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Our Mission

AmeriVet’s mission as a purpose-driven company is to provide first class capital markets and financial services across multiple lines of business, while producing meaningful opportunities and results within the veteran community.

Our History

1994
Elton Johnson, Jr., an officer in the U.S. Army, starts AmeriVet Securities and registers the firm with FINRA and the SEC in the Diversity & Inclusion space.
2001
Mr. Johnson is called up to active duty after the 9/11 attacks.
2004-2011
Mr. Johnson deploys with the U.S. Army, twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan; he continues to operate AmeriVet Securities remotely while serving overseas.
2013
Mr. Johnson retires as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army after 37 years of service.
2017
South Street Securities invests in AmeriVet Securities, creating a client-focused, full-service institutional broker-dealer.
2020
AmeriVet Securities continues to grow as an SDVOB and MBE, with 40 employees across multiple locations.
2021
Mercedes Elias is appointed as Co-CEO, becoming the first and currently the only woman veteran to lead the SDVOB broker-dealers on Wall Street.
2024
Steven Kay, a U.S. Marine Corps and combat veteran, is named Co-CEO of AmeriVet Securities.
Elton Johnson, Jr

Meet our Founder

Elton Johnson, Jr., has served in the financial services industry since 1977 and has operated AmeriVet Securities since the company became a member of FINRA in 1994.

Mr. Johnson is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, serving for two years before transferring to the U.S. Army Special Forces Green Berets.

In 1985, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and served two tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan after 9/11. Mr. Johnson retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2013.

Mr. Johnson formed a partnership with South Street Securities in 2017, launching AmeriVet’s growth from one employee to more than 40 by 2021.

Our Partners

South Street Securities Holdings, Inc.

In 2018, South Street Securities Holdings (South Street) made a capital commitment in AmeriVet Securities (AmeriVet) to create a client focused, full-service institutional broker-dealer and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) for the institutional market. South Street also provides operational support to AmeriVet (e.g., compliance, information technology, accounting).

South Street Securities Holdings, Inc., operates through its wholly owned subsidiaries. Affiliates include South Street Securities LLC, a FINRA and SIPC member, who holds a FICC Tier 1 membership and is focused on repo dealer financing US Treasuries, Agency MBS, TBA mortgage origination hedging and equity finance. Matrix Applications, LLC, a technology and back-office services company, AmeriVet Securities, Inc., a FINRA and SIPC member who operates an SEC registered service-disabled veteran broker dealer, GX2 Systems LLC, a fintech software development company that engineers electronic trading solutions for the fixed income and futures markets, and GX2 Spread Markets LLC, a FINRA, SIPC and NFA boutique broker dealer offering a fully hosted aggregation and spread execution platform as a service for US Treasuries and Futures.

BNY Mellon | Pershing

Pershing, LLC

A subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, Pershing provides clearing and settlement services to AmeriVet.