Maura offers a new approach to financial advice and investment management.
Maura Griffin founded Blue Spark Capital Advisors, a boutique wealth management firm, to provide holistic and objective financial guidance for women, men, and their families. Through a more comprehensive, accessible approach to finance, Maura and her team at Blue Spark provide a more personal touch. More than anything else, Maura and her team are interested in those in transition, such as people in or approaching retirement, divorcees, new entrepreneurs, and widows. Maura founded Blue Spark so that she could provide an better option – a fiduciary option – for putting the client first, educating them, and helping them make smart money choices.
Maura Griffin
Although she’s worked in the finance industry for the past 20 years, Maura Griffin’s career couldn’t have started in a more different place; she graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Literature, and worked in journalism after graduation. In the 1990s, Maura’s work took her to Prague, where she worked as a reporter. In Prague, she helped found Globe Bookstore & Coffeehouse, the first English-language bookstore and bar in Prague. Two decades after it was founded, the Globe remains a recognizable and respected institution in Prague. Maura fell in love with the city and chose to remain there for several years, developing lifelong friendships. After returning to New York, Maura worked in equity research, writing and editing analyst reports, which was her first real exposure to the finance industry. She worked at various companies in the finance industry, such as JP Morgan, UBS, Citigroup and the Capital Group.
Maura later returned to business school to solidify her knowledge of finance, and got her MBA from Columbia Business School in 2010. She knew that she wanted to found her own investment management company, and now she had both the experience and education to do it. She earned the CFP designation on top of that. In 2011, she began the journey and founded a Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm. She named her firm Blue Spark Capital Advisors because the “blue spark” signified energy, a catalyst to start on the road to financial freedom, as well as an enduring flame, she says. The name is memorable, energetic and just a little irreverent. The firm embodies the positivity that comes from starting something new with a bright long-term view.
Maura asks her clients about the “why” – what are their goals and reasons for having and spending money. “What is important to you about money,” she asks her clients, to dig deep into their true goals. She recognizes that financial decisions have a strong emotional component, and tries to help separate the emotions from the math, to help her clients make smart and informed choices. Maura prides herself in knowing her clients as people, who she understands and cares about, as opposed to names and numbers.