Happy Holidays

Happy New Year. We will return on the 2nd January with more articles to aid and inform you.

Theglasshammer.com is for the people, so if anyone wants to contribute a guest blog or be interviewed do get in touch with our Editor erin@glasshammer2.wpengine.com

We also want you to write in and tell us about events that other women could attend for networking, and please do put us intouch with your women’s network leaders for further collaboration.

In the New Year we will be following an editorial calendar which will look like this:

News Articles everyday of the week. If the press are writing about issues that are important to women in finance, we will give you our very own take on it.

Mondays- Voice of Experience interviews- we interview women who have broken the glass ceiling and have made it to the top. What advice do they have for our readers? Mondays are also a chance for us to interview outstanding human beings who contribute to society greatly (as well as being excellent in their careers!). Look out for these articles under Spotlight on People.

Tuesdays- Work/life issues. How to have it all. We also cover Returner Programs on Tuesdays- so if you are looking to off-ramp or perhaps return after a career break, then watch this space!

Wednesdays- Career advice on to “how to” get to the next level. Expert answers from career coaches, lawyers, peers and mentors.

Thursdays- Industry news. We get deep into the functions of different parts of the sellside and buyside. We cover industry events.

Fridays- Fridays is when we can all have a little fun. Tune in for some hilarious true life tales from our writers and readers about what its like to work in financial services. We also cover ” passions” and we would love to hear what you live to do on the weekends! Evolved People have interesting lives.

May be 2008 be personally and professionally fulfilling.

Cheers,

Nicki Gilmour

Publisher

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Passions: Sailing the High Seas

193636096_1f34d7a78d_m.jpgThe idea of taking to the high seas never really occurred to me before. I’m not the kind of person who likes being cold and wet, for one. Sailing just didn’t really push my ‘I want to try that’ button. I had a head filled with misconceptions about what it was really like, with no reason to challenge them until recently.

Life has a habit of throwing the unexpected my way, however, so when my husband developed a sudden and irrational longing to pursue yachting, I sighed. Why doesn’t he have a yearning to lie by a sun-drenched pool with an exotic drink and a stack of books? Still, if he’s going to have a mid-life crisis, I suppose I’d rather be there for him (lest he run out and buy a sports car while I’m not looking). So, with a quaking heart, I signed up with him for a five-day ‘Competent Crew’ course in the Mediterranean.

Turns out, we had a ball. Yes, there were scary moments. Like when we were in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, and I was manning the helm and came out of the lee of a large rock and hit a force seven wind with all sails up. The boat heeled over to a 45 degree angle, I yelped and struggled to keep our course as the churning sea rushed up over the stanchion rails and we were tossed around like a cork in a washing machine. We graduated from that watery baptism without mishap, only to encounter an even stronger wind, with a tidal tug around Europa Point on Gibraltar, but more of that later.

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Breaking News Update: Bhutto Assassination

2012399162_38ef313640_m.jpgThe editors at The Glass Hammer have just learned that Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani opposition leader and champion for women’s rights, the rule of law and democracy, has been assassinated by a suicide bomber during a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on December 27, 2007. At least a dozen others were killed in the attack. Ms. Bhutto was just named in today’s The Glass Hammer article focusing on the most influential women of 2007, in which we noted that she, along with Hillary Clinton, were the only seriously influential women listed, on a list otherwise comprised of minor media celebrities.

While her politics and public statements were at times controversial, Ms. Bhutto was a champion for change and a strong female voice in a country and a culture that has for many years marginalized women and failed to recognize their right to equality.

Upon hearing today’s news, The Glass Hammer publisher and CEO Nicki Gilmour said, “I think anyone who saw Ms. Bhutto speak at the 2006 Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) will know that this inspiring leader is a loss to the world since she had a great understanding of the eastern and western cultures. She endured the killing of her own family and followers but continued to take actions to foster democracy and women’s rights in Pakistan.”

Whether or not she really could have brought democracy to Pakistan is hard to answer. A deeply polarizing figure who had spent the last decade in self-imposed exile, her previous terms as Prime Minster from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996 were plagued with scandals and charges of political corruption, and she faced daunting political and military opposition from President Pervez Musharraf’s administration, with whom she had recently been trying to negotiate a power sharing agreement.

Unless you live in a country you can never really understand the culture and all of the dynamics at play, and it is not possible for us to speculate from a privileged position as women in finance in Western countries about what would be best for the people of Pakistan. However, one thing is clear. Ms. Bhutto had a mighty spirit, a brave plan and the international experience to work with people within her country and leaders throughout the world. An articulate fearless leader and a woman to inspire us all, she will be missed.

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MSN Leaves Women in Business off its “Most Influential” List

MSN released their annual list of the most influential women in 2007. The list included politicians (two, to be exact), singers, television personalities and actresses (six, to be exact), a random woman who popped up on the radar of bloggers at some point during 2007, a coach and an author. The big shocker? The list did not include a single woman in business, finance or law. That’s right, according to the movers and shakers at MSN, the myriad ways in which women leaders impacted our society in 2007 did not merit a single mention of women in the corporate world. In contrast, the list of most influential men was dominated by politicians and businessmen. Here, the list of 2007’s influential women, as interpreted by MSN News:

  1. Hillary Clinton, New York Senator and Democratic presidential candidate
  2. Benazir Bhutto, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
  3. Elizabeth Hasselbeck, conservative television commentator
  4. Carrie Underwood, American Idol winner and country music singer
  5. Pat Summitt, University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach
  6. Miley Cyrus (otherwise known as Hannah Montana)
  7. Alice Temperley, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang, Erin Fetherston (in their capacity as designers of trendy affordable clothing)
  8. Obama Girl (someone who made a YouTube rap video endorsing presidential candidate Barak Obama – don’t ask)
  9. Tina Fey, writer and comedian
  10. Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef hostess
  11. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter author

However, readers on the MSN message boards also noticed the discrepancy, which caused a bit of an outcry. Several readers noted that it seemed ridiculous to include Miley Cyrus and Benazir Bhutto on the same list of anything. The stark and surprising absence of women leaders in business was observed by several commentators, who panned the list as a superficial and inaccurate reflection of women’s accomplishments in 2007. One reader stated that she was disappointed in the list, which consisted mostly of “sexy-looking media celebrities,” and did a disservice to Clinton, Bhutto and other serious hardworking women who were left off. Another reader summed it up nicely, lamenting the exclusion of the “hundreds of women trying to make the world a better place” and stating bluntly, “that’s five minutes of my life that I will never get back, thanks.”

This pseudo-list of accomplished women inspired The Glass Hammer to try to compile the real thing. Who do you think should be included on the list of most influential women in 2007? Write to us or post below to let us know your thoughts. This article will be published shortly after the New Year.

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Are Men Threatened by Your Success? Come to Washington, D.C.

Contributed by Sally Lee

188655575_6a4b61f48a_m.jpg

This piece is in response to “The H-Bomb,” an article by Erin Abrams which was published on The Glass Hammer a few months ago. The basic argument of the piece was that smart, successful women with high-powered and high-earning jobs (in this case, graduates of Harvard Law School), had a hard time meeting men who were not threatened or intimidated by their professional status and income (hence, the H-Bomb).

To those women in New York and other large cities who have felt it necessary to apologize for their hard-earned success because of the insecure men that they encounter, I have a suggestion. Move to Washington D.C., a city where there are plenty of men who actually like and even expect a woman to be educated, successful, and have lots of money. It seems, at least according to an unscientific poll conducted by this observer and her female friends, that there are plenty of men on the D.C. dating market who have visions of quitting their jobs, being provided with a weekly allowance, and having all the time in the world to play golf!

Honestly, not all men are like that in D.C., but there are some sad yet funny stories to share regarding the dating woes of women in our nation’s capital regarding these types of men. For example, I once dated a guy who said to me, “If I quit my job for six months and try to find myself, you’d be able to support me, right?” I wasn’t sure if he was serious, particularly because we were on a third date, so I replied, “I don’t understand the question.” He answered in an exasperated tone, “You know what I mean. If I decide that this job isn’t for me, you’d be able to take care of me until I found something else, because you make enough money, right?”

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Is Ageism a Ticking Time Bomb for Women?

Contributed by Rebecca Chong of Rooks Riders Solicitors

Accountants, bankers and analysts are increasingly finding that they have more in common with celebrities than they ever realized or wanted. It is no secret that Tinseltown and the media have been unkind to women who dare to age. For Hollywood, this led to some of the industry’s finest hitting Cannes with “Searching for Debra Winger,” a documentary exploring Hollywood’s treatment of the aging actress. Across the Atlantic, a high profile campaign was launched against the removal of OBE-awarded and respected British journalist Moira Stuart from Sunday AM, reportedly eased out because she was too old for TV (although this was always denied by the BBC). For women of all ages working in a society ruled by the commercial power of image, particularly for those working in the financial sector where the big institutions fix their eyes on the keen and capable amongst the freshly graduated, it appears that sexism and ageism is the double glass ceiling to progression in the work place.

A study on working women and ageism, by Women in Journalism, reveals the hidden fear:

71% of women are worried about being forced out of their careers as they reach their 40s and 50s.

As the cosmetics industry feeds off the resulting frenzied quest for the fountain of youth, it perpetuates the fallacy that has permeated society; that whatever the profession, only the young and vital are valuable. For example, Liz Walker, proprietor of the House of Beauty in Barnsley, Yorkshire, recently commented to The Guardian Unlimited that it is Botox that her increasingly younger clientele are ‘clamouring’ for.

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2007: The Year in Bonuses – Winners and Losers

Contributed by Susie Potier

Come December, the whispers on Wall Street are not about who is doing what for New Year’s Eve or where to go on the perfect winter beach getaway. Let’s not kid ourselves. The talk on the Street is all about bonuses. Who’s getting how much, and more importantly, who’s not getting as much as he or she expected.

While the process of handing out bonuses is generally shrouded in secrecy, that doesn’t stop people from speculating. Relevant facts under consideration include how much employees at the same level received last year, whether profits for the year were up or down, whether stock prices at publicly traded companies rose or fell, and how the company was impacted by the subprime mortgage crisis, among other things.

While bonuses at investment banks and hedge funds won’t be handed out until January or February, depending on when the company’s fiscal year ends and what their internal policies are, one group of Wall Streeters is already sitting pretty: lawyers. Unlike investment bankers, who generally receive bonuses tied to individual performance and market returns, most New York lawyers at major law firms receive “lockstep” bonuses, meaning that all members of the same entering class receive the same amount, set annually by the managing partners of the firm and distributed in the all-important bonus memo.

This year, there was a slight shake-up in the attorney bonus world, when Cravath, Swain & Moore announced “special bonuses” to be paid at year end, and other big law firms quickly followed suit. The bonus watch was aggressively chronicled through the leaking and posting of internal firm memos posted on the online legal gossip site abovethelaw.com, which most big law firm associates spend the month of November avidly reading. Second year associates at big law firms in New York (class of 2006), who last year got a raise to a base salary of $160,000, would now be receiving $35,000 as an annual bonus, in addition to a $10,000 “special bonus,” according to Cravath. Bonuses for ascending classes were to be paid out as follows:

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Return to the Work Force Programs: Spotlight on Lehman Brothers

With more and more women taking time off from their careers in finance to start a family or pursue personal ambitions, it is no wonder that the corporate world is in need of qualified female applicants. After studies revealed that it was difficult for employees to re-enter the work force after a career break, Lehman Brothers became one of the first investment banks to capitalize on this untapped pool of professionals.

Lehman Brothers co-sponsored a study called “On Ramps and Off Ramps,” which looked at how many financial professionals take off from work and what they do with that time. The results showed that 37 percent of females and 24 percent of males take a career break and then have trouble re-entering the work force.

In response to the data generated by the “On Ramps and Off Ramps” study, Lehman Brothers started the Encore program. Created by Lehman Brother’s Chief Diversity Officer, Anne Erni, the program was built around the premise that inviting mid-career executives back to corporate America added value to companies.

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Harvard Business School Profiles: Hannah and the Importance of Mentors

Contributed by Lauren Davis

467705377_1ed71b76c8_m.jpgLast summer, at one New York investment bank, a male executive dropped into a luncheon for women employees and asked their advice about a problem. He explained that didn’t really understand what motivated female investment bankers, because they “seemed to want different things” than their male counterparts.

While this comment was met with a range of responses from puzzlement to hostility to efforts to understand, Hannah, a Harvard Business School (HBS) second year MBA candidate said, “I understand what he means.”Hannah sacrificed hours of sleep and made major adjustments to her personal life in order to win an offer as a summer associate at this investment bank.

But when she realized that all of the women in her group were unmarried (except one), she couldn’t help but wonder: was there something about investment banking that kept women from marrying and having children? Read more

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What Is Happening to Women on Wall Street?

As yesterday’s Glass Hammer posting by Zoe-Cruz-not-the-Zoe-Cruz noted, these are tough times for women on Wall Street. Indeed, as a recent posting on the New York Times Dealbook website noted, Zoe Cruz’s forced transition into early retirement from her job heading up trading and risk operations at Morgan Stanley may have quietly heralded the end of an era.

What era? For the first time in history, the future looked bright for women on Wall Street. Zoe Cruz was the most senior woman on the Street, but examples of high flying female power brokers were increasingly more common. At a fundraiser last year for a women’s rights organization, I heard Sallie Krawcheck, Citigroup’s former Chief Financial Officer, speak passionately and convincingly about her road to success, the tradeoffs she made in her life on the way to “having it all,” and her enduring commitment to charitable causes. I remember feeling an almost giddy sense of jubilation and possibility, hearing her remarks and thinking that this life of professional success, family fulfillment and passion for public service could be mine one day too.

So you can imagine how I must have felt when I heard that Ms. Krawcheck was demoted from her top position at Citi in January 2007, where she had been widely been rumored to be the heir apparent to now-deposed CEO Charles O. Prince III.

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