Rumblings and Mumblings at the FIA Expo

By Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)iStock_000006793589XSmall

Mere days before the 25th Annual Futures & Options Expo began on October 21st, the Chicago derivatives market was all abuzz. The cause: the report last week by Crain’s Chicago Business that the CME Group was considering an acquisition of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). Whether the acquisition will come to fruition is still in question, dependent on a resolution of a lawsuit between the CBOE and the Chicago Board of Trade (owned by the CME Group) concerning the ownership of CBOE. But that didn’t stop speculation about the potential acquisition from making its way through the Expo.

John Lothian, the publisher of the John Lothian Newsletters, believes that this is a ploy to put a price on the options exchange. “CBOE knows that to realize the value of their franchise they need to demutualize and conduct a public offering. It is only for that price information that they will be able to entertain any potential deals,” said Lothian.

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Considering More and/or Better Regulation at SIFMA’s Annual Meeting

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)iStock_000000724728XSmall

On Tuesday, October 27, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) held its annual meeting in New York. While speakers covered a range of topics, foremost on the conference agenda was the coming changes in regulation, their potential effects, and whether more and/or better regulation is the right direction for the industry.

“We are by no means out of the woods, and even if we were, it would be irresponsible to forget” past events and the practices that have led to the current economic situation said keynote speaker Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro. Schapiro opened the conference with a strong call for new regulation, and explained its necessity.

The right questions had not been asked in the past, Schapiro said, and the SEC intended to change that. In fact, the SEC now receives hundreds of thousands of tips each year, and the agency is working to develop a new tracking system to better identify promising leads.

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Voice of Experience: Ann Ziegler, Chief Financial Officer of CDW

Ann_Ziegler[1]By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Audacious proclamations are the hallmark of the many of the successful among us. “You’ve got to raise your hand,” says CDW’s Ann Ziegler, the corporation’s CFO.

No surprise, then, that Ziegler, who is an attorney—not a CPA or Finance MBA—told her boss at Sara Lee— “I want to be the corporate CFO”—and has come to realize that goal.

Ziegler was drawn to the law early, mostly because of strong influence of an older cousin who was an accomplished lawyer. Once she was knee-deep in her legal studies, she realized that, above all else, she was called by corporate law, even though it wasn’t what most of her classmates were doing. “At that time I was in law school, litigation was the sexy part. But I never wanted to be a litigator. I enjoyed corporate law and other similar courses.”

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The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking™

by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)iStock_000006684238XSmall

U.S. Banker magazine recently released its annual 25 most powerful women in banking edition. The list is actually several lists: The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking; The 25 Women to Watch; the Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance and the Top 3 Banking Teams. This year the magazine aptly titled its accompanying story “Taking Charge in Turbulent Times.” Amid the stress and turmoil of the industry overall, women both triumphed and tripped.

Bank of America hired former Citgroup exec Sallie Krawcheck to head the Global Wealth and Investment Management unit and promoted Cathy Bessant to head of Global Corporate Banking. Because Krawacheck was not in her current job for more than one year, she was not eligible for the list of most powerful women. Instead, she tops the list of women to watch. Also the year, the California Public Employees Retirement System appointed its first ever woman CEO, Anne Stausboll. And Heidi Miller, CEO of JPMorgan Treasury and Securities Services, was in the number one spot for the third year in a row.

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Ask-A-Career Coach: How Final Round Job Interviews Are Different…Or Not

jobsearchContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart™

A workshop participant recently asked me, “How do I prepare for my final interview at [major financial institution]?”

Kudos to this person for recognizing that final round job interviews are different from other interviews. At the finalist stage, the prospective employer knows much more about you and can tailor the interviews accordingly so dissect the rounds prior to this one and review what everyone who interviewed you asked and what you answered. You need to be consistent. You need to recall everyone by name (to show that you care). You need to be able to summarize what you discussed (to show that you were listening).

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Best of the Best: Working Mother’s Top Companies for Women

By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)iStock_000003367609XSmall

Twenty-six financial services firms, seven major technology companies, and four law firms were named in the Working Mother 100 Best Companies 2009 list, giving us hope that despite all the challenges women face and we document on this site every day, there are many companies that understand the value women bring to the workplace. And the companies cited by Working Mother magazine, don’t stop at appreciating the contributions of women at work. They support, promote and retain women workers.

Take Goldman Sachs. One of the reasons Goldman made the list is the global financial services firm started a “Returnship” program for employees reentering the workforce. This program is similar to an internship. Goldman Sachs runs an eight week retraining program to help employees bring their skill sets up to current standards.

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Top Women CFOs: How They Got There

By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)Young beautiful business lady standing in a suit

In an effort to support and promote women looking to become Chief Financial Officers, Deloitte Consulting LLP interviewed 15 of the top women CFOs in the United States and Europe. The firm asked a series of questions including:

  • What were the significant moments in your journey to becoming a CFO and your current role?
  • What are the skills important to being a CFO, and how did you acquire them?
  • What advice would you give other aspiring women professionals on managing their journey to leadership?

Deloitte wanted to understand what career paths, key relationships, traits and decisions led to these women joining the top ranks of financial professionals. The results are published in the report entitled “The Journey to CFO: Perspectives from women leaders.”

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Foundations and Funds: New Trends in Philanthropy

By Elizabeth Harrin (London)iStock_000002825030XSmall

You would have thought that with all the belt tightening going on in this economy, people would be cutting back on their charitable endeavours. Not so. In fact, philanthropists are still turning to fund managers for advice and money management – and in increasing numbers. They might not have so much to give away, but they are certainly keen to work with fund managers specialising in philanthropy to make sure their money goes to the right places.

“We are on the cusp of change with philanthropic habits evolving against the backdrop of the significant global downturn,” says Gina Miller, founder and chair of SCM Philanthropy. SCM Philanthropy is a division of Spencer-Churchill Miller Private, a new boutique wealth management practice based in the UK.

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The 15th Annual Women on Wall Street Conference 2009 Coverage

By Nicki Gilmour (New York City)

“Overcoming Obstacles: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities” was the theme of Deutsche Bank’s 15th annual Women on Wall Street conference (WOWS) held this past Tuesday evening in New York City. And, after some seriously tough market conditions this year, the audience was eager to pick up some tips on how to go forward successfully.

In her keynote address, Joanne Barsh, a Director at McKinsey, challenged the women in the audience “to cross the line tonight, shift from a person to whom life happens to becoming a woman who makes life happen.” As previously reported, Ms. Barsh is the designer of a leadership framework called Centered Leadership, which promotes examination of the following areas of your life to become a more effective leader and have increased satisfaction in your personal life:

  1. How you manage your energy (Energizing)
  2. What is the sense of purpose that your work gives you (Meaning)
  3. How you perceive situations to be (Framing)
  4. How you relate and connect to other people (Connecting)
  5. How you interact and how you take risks (Engaging)

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Preethi Nair at Deutsche Bank’s Women on Wall Street Conference

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By Erin Abrams (New York City)

How often do you get to attend a conference related to your Wall Street job, and hear a story that involves high intrigue, risk taking, impersonation and leading a double life? Well, I guess this isn’t so uncommon these days if you, like me, work in the field of white collar criminal defense. However, I’m happy to report that Preethi Nair’s story at Tuesday night’s 15th Annual Women on Wall Street Conference (probably) didn’t involve any criminal activity and had a much happier ending than the tale of your average financial fraudster. Indeed, her exciting and frequently hilarious explanation of her journey from frustrated management consultant to internationally acclaimed author and creative project entrepreneur ended the presentation on a high note and inspired many of the women in attendance.

Ms. Nair, author of 100 Shades of White, The Colour of Love and Gypsy Masala and founder of Kiss the Frog, a project tasked with reintroducing creativity into the workplace, has experienced quite a reversal of fortune from just a few years ago. In those days, Ms. Nair explained that she would get up in the morning and get dressed in a suit to fool her British Indian parents into thinking that she was headed to the job as a management consultant that she had prematurely quit, and would sit in the public library in London dreaming up ways to become a successful, internationally recognized novelist.

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