ADVISER PROFILE
By Susan Edmunds
Helping people understand money
isn’t scary
Marie Quinn, honoured for her community service, empowers people to be confident about their finances. Auckland financial adviser Marie Quinn says she’ll be satisfied if the legacy she leaves the industry is having helped people to truly understand their money. Quinn has worked as an adviser for the past 25 years, operating a boutique financial advice practice, Marie Quinn Financial Services, from Remuera. She focuses on estate planning, investment advice and financial planning. Before she was an adviser, Quinn had a career in politics. She served two terms on the Auckland City Council between 1980 and 1986, stood for the mayoralty twice
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and earlier contested a parliamentary seat. She moved into finance just as the sharemarket crash was starting to hit. Initially, she considered becoming a sharebroker but when the crash happened “everything went to custard”. “I remember sitting in front of so many people going bankrupt because they couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage. It was a terrible time.” Things improved through the 1990s and Quinn went out on her own, building a client base from nothing. She held seminars at auctioneers Webbs and gradually became established. She says it was easier then than it would be attempting a similar move now. Most clients are professional couples, although she has a couple of young people coming through the Air Force. Most people have the same concerns
and fears about their finances, she says. “I’ve worked hard at helping people understand money … a lot of people are frightened by money but all they need is organisation. Money is only a commodity.” She said once people had the right structures in place, they could stop being bothered by it. “When the markets go up, down, up, down, all over the place, clients never ring me and get panicky because I’ve educated them. They’re all happy to be going on nicely in the medium or long-term, taking out what they need in their retirement and having the rest in a balanced investment. That puts their mind at ease, really.” Some of Quinn’s clients have been with her for decades. Many met her in middle age and some are now into retirement. “You get people with a lot of money and
