New foundation offers startup grant to aspiring women advisers

A new grant to help women launch their own advisory firm is offered by a foundation honoring an adviser who died young

Lucy Shair only operated her financial advisory firm for a few months, dying at age 43 before she could fulfill her career vision.

Her professional legacy is to enable others to fulfill theirs.

The new Lucy Shair Foundation for Women in Finance was created by her friends and family to award one $5,000 grant annually to help a new woman financial adviser launch her own firm. Oct. 15 is the deadline to apply for the first grant.

Shair, a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan, founded her firm in 2018, after seemingly recovering from a bout with cancer. But just as her practice was gaining momentum, the cancer came back. She died on Jan. 6, 2021.

The grant is intended to offset the costs of launching a practice, such as fees, licensure, training and building an initial clientele. To be considered, applicants need only be on their way to becoming an adviser; they do not have to have already earned their licenses or have opened their practice.

Women continue to be underrepresented in the financial advisory and investment sphere, comprising about 34% of industry employees and about 16% of brokers and advisers.

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