to launch the iShares Future Baller$ program, which reflects our purpose to help more and more people experience financial well-being,” Armando Senra, head of Americas ETF and Index Business at BlackRock, said in a press release. “Through this program, the players are demonstrating a commitment to playing the financial long game and taking steps to inspire all investors to take control of their financial futures.”
NBA first-round draft picks sign four-year contracts, with the first two fully guaranteed. The 2021-2022 season contracts were worth a maximum of anywhere from about $10.2 million for the last pick in the first round (No. 30) to about $45.6 million for the first overall pick.
That’s a lot of income for college athletes not used to having that kind of spending power. Getting the money is one thing. Keeping it is another. CNBC reported an estimated 60% of NBA players go broke within five years of leaving the league.
The soft-spoken, reserved Ivey is as determined to secure his future as he is to burst toward the basket.
“I’m not going to play basketball forever,” Ivey told theGrio. “Every athlete knows you’ve got to invest your money …….
Source: https://news.yahoo.com/blackrock-program-helps-nba-draft-134500965.html