Top 100 Financial Advisers; Olivia Maragna, Aspire Retire

Olivia Maragna is not afraid to talk about money as she considers part of her role as a financial adviser is to demystify the sector.

Olivia Maragna says she understands most of the options theoretically and practically from a financial life well lived, and aims to “practise what she preaches”. Picture: Britta Campion

Olivia Maragna is not afraid to talk about money.

The co-founder of Aspire Retire says being a financial adviser transverses myriad life decisions for clients – choosing assets, building wealth, forging or ending relationships, planning succession, dividing estates – and many of those issues can be uncomfortable.

“Most people don’t like talking about money or the issues that money sometimes creates,” she says. “Money can create a lot of worries. It might be that I come from a country background, but having the hard conversations with clients about complicated family dynamics, succession or complex estate planning issues and even death is something that comes easy to me.”

Maragna started her career working as a Big Four accountant specialising in tax, and quickly realised many people were failing to optimise their wealth due to inadequate planning or structuring.

So, 20 years ago this year, she and her now-husband Stephen Degiovanni established their Brisbane-based but nationally-focused business, Aspire Retire.

Their background as tax specialists is a critical factor in their financial advisory – as well as Maragna’s plain-speaking explanations – given the significant impact taxation can have.

“[The tax background] is one of the main reasons why people come to see us,” she says. “Every financial decision related to wealth entails tax consequences – you can make good returns on your investments but if you are structured all wrong, you will give it away in taxes. Devising a smart wealth strategy can make a huge difference long term.”

She says most clients are time-poor individuals with significant assets who are highly skilled at their business or their profession, but not necessarily financial experts. “Money doesn’t make you money-literate,” she says.

Olivia Maragna

In devising a plan for clients, she says purpose and oversight are key – people must be aware of what they are investing in and continue to be in charge of decision-making. Likewise, the strategy for the funds must be clear – is it to spend, to retire with, or to leave for future generations? These factors will determine the portfolio.

“We always say clients must have transparency over what they invest in, and they must have control over it,” she says. “That sounds really straightforward, but what it means is, you should be able to see what you invest in, and you should own and control what you invest in.”

She says many of the investment decisions are made on a long-term approach, possibly on a decades-long timescale, instead of months or years.

Maragna says she understands most of the options theoretically and practically from a financial life well lived, and aims to “practise what she preaches”. This spans operating a longstanding business, creating a trust or other structures, dealing with property and land taxes, superannuation strategies and self-managed super funds.

This is part of her mantra to her team of 18: Put yourself in the shoes of clients.

Maranga also considers part of her role as financial adviser is to demystify the sector, and help raise the financial education of the broader population. She takes part in regular radio interviews and is often called as a spokesperson for finance and superannuation.

Being a woman in a male-dominated field is also a point of difference, and an attraction for many of her clients. She points to the research that women are commonly the decision-makers in a family, and their ability to manage budgets and organise the finances can be superior.

But her favourite parts of the job are in the satisfaction from the impact of an effective financial plan.

“Few professions offer the opportunity to truly accompany a client on their journey and witness the achievements that you have helped them with,” she says. “We’re in a privileged industry, where we can actually see the difference we make.”

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This feature appears in The Deal/Barron’s Top 100 Financial Advisers 2023 magazine, online and in The Australian.