Glen Eagle Advisors, LLC - Spotlight Feature in Enterprising Women Magazine
Spotlight-Glen Eagle Advisors, LLC-EW Magazine Fall 2021.pdf
Susan Michel/Glen Eagle Advisors, LLC
From the kitchen table to changing the balance of leadership in the financial services industry
My firm, Glen Eagle, which is headquartered near Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the few 100% women-owned, full-service financial firms in the country. The company was founded in 2002 with the priority and mission to empower women and to change the balance of leadership in the financial services industry. Since that time, the Glen Eagle firm has steadily grown. The firm’s motto is “Faith, Family, Firm®, in that order.”
School teacher to financial advisor My first profession was as a school teacher. During this period of my career, I took a financial course taught by a male financial advisor. One Saturday, after the course ended, the financial advisor called my home. After we spoke for a few minutes, he asked to speak with my husband to discuss some investments “as the information was a little technical.” Needless to say, he did not get to speak to my husband, and this launched my career path in a new direction! When I entered the financial services industry in 1988, there were very few female financial advisors. My career began working as an independent financial advisor from my kitchen table while also raising four children. During my first 13 years as an advisor, I witnessed firsthand the challenges women face in the financial industry. In 2002, I read an article that mentioned that while there were almost 5,500 broker-dealers in the United States, less than 1 percent were women-owned and led. This article motivated my desire to help change this imbalance, and Glen Eagle was founded. We are proud that from the kitchen table to today, on a daily basis, the firm oversees more than $4 billion in client assets. As all business owners know, one of the greatest rewards is driving energy and creativity into our firms. For Glen Eagle, this has been achieved by creating alooola, a wealth platform, to empower Millennial and Next Generation clients. alooola provides access to education, life goal planning, and financial counseling. For a low-cost, fixed monthly subscription fee, alooola combines cutting-edge technology and expert human advisors to help individuals and young families achieve their long-term wealth growth. More than 50 percent of alooola clients are women. Glen Eagle is the home of America’s Women-Owned Trading Desk®, one of the few women-owned institutional trading platforms that serves some of the most powerful corporations, pension plans, and business owners globally. We work closely with institutions by providing high-touch client service, collaboration, and execution quality.
The Gift of Education Glen Eagle COO Carol Ann Fernandez and I host Women’s Wealth: The Middle Way®, a bi-weekly podcast aimed at helping women navigate questions about work, money, and family. Our podcast guests come from all walks of life, including business owners, sports figures, inventors, and educators. Each quarter, we host a podcast segment where we share advice on relevant topics that we are often asked about by our clients, including retirement planning, succession planning, financial literacy, and business owner tips. We recently kicked off the Glen Eagle Spread Your Wings Diversity Program, which is designed to provide opportunities to women from all backgrounds. Centered around education, this initiative provides a platform for growth and development in the financial services industry while giving women a chance to pursue their dreams. As a women business owner, I often remind myself that the greatest gift I can leave behind is helping younger women succeed and achieve their dreams.
SUSAN MICHEL is the founder and CEO of Glen Eagle, an award-winning financial services firm based in Kingston, NJ. Offering retirement planning to business owners and wealth management, Glen Eagle takes an educational, holistic approach to meeting its clients’ long-term goals. Susan is a member of the Enterprising Women Advisory Board and a past recipient of the Enterprising Women of the Year Award. She was recently named an Enterprising Women “Top 20 in 2020” Award Winner. Connect and learn more at www.gleneagleadv.com.