Voice of Experience: Carolyn N. Dolan, Founding Principal, Samson Capital Advisors
by Elizabeth Harrin (London)
“I wish I could say that I woke up one morning and decided to leave my social work profession to work in the investment management business,” says Carolyn N. Dolan, founding principal at New York-based Samson Capital Advisors. “But, in reality, the change was gradual and the piece that did not fit into my background and my academic strengths was the social work experience.”
Carolyn graduated from college in 1968 with a political science major and a math minor. She says that women then only had a handful options – teacher, administrative assistant, Peace Corps volunteer, airline stewardess, to name a few. “In my search for employment, I took a civil service test and wound up working for the State of New Jersey as a caseworker watching over the lives of children under the age of 18.”
It’s been an interesting journey from the seven years as a social worker that Carolyn describes as “the most enlightening years of my life” to the role she plays now, as a principal in a smaller investment management firm. “My role is divided between investment management and working on two senior committees in managing the firm,” she explains.
The Path to Fund Management
There were a few steps between social work and Samson. “I went back to graduate school thinking I would return to social work as a head of a program and went through a joint degree program at Columbia for Social Work and Business,” Carolyn says. As she was studying, she found the business side of the degree much more interesting than the social work classes, partly because she enjoyed– and was good at – the numerical elements, and also because she could use her people skills to good effect.
“Most importantly, I am the type of person who puts myself totally in my role whether it is wife, mother or specific profession,” she says. “I had to face the hard truth that a person wanting to make a difference in a social work position would have to dedicate their life to it. I was not prepared to do that.”
It was a tough decision, but Carolyn left social work and joined the world of finance. Her first few years after grad school were at a life insurance company, first as a quantitative analyst and then working on restructuring a large Taft-Hartley plan. “My objective had always been portfolio management as I knew that I wanted to be an analyst and then be able to invest based on the results of my analysis,” she says.
Four years out of grad school she had the opportunity to join a large money management firm, but it didn’t go quite to plan. The company was purchased by a much larger firm just nine months later. “I decided that I could not let my career be put on hold as the managers above me figured out their positions on the new playing field,” Carolyn explains. “So I joined a smaller group of people who had just started an investment advisory business of a Swiss bank.”
That group later bought themselves away from the Swiss bank and began to build a firm that would become OFFITBANK, where Carolyn worked with high net worth individuals on equities and bonds. She was managing director in charge of the high net worth area when the company was purchased by Wachovia. “I continued this role but found my position becoming more administrative,” she says. The move away from Wachovia took Carolyn to Samson.
Boutique money management for high net worth individuals seems a world away from dealing with at-risk children as a social worker, but Carolyn believes the skill sets are complementary. “I have always been strong in math and had strong analytical skills,” she says. “I feel that those same skills were required in social work because so much of what you were dealing with required an understanding of how a person arrived at their current situation. As a social worker, I learned to listen to the stories and experiences of others and to assess their situation. The same applies to an investment.”
The Future of Women in Fund Management
Career changes might be less common among women who graduated in the 60’s, but Carolyn believes it is the way forward for young women now. “I believe that every young person today will experience at least three and probably more career changes,” she says. “One has to be prepared for changes that are both internal and external—we have seen industries and jobs vanish because of changing technology and I expect this to continue. Women as well as men must continue educating themselves. The only way I could change my career was by returning to school and it was one of the best life choices I have made.”
Carolyn points out that only 35% of students at the major business schools are women, which has a knock-on effect on the number of women entering investment management. “Investment management is male–dominated just in the sense that managers of the companies tend to be men and some of the more highly visible managers are men,” she says. “I think that the management groups of the companies as well as the hedge fund industry is male dominated. There are several women analysts and managers. I do wish there were more women in the business because those that are in the business do a terrific job.”
While Carolyn wouldn’t leave the boutique money management arena because of the focus it allows her to place on providing good service to her clients, she does see herself continuing to merge both of her backgrounds. “I would like to eventually be involved with a large foundation in some capacity,” she says. “As a social worker I learned how different the lives of others were versus mine. The basics of life that I had taken for granted were not available to so many children. My education and my experiences through the years have made me sensitive to environmental and life issues that must be improved both in the developed and emerging countries.” Any foundation that finds itself with Carolyn on the board will be very lucky to have her.
