Movers and Shakers: Linda Beaudoin, SVP, Compensation, ING U.S. Investment Management

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Linda Beaudoin,  Head of Compensation for ING U.S. Investment Management (ING U.S. IM), spent the first 20 years of her career in finance. She started at Aetna working in management reporting, and then moved to the investment side supporting budgeting and analysis and product profitability. A few years after the firm was acquired by ING in 2000, she decided she was ready for a change.

“After twenty years of finance, I decided to take a risk and totally shift gears and move to HR. And it’s the best thing I could have done.” She started out as a generalist, but because of her finance background, Beaudoin quickly took on a comp focus. “That was my niche. I wish I had known that many years ago.”

“Never be afraid to take those risks – as you mature it’s something you become more comfortable doing,” she added.

One of Beaudoin’s proudest achievements came as the result of several acquisitions ING made in 2002 and 2003, including four separate asset management firms. “They had varied company philosophies and plans,” she explained, and the company had to figure out how to integrate them all. “And it was the first time I had worked intimately with senior management,” she recalled.

“I was new to HR and I realized I had a voice at the table. I realized I wasn’t going to get by on hard work alone. I started speaking up and being seen as a leader.”

She continued, “I wish I was more confident earlier in my career – that I had the confidence to speak up, offer my opinions, and ask questions I should have asked.”

“I always got kudos for the quality of my work, but not the recognition I should have gotten. If nobody knows you, it’s hard to progress in your career. My daughter is 27 and I give her that advice all the time. I’m trying to instill in her that guidance.”

Industry Issues

“As an industry that’s certainly still working its way out of the crisis, my role in comp has definitely changed over the years as the focus on pay has evolved,” Beaudoin explained.

“ING U.S. IM, being a US company with a European parent company, faces additional challenges. The EU guidelines are much more stringent when it comes to compensation than in the US. We have to walk a fine line – complying with the guidelines but still being competitive in the US market.”

“It’s a balancing act, like walking a tight rope,” she continued. “But I enjoy the challenge of retaining key talent and complying with these stringent rules.”

Beaudoin said the uncertainty surrounding the financial services industry also makes her job interesting. “Whether it’s Dodd Frank or Say on Pay, everybody seems to be afraid to make the first move. We’re all just sitting and waiting to see which direction we need to move into.”

Women in Financial Services

Beaudoin said that financial services is still a male dominated industry, but times are changing. “There are certainly more women graduating from college. We need to be able to provide the opportunities that will be engaging to women in the industry.”

She continued, “Women are our client base – women control over 50% of the wealth. If women are our clients, shouldn’t we have women at the table?”

She advised women beginning their careers to network and seek out sponsors. “Find someone you can go to and talk to about various situations you are going through at work,” she said. “Make the connection – you never know what direction they’re going to take you. I had a connection with HR, and I never thought it would be something I would be interested in.”

“And always remember there’s no experience you can’t learn something from,” she added.

When it comes to work life balance, she continued, “You need to realize it’s never going to be perfect. Technology has provided more flexibility – I certainly wish I’d had more of that!” But I don’t think anybody can expect that work life balance is going to be perfect.”

There could also be more work done to engage senior female leaders at the top of organizations, she believes. “Because we’re such a male dominated field in investment management, there are certainly fewer women in senior positions. Until we start seeing more women in senior roles, young women will still see a glass ceiling.”

She encouraged senior women to take on mentoring roles and emphasized the importance of speaking up and asking questions. “Even now at the table, it seems like men are asking the majority of questions. If you ask people questions in the right manner, if they’re truly passionate about their job, they love to talk about it and they love to answer questions.”

“There’s so much to learn,” she continued. “It’s important at the senior level to build your knowledge base and I think you can do it by asking the right people the right questions.”

Beaudoin praised the company’s formal mentoring program. “I’ve participated as a mentor and a mentee. It’s a phenomenal program and it stands out to me as a great program. Sitting in HR, I do have privy to the list and we try to pair up the right mentors and mentees. I’m very proud of this program.”

As far as other programs, she continued, “We’re also always looking to provide opportunities at that middle level to do speaking engagements externally and internally. We do lunch and learns that showcase female talent.”

In Her Personal Time

“My family is obviously number one to me,” she said. “I have a husband and a daughter who just got married a few years ago. It’s fun to see her start her family.”

Beaudoin said one of her interests outside work is interior design. “I’m so left brained inside work, outside I need to do something creative,” she said with a laugh. “I started out helping friends and family and it’s slowly becoming my passion.”