WITI New York is hosting its holiday networking event. Prizes to be raffled during the evening. Complimentary Hors d’ Oeuvres and Wine Bar.
Contributed, entirely coincidentally, by Zoe Cruz.
Last week, the co-president of Morgan Stanley and one of the most visible women on Wall Street, Zoe Cruz, was fired. According to Bloomberg.com, Ms. Cruz, who was born in Greece and received undergraduate and MBA degrees from Harvard University, started her Morgan Stanley career in 1982 as a bond trader. She became a managing director in 1990 and helped run foreign exchange before taking charge of fixed income, commodities and foreign exchange in 2000.
Only last year, Zoe Cruz topped the Forbes Magazine list of the 10 most powerful women in the world. Oh, how the mighty fall. So what happened?
Right now all of the major banks, corporations, and investment firms, are playing ‘hot potato’ and trying to pass the blame for the subprime market collapse onto scapegoats at the top in an attempt to halt hemorrhaging losses. Market-wide, credit losses entangled in subprime home loans add up to more than $50 billion, -and that loss continues to weaken the economy in ways both subtle and overt.
But is Cruz really to blame for Morgan Stanley’s slip-up?
As an editor of a blog that has covered this issue, or perhaps because of the strange coincidence that my name is also Zoe Cruz, I received an email that was actually a discussion between two people well-versed in the ups and downs of the financial industry. Their identities are kept confidential to protect the still-gainfully employed.
The email authors discussed how THE Zoe Cruz was unjustly represented in recent Wall Street Journal articles covering her demise. The emails also noted that three weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal ran an article stating that Cruz was the heir apparent to John Mack, C.E.O of Morgan Stanley, and now the Journal is publishing articles explaining how Mr. Mack lost confidence in Ms. Cruz.
The other writer also expressed disappointment, saying that Ms. Cruz had held the firm together and that now she was taking the fall for others and being treated as a scapegoat.
We are interested to know what The Glass Hammer readers think about the firing of Zoe Cruz, and whether you all think that the hatchet man on Wall Street is disproportionately targeting the few women at the top. Feel free to weigh in.
Several recent Glass Hammer posts have focused on finance jobs in quantitative analysis, and how to help women break into this mostly male-dominated field. For a background, take a look at “Why Do Girls Hate Algorithms?” and “Breaking the “Quant Jock” Stereotype.” To continue this series, I interviewed a friend of mine, “Mr. B,” who is a strategist as a quantitative hedge fund and asked him to share some suggestions to help women pursue jobs in the field.
Why Are There So Few Women in Quant?
I asked Mr. B to try to help me understand why there weren’t more women in quant jobs. Maybe it’s a problem of lack of information, and the funds need to do a better job of recruiting top-notch female PhD students right out of university. He explained that many firms are interested in hiring women and would like to add more gender diversity to their rosters, but that, in his experience, quant funds receive very few resumes from women. While women might be underrepresented in graduate programs in the sciences as well, there are still many qualified female PhDs who pursue academia, government work or private sector work in biotech, chemistry, engineering or computer technology. So what’s so scary about quant?
Perhaps the fact that most offices have so few women creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby women applicants don’t see a job in quant as a viable option or think that they would be intimidated in the workplace, and thus don’t apply. To a certain extent, plenty of quant guys like their “boys club” environment just fine, and don’t see any reason to change it. When asked about this subject, another male quant strategist interviewed for this article, let’s call him Mr. C, commented “I don’t know why women would want to work in quant, when there are plenty of other opportunities for them to make money. Their personalities would be better suited for sales, no?” All of them? Hmm. I’ll look into it. This attitude is nothing new, but it makes it hard for women to break into the field.
Contributed by Susie Potier
A rumor was circulating around the Futures Industry Association (FIA) Expo last month when the largest futures exchange did not exhibit at the conference. The question on the tip of everyone’s tongue was “why wasn’t the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) at the FIA show?” It was the talk of the convention as futures traders from all over the country gathered in Chicago to discuss the changing futures trading landscape. As the CME is one of the original members of the Futures Industry Association, it is worrisome they did not sponsor this year’s event.
The FIA was established in 1955 as the national trade organization for the futures industry. According to their website, their mission is to provide a forum to discuss issues within the futures industry, work with the exchanges and represent the public customer. They also study ways to reduce transaction costs, eliminate credit fraud as well as coordinate educational and networking seminars, including those held at the FIA Expo, FIA Boca in May and the International Derivatives Expo in June.
Their members include over 40 of the largest futures commission merchants. The FIA also estimates that their members are responsible for 80 percent of customer business transactions executed on U.S. futures exchanges.
John Lothian, a futures broker who writes a daily newsletter, pointed out the absence of the CME at the FIA Expo on November 16, 2007. In his newsletter, he questioned the Exchange’s motives for not exhibiting at the show and said that “the spiteful posture sends a chilling message to the rest of the futures industry about how the CME group may be willing to treat those who have disagreed with them in the past or may disagree with them in the future.”
After reading Mr. Lothian’s comments and watching the FIA keep the CME’s booth space at the expo, it can only make one wonder if there is more to this story…
With more women becoming entrepreneurs than ever before, there is a high demand for information about how to start a business. At the Futures Industry Association Expo in Chicago last week, one of the panel discussions included advice on building a managed funds business. The broad-based suggestions given to the audience were applicable to a range of organizations, especially the tips about how to execute start-up strategies.
The session was moderated by Paul Olin of the alternative investments group at Union Bancaire Privée. He was joined by speakers Arthur Bell of Arthur Bell Certified Public Accountants; Jim Little of Campbell & Company and David Matteson, partner at the law firm DrinkerBiddle.
In the discussion, Mr. Matteson drew a parallel between starting a business and getting married. He emphasized the importance of a pre-nuptial agreement. He advised that declaring ownership before the business takes off is essential and explained that things get complicated after the money has already been invested.
FWA Members can catch up, network and reflect on the past year. For prospective members it represents a chance to learn more about the FWA and meet FWA leaders who shape the NJ agenda, serve as board members, and volunteer for many programs.
Network and listen to a variety of speakers who have survived previous dips in the market share their tips and tricks for turning downturns into opportunities. Visit the website.
A two-day speaker programme of senior executives with experience in the region is lined up for delegates, including a keynote address by the Tanzanian minister for energy and mineral resources, The Hon Nazir Karamagi.
Tonight I cried.
I shouldn’t have. It’s been a fantastic week, at least work-wise. I pulled a huge rabbit out of a hat and should have been resting on my laurels with a glass of bubbly, contemplating my glorious future with an exhilarated (but exhausted) team around me…
So why did I burst into tears? (Especially when I’m not big on crying. I avoid it when I can. My eyes go all piggy and red and it makes me look really not-put-together and also leaves me feeling lousy for days).
Some things get your eyes leaking and the voice wobbling, and tonight was one of those times. I was riding high on my journey home from my last assignment after an amazing week, thinking about how the future was looking rosy (and lucrative), when my daughter’s schoolteacher called my cell-phone and interrupted my reverie:
”Your daughter has failed to submit a major assignment on time; she tells us that it is because her excessive household duties prevent her from being able to perform her homework tasks effectively. She tells us that you are absent from the home so she can’t talk to you about it. We are concerned about you as a parent and your daughter’s performance because this is an important exam year…”
The Financial Women’s Association is having their annual Holiday Benefit Gala. Thomson Financial is also underwriting this event. There will be benefit raffles for a number of prizes including :
– Two Coach Class Tickets to Asia or Europe on Continental Airlines
– Large Hamptons vintage Leather Carryall from Coach, $1,450 Value
– NARS Cosmetics Gift Basket of Skincare and Color Products, $1,000 Value
– Arbonne Skincare Basket and Skincare Party for 20 Friends, $1,000 Value
The Glass Hammer
Executive coaching, leadership development coaching and career navigation coaching for women looking to develop, advance and lead in top roles.