Voice of Experience: Anjun Zhou, PhD, Managing Director and Head of Multi-Asset Research, Mellon Capital

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Anjun Zhou, PhD, Managing Director and Head of Mutli-Asset Research at Mellon Capital, it’s important to maintain your drive for advancement. “There’s no such thing as staying where you are,” she said.

“There are people at my level who just stop pushing themselves. They say, ‘I’ve reached this point. I’m good enough.’ But if you stop continuing to improve yourself and pushing the envelope, it would do a disservice to you and your company.”

Zhou continued, “I often use the analogy of paddling upstream. If you’re not moving forward, you’re going backward. Don’t be complacent about where you are – always be competitive. This is particularly imperative for research and development. We need to be constantly innovative and think outside box; otherwise we are just going to be left behind.”

Career in Investment Management

Before joining Mellon Capital, Zhou worked at Detusche Bank Asset Management and then Morgan Stanley Investment Management as co-Portfolio Manager and Head of Research. It was there that she learned the importance of strategic thinking. “By understanding the industry trends and having a big picture in mind, we would be in a better position to anticipate what our clients’ needs down the road. It’d also help us to develop and leverage our strength.”

Zhou has been with Mellon Capital for three years now as Managing Director and Head of Multi-Asset Research. She oversees over 20 individuals, working to enhance the firm’s investment strategies across asset classes, from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives. Her team also works closely with the firm’s distribution teams to design and develop client solutions.

“We recently designed two major investment solutions to meet client needs. The first is a holistic real asset solution framework. As the risk of unexpected inflation rises, a typical 60/40 stock/bond portfolio would lose value. We propose a suite of solutions to help our clients protect their portfolio against unexpected inflation without giving up expected returns.” Zhou continued. “People are not worried about inflation risk at this point, but they need to start thinking about it now, even if it is for two to three years down the road.”

The second investment solution is called dynamic total return strategy, which leverages Mellon Capital’s 23-year successful track record and offers upside capture with downside control. “It’d take years of asset allocation expertise and dynamic, forward-looking macro views to get this right.”

“We have expanded our investment and economic forecast coverage from global developed markets to emerging markets – an area we see a lot of opportunities for growth.”

Advice for Women in Investment Management

Zhou explained that while at early stage of her investment career, she found it highly helpful to have access to career advice from some of the senior women. “When I worked at Deutsche Bank, I was part of the Women on Wall Street (WOWS) network and benefited tremendously from attending some of the WOWS events. I was truly grateful for those senior women on the Street to share their life experience and offer career advice. Sometimes they pointed out things that weren’t obvious to me – such as the behavioral differences between men and women.”

She continued, “As women, we often put our heads down and think that by working hard we will get noticed. For those who work with good bosses, that would happen. But in certain organizations and cultures, you need to have your voice heard.”

“Here at Mellon Capital, the culture is so collegial and supportive that we don’t find people coming in and bragging about themselves, but it’s not necessarily the same in other places.”

Seeking both mentors and sponsors (or advocates) is another key to advancement, she continued. “A mentor is someone who you can trust to discuss work-related issues. An advocate is someone who pounds the table on your behalf behind closed doors. It is important to have a mentor, perhaps outside your organization, and an advocate who can notice your work and sponsor your success.”

She explained, “You don’t have to always think about this explicitly, but the bottom line is that if you do a good job, be strategic, step up to opportunities and challenge yourself, people inside and outside your organization will notice as you develop a reputation. Try to help your firm and your business first and foremost, it will go a long way.”

Zhou spoke highly of Mellon Capital’s leadership role in supporting professional women. “Our CEO Gabriela Parcella is a strong advocate in this area. She has been hosting women-related networking events, such as Women in Investing (WIN) and other events co-sponsored with BNY Mellon. It is highly beneficial for professional women in the local area and beyond to get to know each other.”

In Her Personal Time

Outside work, Zhou loves to travel and play sports – she mentioned skiing and tennis. She’s also a karaoke enthusiast whose repertoire includes songs from Mariah Carey and Celine Dion to Simon and Garfunkel, as well as Chinese folk songs.