Voice of Experience: Beth Skillern, President and General Counsel, Bullivant Houser Bailey

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)Skillern[1]

From a very young age, Beth Skillern, Bullivant Houser Bailey‘s firm president and general counsel, was determined to grow up to be the kind of woman that found her own way and supported herself, an unusual aspiration for a young girl coming of age in the 50s and 60s. But her father, who she cites as her main source of inspiration, raised her to make the most of her talents. “My father really valued education because he didn’t have the opportunity to go to college,” Skillern said. “His work ethic was incredibly strong and he inspired me to become who and what I am today.”

Skillern spent a majority of her adult life as a junior high history and English teacher before deciding to return to graduate school. “When I was in college in the 1960s, many women didn’t go to law school,” Skillern said. “I’d always been fascinated by lawyers [though] so I decided to [go to law school and] begin my second career. I was up for the intellectual challenge it posed.”

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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

U.S. unemployment rose higher than expected, while the weakening of sterling against the U.S. dollar has strengthened Kraft’s position in the takeover of Cadbury. Six U.K. recruitment companies were fined a total of £39.7m for price-fixing by the Office of Fair Trading. These are but a few highlights of important market events that we’ve gathered to help you start the week well informed.

Economic Backdrop

  • The week ended with disappointing news on U.S. jobs. The number of workers on U.S. payrolls dropped by a worse-than-expected 263,000 in September, with unemployment hitting 9.8%. In the two years since the recession began, the number of people out of work in America has risen by 7.6m to 15.1m.
  • The Japanese yen rose to an eight-month high against the U.S. dollar as Japan’s finance minister indicated that Tokyo would not intervene to stem the currency’s rise.
  • The S&P Case-Shiller index of house prices in 20 big U.S. cities rose by 1.6% in July from June, its biggest increase in four years.
  • U.S. financial regulators are working on rules aimed to help banks avoid the sudden funding withdrawals suffered by Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. The rules will prevent banks from being overly dependent on short-term financing using a variety of ratios.
  • A report from International Financial Services London suggests that London’s position as the world’s number two city for hedge funds is beginning to slip, probably as a result of the EU’s draft alternative investment manager directive. New York is still the leader, and Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva are gaining in popularity.

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On Your Bookshelf: Outliers – The Story of Success

By Andrea Newell (Grand Rapids, MI)Books

It is an age-old question–what is the secret of success? In Outliers – The Story of Success Malcolm Gladwell sets forth his theory that success is a mixture of timing, talent, opportunities, circumstances, intelligence, attitude, cultural background, and hard work.

Supported by case studies and in-depth research, Gladwell uses examples ranging from youth sports to Beatles music, form Bill Joy and Bill Gates to the garment industry workers and New York lawyers, and from the Hatfields and the McCoys. His smooth, narrative style draws readers in as he marches through history, analyzes cultures and dissects parenting styles.

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Assessing and Managing Operational and Investment Risk: glasshammer2.wpengine.com Seminar for Senior Women on the Buy-Side

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Women-working-on-a-computerTheglasshammer.com hosted the first in the series of invitation-only networking seminars for senior women on the Buy-Side at the Harvard Club in New York City on September 29th. Our intent: to create a peer-to-peer environment for CEOs, Principals and Managing Directors of traditional and alternative funds to enable them to interact with Chief Operating Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Heads of Risk Management, and Heads of Operations and discuss the how the industry has changed over the past two years. The result: 100 female leaders in investment management gathered to network and to hear Cynthia Steer, Chief Strategist of Rogerscasey, Marianne Brown, CEO of Omgeo, Liz Philipp, head of the NY office for PIMCO and Annie Morris, Head of Linedata’s North American Business weigh in on the predicted trends for the industry.

The panel represented a 360-degree view of industry issues from front office to back office and how the “New Normal” means that operational risk is now a primary concern for business leaders who want to continue to compete in 2010 and beyond. Inspired by thought provoking questions posed by moderator Holly Miller of Stone House Consulting, the panelists first addressed the issue of operational due diligence, emphasizing the importance of having a corporate culture which supports a consistent due diligence effort.

“There has been a revolution over the last two years,” said Steer, “[People are recognizing that] you need to read your prospectuses; you need to ‘do’ back office.”

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