Voice of Experience: Yvonne Downs, COO Futures Division, Jefferies & Co., Inc.

YvonneDownsThis week The Glass Hammer is profiling successful women in the derivatives industry.

By Tina Vasquez, Managing Editor

Yvonne Downs is COO of Jefferies LLC futures division, though her 30-year long career in the futures industry began after she graduated from college and began looking for a job in accounting/finance.

“A friend suggested I consider joining the Chicago Board of Trade in their compliance department auditing firms who were users of the futures markets. I went to the interview and found that it was a fast-paced business that was in a constant state of change. I was hooked immediately,” Downs said.

The COO says that when she entered the industry, it required making decisions quickly, having a deep knowledge of the intricacies of business process, a strong financial background, and a strong sense of one’s self.

At the Chicago Board of Trade, Downs worked her way through all aspects of the Exchange business, from working on accounting for the futures business, financial analysis, trade practices, to looking at how trading and settlement occurred and assisting in the development of new products and services for the Exchange. Downs became SVP and ultimately oversaw the compliance/enforcement activities, coordinated with the Clearing Corporation, and worked with the executive committee and board of directors on strategic and governance issues.

Downs has also managed compliance efforts at top global brokerage firms, leading the effort to develop global compliance programs during periods of expansion in what Downs says was the “fast-paced and quickly evolving world of derivatives trading.”

“I am most proud of being able to be successful on both sides of the futures business, on the compliance side and on the revenue generating side,” Downs said. “It means that I have been able to strike the balance between ensuring that things are done with the best interests of all participants: the customers, the employees, and the firm.”

Developing Relationships
Before starting her career, Downs says she wish she would have understood the importance of developing relationships.

“I was very focused on working hard to learn all the aspects of the business and I wish I had taken a bit more time to get to know my peers, colleagues, and leaders within the firms,” Downs said. “I have found that it is the relationships that you develop along the way that make you successful and are as important as your understanding of the business.”

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Voice of Experience: Christina McCaughey, Managing Director, Futures & OTC Clearing Sales, State Street Global Exchange

Christina McCaugheyThis week The Glass Hammer is profiling successful women in the derivatives industry.

By Tina Vasquez, Managing Editor

Christina McCaughey has had a storied career in the financial services industry, which has included being the go-to expert when futures trading began to migrate away from the floors onto the screen. She has worked for some of the industry’s biggest names across three countries and become a prominent figure in the derivatives industry, but it’s a career that she could have missed entirely.

McCaughey came from a family of engineers, so when it was time to enter college, engineering seemed like the clear choice. It didn’t take long for her to realize that engineering wasn’t for her. “I quickly wasn’t happy,” she laughed. After she decided to leave the field of study, McCaughey spent a semester taking only classes that interested her, including Econ 101. It led to a degree in the field – and a burning desire to work on Wall Street.

“I graduated in the early 90’s during a recession. I didn’t have an MBA. I was reading the newspaper every day and Wall Street sounded so dynamic and full of opportunity, but the question was how to get there,” the managing director said.

The key turned out to be an international program that required going to business school in Germany for a semester, followed by an internship with a Fortune 500 company in Germany. So enthused by the idea, McCaughey extended her education by a year just for the possibility of receiving an internship at Salomon Brothers (now Citigroup).

“I wanted it so badly and I believed this would be the opportunity to get my foot in the door. If I could just get in, I was confident I could prove myself,” McCaughey said. “I thought I would be there for six months tops; I ended up working for Salomon Brothers/Citigroup for over 11-years. It was the opportunity I needed, so I never looked back.”

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Voice of Experience: Lynn Martin, CEO, NYSE Liffe U.S. and New York Portfolio Clearing

Lynn MartinThis week The Glass Hammer is profiling successful women in the derivatives industry.

By Jessica Titlebaum

Lynn Martin’s father played a large part in getting her to where she is now. As an engineer, he worked long hours and six day weeks, but always made it home in time for family dinner. Following in his footsteps, Martin pursued a career in computer engineering. After graduating magna cum laude from Manhattan College with a BS in Computer Science, she worked full time at IBM and went to graduate school at Columbia University for Mathematical Finance.

“I did not have the usual programmer personality,” Martin said. “I have a very quantitative mind, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. During grad school, I interviewed everywhere, from quant desks at banks to law firms specializing in IP litigation.”

Martin first heard about the London International Financial Futures Exchange (Liffe) in her coursework at Columbia when studying financial modeling, which is also how she came across Euribor. Short for the “Euro Interbank Offered Rate”, the average interest rate that European banks borrow funds from one another at, the Euribor was an important reference rate in the European money market.

“Around the time I completed my master’s coursework, I heard about a business development position at Liffe in New York,” Martin said. “They were looking for someone with a technology background to connect users in the US to their newly-launched electronic platform. I only had a cursory level of knowledge of the products they traded.”

Emerging Woman in Derivatives
As an emerging woman in derivatives, Martin was hired at just 25-years-old as vice president of Liffe to build the distribution of the LIFFE CONNECT platform in the United States. With a large responsibility at a growing new company, Martin learned quickly that you need to “know what you don’t know.”

“Any time you walk into a new job thinking you know everything about that job or company, you are doing yourself and the company a disservice,” she said. “Every company has subject matter experts. Ask them questions when you are unsure about a topic. Most importantly, though, treat the subject matter experts with the respect they deserve.”

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Voice of Experience: Gail Cohen, Vice Chairman and General Trust Counsel, Fiduciary Trust Company International

:ÌpBy Tina Vasquez, Managing Editor

Gail Cohen says that her career in law “happened by happenstance.” Out of college, she was hired by a trust and estate attorney because she could type, but ended up staying with the firm for 10 years during which time she became a paralegal, attended law school, and became an attorney.

“When I finished college and began working for the law firm, I thought about going to law school, but I had no clear direction,” Cohen said. “I had no idea what kind of law and honestly, at the time I had no idea what trust law was.”

After working at her first small law firm, Cohen spent several more years working for a large international law firm, Cohen then took a position with Fiduciary Trust, where she has spent the last 20-years of her career, now serving as vice chairman and general trust counsel. Currently, she is in the process of opening up a new office for Fiduciary Trust located in Boca Raton, FL.

“This is the kind of work that truly excites me because it’s entrepreneurial,” Cohen said. “I’m spearheading the project and it’s a lot of responsibility: a new office in a new market, requiring that we build our reputation. It’s almost like a start-up. It’s thrilling!”

The Challenges of Leadership
As vice chairman and general counsel, Cohen is a leader at Fiduciary Trust and as such, her biggest challenge, she says, mirrors the challenge leaders in any industry encounter: making sure the people you’re working with can do their job well.

“Day-in-day-out, that is a big responsibility and a big challenge,” she said. “The goal is to give people the tools, resources, and knowledge they need to accomplish their role and fulfill their responsibilities.”

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Voice of Experience: Samantha Kappagoda, Chief Economist & Co-Founder, Risk Economics, Inc.

Samantha KappagodaBy Hadley Catalano

Samantha Kappagoda, Chief Economist and Co-Founder of Risk Economics, Inc. in New York City, loves puzzles. She sees equations and hidden patterns woven throughout all aspects of life – from the Fibonacci sequence in a nautilus to the socioeconomic trends of an aging workforce – and feels compelled to solve them.

For Kappagoda, who is also the Co-Lead Investigator at the RiskEcon Lab for Decision Metrics and a visiting scholar at Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences at New York University, analytical problems are the fuel driving her dedication to her profession. An occupation she sees more than just a career, but a perpetuation of the legacy of all female mathematicians and statisticians.

“There have always been women scientists, but the current perception is not necessarily accurate, in that their contributions are under-represented,” said Kappagoda, recently named the 2013 Women of Distinction by the Girls Scouts of Greater New York.

Kappagoda explained that women have always had significant scientific influence, although the archetype of the profession often tends to be misleading.

“One of the main barriers to success for women in STEM is that the world does not tend to have the complete picture of these women’s great accomplishments and contributions to their fields,” Kappagoda said. This includes women like Ada Byron King, metaphysician and founder of scientific computing, as well as actress Hedy Lamarr, who patented an idea in 1942 for frequency hopping, which later supported secure military communications and mobile phone technology.

This is why Kappagoda encourages women pursuing economics, statistics, and mathematics to develop skills and build camaraderie.

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Voice of Experience: Gloria M. Grandolini, Country Director for Mexico and Colombia, World Bank

gloriagrandoliniBy Irene Solaz (Madrid)

Gloria M. Grandolini, Country Director for Mexico and Colombia at the World Bank, has never regretted her choice. She began her career as a traditional macroeconomist when she joined the World Bank 23 years ago, and later substituted her technical responsibilities for those of an executive working for the strategic and management dimensions.

“Since day one I have been working and taking decisions aimed at providing better opportunities to others, with a wider understanding of the global context, and the political and socioeconomic dynamics.”

Experience in the World Bank
It wasn’t easy in the beginning. Ten years ago, as a macroeconomist, she became the World Bank Treasury Manager and, later, the Director of the Financial Products group.

She felt overwhelmed because she did not have any experience in this area, and managing a group of traders and Finance PhDs as well as working with the increasing responsibilities of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis proved to be hard. But the management skills she had learned in her previous jobs allowed her to “bring a different perspective to the group”.

“I feel most proud of mentoring more junior staff along my career. Today, I feel pride and joy when I see many of them succeeding and reaching managerial positions.”

Grandolini has learned a lot along the way. “The chemistry and loyalty with the people you work with, both your boss and your closest colleagues, make a huge difference in terms of work environment, support, trust and ultimately your success.”

She also notes that “all money-related arrangements need to be stated in writing. Verbal agreements are not enough. And I’m not referring to salary arrangements but to any work-related matter or agreement related to money matters – such as budgets!”

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Movers & Shakers: Stephanie Weimer, Regional Vice President, ING U.S. Investment Management (ING U.S. IM)

 

women shaking handsWhile attending Pennsylvania State University, a friend’s father, who was President of Sun Life Financial Distributors, told Stephanie Weimer that she absolutely had to get into financial services. “I looked at him like he was crazy,” Weimer laughed. He said, “‘You’re smart and there aren’t enough women in the industry. If you enter it, you’ll be really successful.’”

He was right, of course.

Weimer is now Regional Vice President where she wholesales various mutual funds and separately-managed account products throughout the New England area. This is Weimer’s sixth year in the role and she has consistently ranked as one of the top salespeople for the company, despite covering one of the smaller regional areas.

From CIA to ING

Even upon entering the industry in 2006, Weimer still had no idea that financial services would be her career path. She had every intention of being a field agent in the CIA. When her friend’s father – the same man who urged her to enter the industry – offered her a job as an internal wholesaler with Sun Life, she gave him a one-year commitment as she waited for a background check with the CIA to clear. The problem was that her clearance went through quickly. As a woman of her word, she decided to maintain her commitment with Sun Life.

“It worked out for the best. I don’t dwell on it and I’m truly happy with where I am – and I’ve really come to love this industry,” Weimer said. “I learned the ropes with Sun Life, beginning as an internal wholesaler. In less than two years, I was offered a job as an external wholesaler with ING U.S. IM. That’s a quick move from internal to external.”

Interestingly it’s the skills that Weimer believed would make her successful in the CIA that have proven to be the most helpful in her success in financial services.

“I love to figure out what makes people tick and find out what they need and help them find a solution. Effective communication has proven to be one of my strongest assets,” Weimer said.

The Business of Golf

Weimer says that when first starting out in the industry, she wishes she would have understood the importance of having a good golf game. In first grade, her mom enrolled her in a junior golf league, but she had no patience for it.

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Voice of Experience: Christina Minnis, Managing Director in Healthcare M&A Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs

Christina MinnisChristina Minnis says that upon graduating from Yale in 1987, she had no real experience in the financial services industry and absolutely no Wall Street experience. “I was an intern at a bank and that was the extent of it,” Minnis said.

She obtained her Master of Management degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1991 before forging her career with Goldman Sachs beginning in 1998, where she began as a vice president in the Investment Banking Division (IBD), focusing on leveraged finance deals primarily for the financial sponsors group. In 2001, Minnis joined the Fixed Income Division as part of Capital Markets and focused on industrials followed by healthcare. She was named managing director in 2004 and partner in 2008.

Today, Minnis is co-head of Goldman Sachs’ Healthcare Group in the Americas and head of the Healthcare Leveraged Finance Group and the Pension Strategies Group. She serves as a member of the IBD Operating Committee, and the Global Recruiting Council, while also co-heading global recruiting for IBD and serving as the chair of diversity for IBD.

Healthcare: A Thriving Industry

Of her many achievements, it is her work in the Healthcare Group that Minnis is most proud of.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we have built in our Leveraged Finance healthcare franchise. When we started, the healthcare leveraged finance revenue was less than $10 million and the team consisted of myself and an analyst,” Minnis said. “Now we’ve built our team up to seven people, and we’re fully integrated into banking. It’s been an amazing collaboration and a terrific accomplishment.”

It’s an interesting and exciting time to be working in healthcare from the perspective of the investment banking industry. The Affordable Care Act has created a great deal of change, and though Minnis says there are many challenges, there are also “great opportunities.”

“So many people choose the healthcare field because they want to add good to the world by developing useful technology and helping the quality of care. This is a dynamic time in history for this industry and though the role I play in investment banking is very different, it’s exciting to be a part of it,” Minnis said.

The People Part

Minnis says that many coming into the investment banking industry are unaware how crucial good client skills are.

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Voice of Experience: Stephanie Schnabel, Managing Director, Corporate Development, Accenture

Stephanie K. SchnabelBy Tina Vasquez, Editor

Stephanie Schnabel joined Accenture in April of 2001 and since 2005, she has led the organization’s corporate development efforts where she is responsible for the evaluation and execution of all potential global acquisitions and divestitures. Though she’s had a stellar career in M&A, what motivates her is not the acknowledgment of her peers, but rather the impression she is gifting her daughters.

“I’m a working mom with two young daughters and I want to ensure I’m a positive role model for them,” Schnabel said. “My mother was a professional in a male dominated industry and the first woman to get her master’s degree in mechanical engineering in the former East Germany. She encouraged me to have confidence in my capabilities, to work hard and to execute, and she continues to be a valuable role model for me at the young age of 87.”

Driving Growth
The Princeton University and Wharton alumna says that the one common theme in her successful career thus far has been “working to drive growth.”

In college, she worked for General Electric in their Plastics and their Nuclear Energy Businesses, which were industries “at very different stages of maturity, facing very different growth challenges.” Upon graduating, she worked as a strategy consultant developing growth strategies for clients in North America and Europe. Later, she utilized these skills at the private equity firm Catterton Partners, providing growth capital to businesses. Before joining Accenture, Schnabel took on the role of interim CEO at one of Catterton’s portfolio companies.

At Accenture, Schnabel works in close collaboration with Accenture’s leadership around the globe to ensure the organization is developing the right strategies and identifying and executing transactions.

“I have the pleasure of working with a strong team and we work with diverse parts of our business to acquire technology and services businesses to help further Accenture’s differentiation in key growth sectors,” Schnabel said. “I’m most proud of my role in developing a robust corporate development capability and driving impactful transactions for Accenture. I’m also proud of being able to tackle the diverse issues that arise in this field, including being able to navigate constant change in the technology space and deal with the economic, cultural, and business considerations of doing transactions on a global basis – while maintaining a fulfilling family life with my husband and two young daughters.”

Maximizing Your Impact
The recent Accenture survey “Defining Success” resonated with Schnabel deeply, as it highlighted the importance of personally defining success.

“It’s so important to maintain your drive, but you also need to know yourself well enough to know how to maximize your impact,” Schnabel said. “I am a mother, wife, daughter, and a working professional and face many of the same balance challenges other women face. It is critical to occasionally step back and think about how you can be most effective across all your priorities. We need to be honest with ourselves and focus on impact and efficacy, not just putting in long hours. It’s important to keep your eyes on your long-term goals and maintain your drive to reach your potential.”

Entering M&A
Schnabel says the M&A field is highly demanding, but it’s possible to have a fulfilling life, including family and other interests.

“Women entering this industry should recognize that it may not be easy, but much of their destiny is in their hands and it’s extremely important to keep focused on your long-term goals,” Schnabel said. “Think of your career as a chess game, not just thinking of your next move, but what position you want to be in a few moves down the board.”

The managing director also suggests focusing on effectiveness, impact, and continually challenging yourself as to how you can best leverage your skills to benefit your stakeholders. Schnabel also places emphasis on the importance of mentors, asserting that your best mentors don’t have to be women.

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Movers & Shakers: Rhiannon Wood, Senior Manager M&A Private Equity, PricewaterhouseCoopers

women on boardsWhen Rhiannon Wood began in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ audit department as a graduate in 2004, there was no way for her to know that she’d be part of the world’s largest professional services firm’s most pivotal global program. Though she’s spent the last six years in the firm’s M&A tax team working with a variety of private equity houses and corporations on international transactions, it wasn’t until this year that she was asked to join PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Genesis Park program, designated for the firm’s top five percent of senior performers.

“I’d say it’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened in my career,” Wood said. “It’s a 12-month program that enables us to spend six-weeks working on personal development and strategic projects for our global board. It really feels like being a part of change for our business in the UK and globally.”

Wood’s six-weeks were up in September and she says the most important takeaway was the focus the program had on authenticity.

“There are a lot of discussions happening about what it means to be authentic or how to be an authentic leader, but what does that really mean? Oftentimes it’s just talking in concepts,” Wood said. “In the program, we spent a lot time focusing on the question of what is authenticity. We discussed how knowing your own values is central to the idea and how we can spot values in others and perhaps most importantly, how to live by our own values on a personal and professional level in order to be a more authentic leader.”

Now that she’s completed her time in the program, Wood says that the most exciting thing she’s working on is helping the firm invest in the future and the “next generation of leadership.”

“PwC is trying to be at the forefront of the industry when it comes to leadership, talent development, and diversity. It’s an exciting time to be with the firm. So many people are receptive to these groundbreaking ideas,” Wood said.

Don’t Let Your Plans Get In The Way

As a senior manager reflecting back on her first years in the industry, Wood says she wishes that she would have understood earlier that there is no one way of doing things. Ambition, she says, is a good thing, but becoming too fixated on your plan rather than on the journey can prove to be problematic.

“You can let your plans get in the way of unexpected opportunities that come across your path,” Wood said. “You need to recognize things as opportunities, rather than diversions. In the end, you’ll regret what you didn’t take, not what you did.”

Embracing Strong Personalities

Before entering M&A, Wood also says it’s important to understand that it’s a field inhabited by strong personalities and strong opinions, both of which require working with and navigating around.

“The most overlooked portion of this job is the people management piece,” Wood said. “There are a lot of ideas as to what an ideal transaction should look like versus what it actually looks like. You have to get stakeholders on board with everything you do and sometimes that means working with 20 stakeholders with very strong personalities and different agendas. The end goal is the same for everyone, but it makes getting a transaction done incredibly tricky. It’s just a matter of getting where we all want to be.”

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