Voice of Experience: Gena Lovett, Principal and COO at Alexandra Investment Management

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

Growing up as a little girl on a farm in Arkansas, Gena Lovett, now Principal and COO at Alexandra Investment Management, knew instinctively that she belonged on Wall Street. There was something about the ringing of the opening bell each day on the morning news that left a lasting impact and kept her dreaming of a high-powered career in New York City. Lovett’s mother, Beulah Lovett, the most influential person in her life, worked herself to the bone and dedicated her life to ensuring that she and her three siblings were taken care of after their father died when Lovett was just ten-years-old. Despite being a single, widowed, working mom, Lovett’s mother was able to keep her children on the straight and narrow after they moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. Eventually all four children would graduate from college, Lovett herself receiving a B.A. in Business Administration from Philander Smith College.

Fast forward just over twenty years later and Lovett has served on numerous boards, accrued years of financial services experience, developed a wide range of expertise managing front, middle, and back office operations, and currently finds herself in the esteemed position of being the first Black American Principal and COO at Alexandra Investment Management, an alternative investment advisor managing assets of approximately $500 million. As if that didn’t keep her busy enough, Lovett is also acting President of the New York Junior League (NYJL), an organization of 3,000 women volunteers who work to address some of the city’s most critical issues through volunteer services. Each member of the organization is dedicated to working just as hard as Lovett does, as 85 percent of the volunteers have full-time jobs and contribute more than 250,000 service hours.

“I’m thankful for my career and I love what I do, but being the first Black American partner and COO at Alexandra doesn’t affect me as much as the opportunities my career has afforded me,” Lovett said.

The forty-six-year old is the former President of the Women’s Prison Association, the nation’s oldest service and advocacy organization committed to helping women with criminal justice histories see new possibilities for themselves. “Alexandra is like my family; I’ve been here for twelve years, so holding this new position didn’t feel like a big deal. What does feel like a big deal is the opportunities it’s given me; serving on panels, leading discussions, engaging people, knowing that I can talk to people from different walks of life on a personal or professional level. I was the first black woman to serve on the Women’s Prison Association Board and that truly felt like an honor because I was able to speak to women who’d overcome so many struggles. At the end of the day these are the things that make you feel good,” Lovett said.

Lovett begins each morning at Alexandra around 7 a.m. and spends her days managing the firm’s day-to-day non-investment activities. Between countless hours at the office and serving as Secretary for the Board of Managers of the Investment Advisor, Corporate Secretary for the Board of Directors, and as the firm’s representative to the Board of Directors of Paladyne Systems, Inc., she has somehow also managed to oversee a major remodeling of the NYJL’s government structure, which is a huge milestone according to the COO. Not only is the board now more strategic, but a much-needed management council has also been created to assist in day-to-day operations.

Finding Balance through Work

As mentioned previously, many of the women who participate in NYJL – including Lovett herself – lead incredibly busy lives and have many work-related obligations, but Lovett is of the opinion that giving back not only benefits the community, but also creates balance in a hectic life that’s in need of something stabilizing and meaningful. “Everyone needs balance in their life, so everyone should give back,” Lovett said. “Even if you’re not volunteering in an official capacity, you need to do something outside of yourself to find yourself. Whether that involves helping an elderly neighbor cross the street or reading to a neighborhood child, helping one person makes an impact and it touches lives.”

Obviously things are going great for Lovett professionally and she’s confident of her capabilities, but it wasn’t always like this. When Lovett first began her career in New York City, she didn’t have a mentor as many young women in financial services do today. Not only was she all alone in an unfamiliar city, but she couldn’t relate to any of her co-workers, many of which had attended Harvard, Yale, or other prestigious Ivy League colleges. Lovett herself attended a black institution and had no one to turn to that looked like her or who had similar life experiences. “I think having someone to talk to who had earned their position and was successful despite not going to an Ivy League school would have been very helpful to me at the time,” Lovett said.

As few female COOs as there are, there are even fewer COOs that are women of color. According to Lovett, attaining her level of success was made exponentially easier because of the firm she began working for at the age of thirty-four. “I’d say that my climb up the corporate ladder has been easier than most, but I attribute a lot of that to working for Alexandra,” Lovett said. “Being a black woman in this field hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve been blessed to spend a majority of my adult career – twelve years – at this firm. I’ve had good days and bad days with my partners here, but we have a different kind of bond. Many of my partners came to this country from Russia and even though our cultures are technically so different, we understand each other’s struggles. I was a good fit for them and they were a good fit for me because they are honest, hard-working people.”

Speaking Honestly

It’s rare to encounter a woman in such a senior position that speaks as frankly about corporate America as Lovett does, but then again maybe that’s why she’s attained such a high level of success as the relatively young age of forty-six; she’s a no-nonsense, straight shooter that doesn’t mince her words. Her honesty is refreshing, especially when she discusses the plausibility of her becoming a COO if she had to do it all over again today. Her opinion: it wouldn’t be possible.

“If I had to start all over in this industry today, I do not believe I would be where I currently am,” Lovett said. “So few women get to the top, it’s almost a miracle that any of us make it. I’ve heard men say it’s because women are too ‘emotional’ and when I hear that I flip my lid. We are more strategic, more thought-provoking, we think not only about issues, but about solutions, and we are passionate in everything we do. True leaders put passion into their work and men aren’t passionate about their work because they’ve been given everything because they wear pants. Women have earned the right to wear the pants; we can show passion and get the job done.”

Truer words have never been spoken.