The true value of a mentor isn’t merely the ability to call out a person’s name and point to a relationship that extends beyond a casual tie.
It’s the opportunity to absorb and learn lessons—said and unsaid—that help build a framework for future success.
Our Co-Founder, Rodney B. Herenton, has adhered to that thinking through much of his life, drawing from successful family members and highly respected Wall Street financiers alike.
Rodney B. Herenton
Founder, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Business Development & Strategy Officer
“I’ve had good mentors and I’ve been blessed,” he said. “I may not always be the smartest guy in the room. I listen and try to learn from other people’s mistakes. I also don’t have to be the first mover. I think there are benefits to being the second or third mover because you can pivot while learning from others.”
One of Rodney’s biggest lessons occurred early in his career when he returned to his hometown of Memphis to join then-regional investment banking firm Morgan Keegan after a few years of bouncing between New York and Chicago’s investment communities.
“That’s when I learned that owning your own business was ultimately the best way to go in finance,” Rodney said. “I watched as Allen Morgan, the founder, sold the firm to Regions Bank and walked away with quite a bit of money. As co-head of Morgan Keegan’s consumer products group at the time, I’d worked on a lot of IPOs for smaller, privately held family owned businesses, which gave me additional insight into unlocking wealth creation through private companies going public.”
Recently, Rodney reflected on his numerous mentors, Channing’s journey, and more.
20 Years and Counting at Channing
We just celebrated the firm’s 20th anniversary and have truly lived the business life cycle. During the start-up phase, it’s very loose and highly entrepreneurial. It’s all about hustle, grit, and survival as you try to pay your bills and fund the company. Then, you start growing, attracting better talent, and putting infrastructure in place until one day you recognize, wow! This is working.
The motivation to continue that progression takes you to the next level and allows you to clear the hurdles in investment management. First, half a billion dollars. Then, $1 billion. Then, you want to double that and get to $2 billion.
Great performance, great client service, great compliance, great leadership, and great staff and culture. That’s what we've been able to do. It's all come together nicely. We've had some roadblocks along the way—events we can't control like the Global Financial Crisis and Covid. But we got through them and we adjusted. Today, we're at roughly $4.2 billion AUM.
The Benefits of a Great Partnership
When I started thinking about starting my own firm, I realized investment management would be a better fit for my DNA. I was already acquainted with Eric McKissak, who came out of Ariel Investments, and he introduced me to Wendell Mackey, who was at Valenzuela Partners. My due diligence on Wendell couldn’t have been easier, as he’d attended Howard University in DC, I had attended Morehouse in Atlanta—two HBCU colleges. I called a friend who’d been in a fraternity with Wendell and when I asked about him, he said “a gentleman, ethical, and smart. Do it.”
God was good—he put me in the right place at the right time to meet the right people. Today, Wendell and I are like brothers. We run the firm and are locked and loaded on our vision with a full understanding of the direction of the business. He handles all the investments as our chief investment officer and I do all the business development, product, strategy, and distribution. It's a great partnership.
Hometown Influence
The person with the greatest influence on my career path was probably Paul Tudor Jones, the renowned hedge fund investor who happens to be from Memphis. I was introduced to him when I was interning at Merrill Lynch between my first and second year of Harvard Business School. That's really when my vision of wanting to excel in finance and start my own business began to form.
I met Paul at a dinner for the Robin Hood Foundation, which he founded and became the largest non-profit that addresses poverty in New York. When he launched the Foundation, it wasn't viewed as a political or PR move—he was doing it out of character, spirit, and his heart.
Carrying it Forward
Like Paul Tudor Jones, our firm’s DNA includes giving back and inclusion. We’ve been proud to be involved with St. Jude Dream Chicago, an annual fundraising event for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In 2023, we were the lead sponsor for the event, which raised $2 million for cancer patient care and research, including sickle cell, which is a deadly disease facing Black and Brown communities.
Danny Thomas, an entertainer, started St. Jude in Memphis in the early 1960s and integrated it with black doctors and pharmacists. That was ingrained in me personally, so it was a logical extension from me to Channing.
Love and Lessons From Father
From a personal perspective, the most inspiring person in my life, hands down, would be my father, Dr. Willie Wilbert Herenton. As a leader. As a motivator. As an example of strength and courage. He was raised by his grandmother and mom in inner city Memphis. He was a boxer, winning five Golden Gloves titles as a featherweight. He rose from boxing to attend LeMoyne College, a historically Black college in Memphis where he lettered in basketball.
My father chose a career in education, rising from teacher to principal to deputy superintendent before being appointed the first black superintendent of the Memphis City School System. He did that for about 14 years and then made a run for mayor in 1991. He became the first Black elected mayor of Memphis.
He taught me not to let your environment control you or dictate your future. He was a Horatio Alger Award recipient (in 1988), and he's had many other national and local awards. He turned 84 in April, and I love him to death.
A Grandfather Who Blazed Trails
I developed an interest in business while working at my grandfather's grocery store every summer from about the age of 11 to 14. My grandfather raised five children, bought land from two grocery stores, and became a millionaire back in the 1940s and 50s, when that was unheard of in Memphis.
He was a pillar in the community and he sent all his kids to college. Being on his farm, working with him, and learning business at an early age definitely motivated me, eventually leading me to Morehouse and a career in business finance.
An Affinity for MLK
Martin Luther King, Jr., attended Morehouse College and was, unfortunately, slain in Memphis. One of my favorite quotes of his is:
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”
We launched Channing with $70 million on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday in 2004.
A Vision of Diversity
The majority of our client base currently consists of public pension funds—state and state plans and cities and municipalities. Those plans are faced with generating outsized returns to cover the payouts they owe beneficiaries ever year. That’s their fiduciary duty and we know they put us in a sleeve to generate outsized returns.
Beyond that, if you think about a municipality, it’s made up of a diverse community. And so, what these pension funds are trying to do now is to make sure their portfolio manager base looks like the communities they serve. It’s not a secret that diversity and inclusion have always been hot topics. There are naysayers and there are proponents. And there's a movement now to reverse a lot of DEI initiatives, so we're fighting that every day. We know there's a place for providing a fiduciary role, but there's equally a place for inclusion, because every municipality should reflect the community it serves.
Your fire department is diverse. Your police department is diverse. Your health care system’s diverse. So why not your portfolio manager line up? Logic and common sense tell you that diversity is good.
But you have to perform. No one's asking for a gift or a handout. We are here to provide an investment management service at a top level. Ultimately, DEI is important to our clients and equally important us. That’s why we work on:
- Being the best steward of capital and investments.
- Bringing other great strategies to market.
Fresh Opportunities Away from the Office
I haven’t had time for a hobby during the past 20 years of building Channing. My wife and I raised three sons who all played competitive sports. From YMCA leagues through college, it’s been nonstop. So, my hobby has been my family and traveling around to tournaments. Now that they’re all college age or older, though, I need to pick up a hobby.
An Adventure in the Purest Sense of the Word
Launching and growing Channing has been my greatest adventure. I’d never done this, and it’s a once-in-a- lifetime thing for me. To start a business from scratch from a $70 million launch through some historically challenging periods like the Global Financial Crisis and the pandemic. Wow!
And we're still here, brick by brick, building something special, changing lives, creating wealth, and sharing wealth in our communities. This is the greatest adventure I could hope for. A true professional venture, and my family has traveled with me—I haven’t been alone.
Want to learn more about the opportunistic strategies that offer value and growth to our investors? In an interview with Rodney, he explains our history and the partnerships we've developed.
