Episode 194: Marah Curtin: Transforming Financial Advice and Planning through a Femolution

Marah Curtin describes herself as a “catalyst on a mission to promote the empowerment of women and the next generation, financially or otherwise”.  Based in Dublin, Ireland, but originally from the US, she is a Director of Client Engagement at Davy, and has had a long career in financial planning.  She can be found on Instagram under @femolutionist, where she writes about money, careers and life from a female point of view.   She is also the founder of Cents for Kids.

Our conversation starts with her upbringing which was deeply entrenched in the world of small business and entrepreneurship, including a Christmas Tree farm.  We trace her path into financial advice and some of the "breaks" that came to her through sheer perseverance. The world of financial advice was far from equitable - both for advisers and their female clients at the time and we trace how that has evolved over time - with some improvements in evidence but not necessarily enough.

We speak about this from a client standpoint as well as from a female adviser's. We look at the incentive structures that are often in place - or not - and how they may not necessarily be the most female-friendly, then we examine how female clients are treated and why getting this part right will be key to the industry seeing sustainable, equitable growth.

We then move to Marah's other interests - her Instagram handle and her passion for financial literacy, education, career development and knowledge. This is a refreshing discussion that is rich with ideas for motivating the next generation of learners and investors.

Series 3 of the 2023 Fiftyfaces Podcast is supported by Eagle Point Credit Management. Eagle Point Credit Management is a specialist investment manager principally focused on income-oriented credit investments in niche and inefficient markets. Founded by Thomas Majewski in partnership with Stone Point Capital in 2012, Eagle Point currently manages over $7.8 billion in AUM. Investment strategies pursued by the firm include collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), portfolio debt securities, and other opportunities across the credit universe.  Currently, we believe that Eagle Point is the largest investor in CLO equity in the world and one of the largest non-bank lenders focused on providing financing solutions to credit funds. Learn more about Eagle Point at http://eaglepointcredit.com/