About

Our Story

We were founded in 2009 by former US Naval Officer Chance Mims, as our nation’s first post-9/11 military veteran and disabled veteran-owned and operated investment bank and broker-dealer. The firm’s history coincides with the contraction of the financial services industry in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the winding down of the post-9/11 conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The majority of our firm’s leadership served in the military. We understand a mindset driven by service, duty, loyalty, and teamwork.

Military personnel thrive under pressure, succeed based on preparedness, and perform at their best when they assemble and collaborate as a team to achieve a common goal. We are delivering that philosophy to our clients as we serve them.

Academy Securities’ vision is to bring the time-honored qualities of the military culture to the financial services sector and, in doing so, create a firm composed of the best Wall Street veterans working alongside the best Military veterans. Our tight-knit corporate culture promotes a mission-driven, open-minded, team approach and equips us to deliver value as we meet our client’s needs.

Veteran and Minority-Owned Status

Academy Securities is a FINRA registered US Broker-Dealer, California-certified Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) and verified Federal Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) as well as a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE).

Doing business with a veteran-owned investment bank like Academy helps municipal debt issuers, investment management firms, public, corporate, multi-employer pension funds, and other public and private entities fulfill their Veteran, DVBE, SDVOSB and MBE goals and mandates.

The Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) Program was originally established in 1989 under Military and Veterans Code Section 999, and Executive Order D-37-01, and is administered within the Department of General Services. State and Federal agencies are to award at least 3% of annual contracting dollars to DVBE/SDVOSB firms directly or indirectly.

For a firm to be eligible for DVBE status, it must be at least 51% owned by one or more disabled veterans, and the daily business operations must be managed and controlled by one or more disabled veterans. A disabled veteran is a veteran of the US military service with an honorable discharge and a service-connected disability of at least 10% or more from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Our firm’s goal is to achieve a minimum of 50% military veterans employed throughout our organization. Today, Academy Securities is proud that 47% of our employees are military veterans, and we are dedicated to consistently increasing that ratio. As of 2022, over 63% of our firm’s equity is owned by military veterans.