Faith-Based Fund Management: You’ve Got to Have Faith

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by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)iStock_000005377638XSmall

While so many people have lost faith in Wall Street and the stock market during the past year, many others have renewed theirs. They are the faith-based investors—people investing based on criteria set by religious and social beliefs. Faith-based funds are considered a subset of socially responsible funds, or SRIs. According to Morningstar, faith-based offerings have been launched at a fairly rapid rate since 2000 and currently represent more than half the total of all SRI funds. This is significant when you consider that green funds, also part of the SRI category, are experiencing tremendous growth. In fact, the total of assets under management in faith-based funds has grown from about less than $500 million 11 years ago to more than $31 billion today, per Morningstar.

While many faith-based funds have similar investing criteria as socially responsible funds, like generally avoiding investments tied to alcohol, weapons and tobacco, some add a layer of religious filtering to their investment strategy as well. Take Financial Planning Services, a Washington, D.C. company that employs socially responsible investing, speaking to the Christian community about their financial lives and the difference between “man’s economy and God’s economy.”

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Voice of Experience: Monica Mandelli, Managing Director, Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs

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Monica MandelliOn a faded and tattered piece of paper taped to a wall in Monica Mandelli’s Manhattan office is the motto by which she lives: “La vittoria non e’ mai definitiva e la sconfitta non e’ mai fatale: quello che conta e’ il coraggio,” which roughly translates into “Victory is never forever and defeat is never fatal: all that matters is courage.”

That piece of paper (and its message) has traveled with Mandelli from London to Harvard and from a small cubicle to the large office she now inhabits as a managing director at Goldman Sachs. Said Mandelli, “It encourages me to not become complacent when I win and never to give up when I’m struggling. It reminds me to wake up every day and fight. I’m very confident and relentless and it sums me up quite well.”

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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group.Martin Mitchel of CTG

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke says the US recession is probably over, and Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King expects a slow recovery for the UK. Banks will face limits on the total amount they pay their staff in bonuses under proposals being drawn up by the Financial Stability Board. The board’s plans will be submitted to the G20 countries in advance of their summit in Pittsburgh next week. These are but a few highlights of important market events that we’ve gathered to help you start the week well informed.

Economic Backdrop

  • Ben Bernanke stated that the US recession ‘is very likely over’ as data showed that retail sales rose last month at the fastest rate for more than three years.
  • Meanwhile, governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King predicted a ‘slow and protracted recovery’ for the UK.
  • Calculations by Goldman Sachs estimate that the European Central Bank has made up to €1bn in extra profits from crisis-related emergency lending.

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Field Trip: The History of Women on Wall Street Exhibit

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By Natalie Sabia (New York City)
Wall St
We’ve come a long way, baby. And we have a handful of highly-capable, courageous women to thank for it, according to the fascinating “Women on Wall Street” exhibit at the Museum of American Finance in New York City.

A Smithsonian affiliate, the Museum of American Finance is the nation’s only public museum of finance. Founded in 1988 after the 1987 stock market crash, the institution’s mission is to support financial literacy and to help people understand the history, as well as the current information about the financial markets. “We were trying to speak to different levels of interest,” said Leena Akhtar, Director of Exhibits & Archives.

The idea for the “Women of Wall Street” exhibit developed after the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed in the early part of this year. “I’ve had this idea in back of my mind, and then, when the legislation was passed, it got the wheels turning,” said Akhtar. The interactive exhibit, which opened this summer, is important because, as the museum website notes: “The story of women on Wall Street is the story of women in America. Issues of self-determination, freedom and financial independence clashed with societal norms in the traditionally male domain of finance.” Said Akhtar, “It’s a story of independence and strength through the progression of women over different time periods. The idea behind the exhibit was to tell history that is not often told.”

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Dark Pools: Sink or Swim?

By Elizabeth Harrin (London)ladygraph

The verdict has long been out on whether dark pools of liquidity improve the investment process, but the fluctuations in the market this year have certainly seen these trading systems gaining plenty of column inches. Are dark pool investments taking market share from traditional exchanges? Or are their trades falling off, as a result of economic slowdown? I’ve read commentators who argue for both sides, but dark pools can’t be doing well and failing, can they?

Dark pools are off-exchange electronic trading venues. They are also known as ‘alternative trading systems’ and they work by allowing large blocks of shares to be traded outside of the normal exchange, and with greater ease. Dark pools have been particularly successful in partnering with hedge funds as the prices aren’t public. Cloaked in secrecy, and yet a very obvious form of liquidity, dark pool prices are only published publicly once the trade is done.

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Voice of Experience: Cynthia Meyn, SVP and Senior Operations Manager,PIMCO

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by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Cynthia Meyn, the Senior Operations Manager at PIMCO’s New York Office, spent her childhood on the move, living in three states and a European country, all before the tender age of twelve. And while some might have viewed this as a negative experience, Meyn actually sees it as one that had a wholly positive impact on her. “I think it helped me be at ease meeting new people,” she explained, “and helped me be comfortable trying new things,” a skill which has allowed her to fearlessly take on new challenges in her life and career.

When it came time for college, Meyn moved again, this time from Ohio back to Massachusetts to study math, computer science and philosophy at Smith College. While her senior level research fieldwork was in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, she decided not to pursue it as a career once she realized that artificial intelligence “was just too academic.” Instead, she chose to pursue finance and business, an area she became interested in via a sophomore year internship with Smith College’s Summer Women in Business Mini MBA program, an executive education seminar for women. Meyn said, “My role was to set up, monitor, and staff the computer center. I also got to take the classes with the executive women because I had to help them do the LOTUS spreadsheets. That summer was formative because I met executive women from places like General Motors and AT&T, and they encouraged me to pursue a career in business. They also told me about some internship and training programs that I would be able to get into if I tried. So, because of them, I sought out an internship at Morgan Stanley.”

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A Recruiter Speaks: Insider Info on the Job Market Thaw for Boutique Firms and Fortune 500

Contributed by Silvana Carpanelli Hayes of IvyExecBusinessteam wrapping up a meeting with handshake

Thanks to the stalled economy, and what seemed to be a chronic freeze in the recruiting world, 2008 and Q1 of 2009 was a tough time for executive job seekers. Woeful economic indicators, soaring unemployment rates and seemingly endless waves of executive firings did little to improve the mood. But now we are finally seeing the little light at the end of the tunnel.

And so while 81% of highly qualified professionals still think the crisis is far from over, this recruiter has some good news to share: the job market is defrosting and coming back to life. The first signs of this new spring came around in August when many boutique firms started researching new hiring sources for newly created positions. VCs looking for research analysts in specific industries such as energy and healthcare gave new opportunities to several top tier candidates with investment banking backgrounds. These boutique firms are a haven for talented professionals making their way into corporate America. Los Angeles and San Francisco are two newer hotspots for opportunities in finance these days, as opposed to the traditional New York-based finance gig.

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Ask-A-Career Coach: What Are Good Questions to Ask in an Interview?

jobsearchContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

A job interview is a two-way street. Employers are checking you out, and you hope they pick you. But you are also checking them out, and you want your next move to be the best one for both of you. So don’t just answer the questions they happen to ask. Here are 3 key items you absolutely need to know:

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The London Paper’s City Girl Weighs in on Banker Bonus Caps

by Barbara Stcherbatcheff, author of “Confessions of a City Girl” (Virgin Books)citygirl11

Since I revealed my identity as The London Paper’s “City Girl” on August 3rd, I have been besieged by media requests to share my opinion on what must be the year’s hottest City-related story: whether or not to cap banker bonuses. Politicians have this idea that, if they can remove the upside reaped by the financial masters of the universe, they can remove the downside they’re capable of digging as well. As a result, new ideas on pay structures, including deferrals, clawbacks, and even the elimination of guaranteed bonuses, are being tossed around to ensure City compensation practices are aligned with long-term financial stability.

These ideas, while well intentioned, are problematic in several ways. First and foremost, common sense tells us that the eradication of the City’s bonus culture seems about as likely as the eradication of futures or options. When I was a derivatives trader in the City, our year-end bonus was such an integral part of our lives, it became an obsession. I listened to my colleagues describe precisely how they would spend their bonuses on the finer things in life— champagne, sex, gadgets, or an endearing mixture of the three. Like most bankers, we aspired to make as much money as possible in the shortest period of time. And like most bankers, many of us actually did.
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35 Under 35: Alexandra Basirov, Head of Sovereigns, Supranationals, and Agencies for Debt Capital Markets, BNP Paribas

By Elizabeth Harrin (London)AlexandraBasirov[1]

“One of the first pieces of advice I was given was never tell your age to anyone as they could perceive you differently,” says Alexandra Basirov, Head of Sovereigns, Supranationals and Agencies for Debt Capital Markets at BNP Paribas. I won’t tell you her age, but suffice to say that Alexandra has leapt up through the hierarchies of banking to her position before most women have managed to make much of a mark on the corporate world.

“Economics had always fascinated me from a very young age,” she explains. “I had the first opportunity to study it at A-level while being educated in England after moving from Australia. I went on to study at the London School of Economics.” During the holidays, she sought out internships, and it became clear that a career in the banking industry was what she wanted to do. “There was something about the working environment coupled with being able to follow markets and applying my studies that excited me,” she says.

Basirov continues: “I have always been a firm believer that you have to love what you do to succeed. Like any job, and in particular on the trading floor, work can get very stressful. Banking is an industry that requires you to give it all, and unless you are devoted and have a passion for what you do, it’s unlikely you will last for the duration or climb the ladder.”

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