Voice of Experience: Marie O’Connor, Partner, PwC Ireland

Marie O’Connor, a Partner at PwC Ireland, was always interested in mathematics. However, when she decided to pursue Accounting at the College of Commerce, Rathmines, she encountered a slight hurdle. At the time, this business school had not yet opened its doors to female students, but this would change when O’ Connor submitted her application.
“All it took was for someone to knock on the door, and then the barrier came down,” noted O’Connor.

While O’Connor was completing her Accounting degree in business school, she applied for a traineeship position at a PriceWaterhouseCoopers firm where she was one of six females accepted in a class of fifty total graduates. This program established the foundation for O’Connor’s career at PwC Ireland, where she would eventually become the first woman to be made a partner. “I have stayed at PwC for my entire career,” she said, “and I am quite fortunate to have had a variety of roles and experiences here in Ireland and internationally as well.”

A Rewarding Career at PwC Ireland

Becoming a partner at PwC is one of O’Connor’s proudest professional achievements. “Since becoming a partner, I take pride in representing PwC Ireland around the world and enabling Ireland to be a place where companies want to do business,” said O’Connor. She also looks back at the twelve years she spent successfully leading and growing the Investment Management team practice as a very rewarding period in her career.

O’Connor noted, “Today, locally we have 350 people in the Investment Management practice and 17 partners, of which half are women. Growing this practice and developing the networks was very important for me.”

According to O’Connor, the regulatory environment of the asset management industry is presenting many challenges for companies trying to remain competitive while continuing to forge strong client relationships. “There is so much regulation in Europe right now, and more in the pipeline. It is critical for asset managers to be involved in discussions around all these issues to ensure that we can make sense of the regulatory agenda and enable companies to do good business while building trust with investors,” said O’Connor.

She added, “At the end of the day we all want to grow sustainable business”, In addition to the diverse career path O’Connor has enjoyed at PwC, she has also benefited greatly from various non-executive director roles she has had the opportunity to participate in. “Being able to see business from a different angle has contributed to my own professional development and has given me a new range of ideas and experiences to share with others,” noted O’Connor.

Building Strong Networks

O’ Connor emphasized the importance of establishing and maintaining good networks at every stage of your career. Although O’Connor was the only woman in her business school class, she never felt excluded. In fact, she stated that because she was the only woman, everyone knew who she was, which opened up many opportunities for networking.

As a partner, O’Connor recognizes the impact she can have on the managers and senior managers within the asset management department. This is why she encourages everyone she works with to develop their soft skills. “Given the fact that Asset Management is a relatively small industry, it is important that we know our clients personally and understand their business and organizations, especially with US organizations, before we can even consider engaging in conversations about our clients doing business from Europe,” stated O’Connor.

She added, “It is critical that our team is comfortable in that type of networking environment, and that they understand the wider business arena. This is why we encourage our senior leadership to participate in seminars and conferences to spread the message about what a strong base Ireland can provide for asset management companies.”

According to O’Connor, the networking process has evolved along with digital technology, but she underscored the value of making the time for face-to-face meetings when establishing relationships with clients and colleagues. She advised, “After you have established a contact through a face-to-face meeting, it is easier to rely on social networking, email, and video conferencing to cultivate that relationship.” O’Connor added, “People are competing for new business, and to me it seems more genuine to build a relationship with a client in person.”

Women in Financial Services

Out of the 2,000+ employees at PwC Ireland, women represent 26 percent of the partners and a larger percentage of senior managers. O’ Connor is very encouraged by the tremendous progress that has been made in women’s leadership in asset management, both in Ireland and internationally. “I see companies enveloping the concept of diversity much more actively,” noted O’Connor. She added, “There are quite a number of programs now to encourage women to participate willfully in the workforce and give them the tools to advance in their careers.”

When O’Connor was advancing in her career at PwC, she admits that she was not as conscious as she is now about the importance of developing a mentoring system behind you as you advance. “I presumed others behind me would advance in their careers naturally, but I see the benefit now of having more focused programs in place to promote mentoring and networking and encouraging everyone, not only women, to participate in those programs,” she said.

O’Connor advises young women and men entering the asset management industry to always be themselves, make the effort to reach out to people, and take advantage of the opportunities to collaborate with their peers. “The team approach is something I have fostered all throughout my career,” said O’Connor, “and it is something that is important at every stage of your career.”

She added, “It is so important to be approachable, friendly, and interested in the people working around you every day. You need to help those people achieve what they want to achieve in their career and enable a nice environment where the whole team can thrive and hopefully have fun also!.”

Outside the Office

When O’Connor is not in the office, she enjoys walking, going to the theater and spending valuable time with her four adult children. “I certainly prioritize being with family,” said O’Connor.

By Michelle Hendelman