Voice of Experience: Maria Hackley, Managing Director, Global Financial Institution Group, Citi

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Maria Hackley believes that women need to ensure they are as well prepared as their male counterparts to rise in the corporate world. Women and men are hired in almost equal amounts as undergraduates, but as they climb the ladder, the numbers change. “Be assertive in a respectful manner, but make sure your voice is heard,” she says.

Success in the Citi

Hackley joined Citi directly after earning her undergraduate degree in finance from Georgetown University. Because of her fluency in Spanish and Portuguese, she joined the Latin America Corporate Bank and was able to align herself with globally minded companies, helping manage transactions across global barriers.

After two years, she was tapped for an intriguing assignment – looking into Citi’s storied acquisition history to determine success metrics – did the companies meet the benchmarks that were intended when they were proposed? “I had an exciting year interviewing senior management as part of the research,” she said. “I really learned the intricacies of the deals as I analyzed how the transactions were approved and subsequently performed.”

Following the year-long research project, she spent five years as an analyst with the Financial Institutions Group, covering banks and thrifts in the New York and New Jersey region. She then switched industries to cover mid-cap insurance groups for the next five years, before moving to large-cap companies.

A mentor who ran the Corporate Bank suggested she raise her profile internally, which led to her starting the Corporate Banks’ Diversity Committees and becoming more involved in the firm’s recruiting efforts. “These two important activities outside of my ‘day job’ allowed me to achieve a high level of visibility,” she says.

Eventually she was tapped to be the team captain for GE, a high-profile position covering one of the firm’s largest clients. Her role entailed delivering Citi’s entire portfolio from a product solutions perspective on a global basis to more than 70 countries.

Over the course of her career, she has specialized in assignments like this – working with large publicly traded, complex, multi-product, global clients that bank across the firm.

A career success she particularly relishes was originating one of the largest equity offerings during the financial crisis with an insurance company, despite the fact that the world was in economic crisis.. “A 12-year relationship allowed us to have the opportunity to talk to the senior team about possibilities about going on offense. We brought in senior management from Citi to position our advice and capabilities, and we ended up raising $1.4 billion in common stock.”

Hackley says that the reason they were successful was because of Citi’s reputation, which provided security during a volatile time. After providing the road map for how to successfully raise equity during challenging times, her team was tapped again to help with some global financing when the markets turned. “It was unusual to be offered the lead role in back-to-back deals, and was certainly a high point in my career,” says Hackley. Currently, she’s involved with another complicated and high-profile transaction, assisting a credit card company with a capital raise and financing.

Involvement with Citi Women

Hackley has been highly involved with Citi Women, the company’s leadership organization that helps to promote, develop and retain high-potential managing directors and directors. Her main role is to lead a framework for graduates of leadership development programs to assist them in raising their profile with senior management, increasing their network as well as their development.

One of their signature programs is a senior speaker series where traveling women make time to speak with subsets of these graduates to share best practices.

For example, when she was recently in Asia for GE, Hackley met with local women to share tips on retaining clients and insights on strategies for career success.

“Our goal is to retain senior women within the company, so we want to leverage our efforts and maximize engagement with these women. The goal is to really connect with them and show them that Citi is a smaller place.”

Advice for Other Women

Hackley touts the importance of having a broad network, outside of your particular silo or division. “To be in a position to be promoted and eventually become managing director, you have to have broad reach of peers and seniors across the firm.”

She also counsels women to seek out their own sponsors, in addition to mentors who might be assigned to them. Hackley says she received sponsorship from a number of senior colleagues because of her successful transactions, as well as through her work with women’s initiatives and recruiting. “I can influence others because I have senior professionals backing me.”

In addition, she says that risk-taking early in a career — taking a global assignment for example — will pay dividends over time. “Ask for incremental responsibility and new assignments if you find you are not fully challenged by your current position. When you’re given a stretch assignment, take it. They are calling on you because they think you have the capabilities. Over time you’ll get the right support to make sure you succeed.”

She also says that it’s important to tap the resources of the firm – both from a management perspective as well as being fluent in content and product expertise.

“When I look for leaders, I seek out individuals who are are culture carriers and are intellectually passionate. They need to be good communicators who can build strong relationship with clients, and both junior and senior management.

And finally, she says that both men and women need to identify their strengths and stay focused on those. “Find others who can complement your weaknesses.”

She believes her peers need to continue to look for strategic opportunities throughout the firm. “It’s critical that successful leaders stay involved outside of their day job. Volunteer to teach and mentor those under you. That kind of leadership gives you visibility.”

Outside of Work

Hackley maintains a full schedule outside of Citi, as well. Married, with two daughters, Cristina, 22, and Helena, 19, she still finds time to volunteer for a variety of worthy non-profits.

By Cathie Ericson