PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL: The PBJ Money Issue: Women-led investment firms hint at newfound sector diversity
This article was originally posted in Portland Business Journal on July 9, 2021. Here’s an excerpt below featuring our fearless leader, Georgia Lee Hussey. Read the full article here.
Business is booming for Georgia Lee Hussey.
Hussey is founder and CEO of Portland-based Modernist Financial, a wealth management firm known for its progressive values.
The firm's net assets under management have grown as much in the past six months as the previous three years.
Hussey is one of a handful of women who launched financial services firms in the past few years, a sign that Portland's wealth management industry is diversifying as clients seek more investing options. Existing firms also are increasing efforts to hire and promote more women and people of color. The developments come as interest accelerates in ESG investing, which takes into account factors like the environment, social impact and corporate governance.
"People are waking up to the fact that who manages their money and who makes the profit from their money is important," Hussey said. "There's a deep desire to align financial choices with what people believe in."
Modernist Financial launched in July 2015. Six industry veterans, including co-founder Katrina Bell, launched Zuna, a one-stop shop for professional services, in January 2020. In May, financial veterans Amanda Harvey and Anika Hedstrom launched Uplevel Wealth. They joined a list of established local female-led firms that includes Portland's McGee Wealth Management (recently acquired by a Denver firm) and Confluence Wealth Management (also recently acquired), Vancouver's Johnson Bixby and Lake Oswego's Serene Point Advisers.
Hussey said the diversity is welcome, but it also reflects the lack of opportunity for women at existing firms.
"Why are all these women leaving big firms to start their own firms? Why aren't they welcome? What does that mean for those who remain at their previous businesses, especially women of color and feminist men? What does that mean if people are keeping their money where smart, ambitious, visionary women don't feel like there's space to lead?"