Connect 2019: Aadil & Syed Featured as New York Advisors Discover Underserved Niche in Immigrant Community

When it comes to understanding the challenges of their clients, advisors Aadil Zaman and Syed Nishat, co-founders of Wall Street Alliance Group, can truly relate.

Although they come from different cultural backgrounds, the two share a very important commonality with many of their clients. They are all first-generation immigrants.

In some ways, Zaman’s personal story mirrors that of several of their immigrant clientele. Born in Pakistan, he came to the U.S. 19 years ago to pursue his MBA, fell in love with America and decided he wanted to stay. Unfortunately, he faced an additional obstacle in finding a job. Zaman graduated with his MBA on the heels of 9/11.

“To stay in the U.S., I needed a work visa. But few companies were willing to provide one,” he said. Zaman decided his best bet was to move to New York City. Along with a group of friends, he moved to Harlem to begin his job search.

Finding a job was far from easy.

“I ran out of money and actually worked at Benetton for a year,” he said. Then, he caught a break.

“I finally found a broker-dealer willing to sponsor my work visa,” Zaman said. “My main responsibility was to build a clientele.” Nishat joined the firm at the same time, and they instantly connected. “Within a few months, we became their top account openers,” he said.

The two approached first-generation immigrants because they had cultural affinity with them, Nishat said. “Being first-generation, we could cater to them in a way an American-born advisor couldn’t.”

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