This month, we sat down with Colin Kelly, Managing Director of Equities, to discuss his transition to the Curi Capital team following the KDI acquisition, the evolution of his career, and where he finds joy outside of work.
At Curi Capital, it’s our mission to help clients build true wealth, however they define it. Our team brings the knowledge, experience, and passion to help clients meet their goals through a wide range of financial services and solutions—and we’d love for you to meet them.
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE WITH CURI CAPITAL AND WHAT YOUR EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN LIKE SO FAR?
My role with Curi Capital is centralized on creating equity portfolios for our clients. We run two different products, and I’m in charge of stock selection and ensuring that the portfolio meets the right risk profiles. A large part of this is making sure that we try to get the best return possible for those risk profiles for our clients.
There has been very little change in my role with Curi Capital from my role with KDI following the acquisition at the end of 2021. It was a seamless transition and a really nice fit as each firm filled needs for each other to continue serving our clients.
WHAT LED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?
I sort of stumbled into this industry on accident. I began my education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in geography but graduated with a double major in geography and economics as I realized my interest in econ.
During a junior and senior year internship, I worked 25 hours a week with a team that does exactly what I’m doing now, building internal portfolios for an RIA. I found the work very interesting and was lucky enough to stick with it.
WHAT DID YOU DO IN YOUR CAREER BEFORE JOINING CURI CAPITAL?
I started with KDI in 2012 as a Senior Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager. Prior to that, I worked with Square 1 Bank as an Associate of Structured Finance where I was an underwriter for debt funding for startup tech companies.
I also spent three years with a hedge fund called Schonfeld, as a Proprietary Equities Trader, where I managed a discretionary portfolio of long/short equities utilizing various short-term trading strategies.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FIRM?
I’m excited about the opportunity with Curi Capital to bring what we did well for years at KDI to a larger client audience. Being able to take something that we’ve worked tirelessly on for a long time and provide access to more people is the goal for me.
WHAT SETS CURI CAPITAL APART FROM OTHER FIRMS?
Curi Capital has a unique service culture that doesn’t exist in other RIAs. The typical RIA is compensated solely by the size of their book, creating a sales culture. Our leadership team has setup a culture that is the opposite of that by emphasizing taking care of our clients first and letting sales follow. It’s not about the size of your book at Curi Capital—it’s about being a strong teammate and ensuring that our existing clients are being served well and letting the business grow on its own.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES FROM YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE?
In 2019, John Day and the partners at KDI invited me to run a new product myself. Previously, I co-managed the portfolio with John. For him to have the confidence in me to put his own money up and believe in me to do my own thing was a big milestone.
It was extremely gratifying that the people around me, who knew my work best, had faith in my abilities—and thankfully, I’ve been able to generate strong performance for them to reward their belief in me.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES FROM YOUR PERSONAL LIFE?
Getting married to my amazing wife! The life we’ve built together with our English Pointer and every little milestone that has gone into it.
Additionally, being named a Roy H. Park Fellow and receiving full tuition to Cornell University to earn my MBA was a huge honor and unparalleled experience.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INTERESTS OR HOBBIES OUTSIDE OF WORK?
I love spending time with my wife and our dog and doing anything where I get to be outside. My wife and I recently took a trip to the Bahamas, where we spent most of our time saltwater fly fishing. That is one of our favorite things to do together.
This piece was created and published prior to the merger of RMB Capital Management and Curi Capital in January 2024. We are posting them here so clients can get to know our staff. Please note that the employee’s current role/position at the merged company may be different than the ones described in this historical piece.
