Voice of Experience: Leah Modigliani, Senior Vice President, Investment Strategy and Risk, Neuberger Berman

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Be yourself,” advised Leah Modigliani, Senior Vice President of Investment Strategy and Risk at Neuberger Berman. She has spent her career studying risk and advising investors on how to manage it. Today, she works with pension funds, endowments, and foundations as a multi-asset class strategist. She encouraged young women to find a way to link their professional interests with their passion.

“Find a way to match what you are interested in with an organization that does it well. Rather than looking to conform, pursue what you are interested in, in a style that’s yours and find a place where you can do that.”

She also encouraged senior executive women to be more vocal about their achievements. “We have to speak up. Understand how to be assertive without being aggressive – there’s a clear distinction in my mind. Then set your expectations high and go for it.”

Career in Investment Management

After studying economics as an undergraduate at Oberlin College, Modigliani joined a startup that did economic forecasting for the bulk shipping industry.

“I was the only woman and the youngest person on the management team,” she recalled. “I traveled all over the world. I had to learn how to manage people and build a business.”

Eventually, she realized she wanted to go back to school, but couldn’t decide whether she should continue with a PhD in economics or go to business school – until looking at the applications for both. “I didn’t know what to write on the PhD applications. But when I looked at the business school applications, I knew exactly what I wanted to say.”

Her experience at the applied economics startup had opened a fascinating new world to Modigliani. “All the questions I was grappling with made it clear I wanted to go to business school.”

She chose Harvard Business School in part because a third of her grade would be based on class participation. “I was very reserved, and one of the reasons I went there was to learn how to participate. I wanted the challenge of being articulate, being clear, being on point, and moving a discussion forward. It was a great experience and I had a lot of support. I learned that different people can have completely different strengths.”

The first semester was admittedly tough, she said, “But I started participating and the rest is history.”

She spent a summer at the World Bank, figuring out what the group should do with some initially small equity investments in private companies the International Finance Corporation had made in developing countries that had since ballooned. “We had to figure out what to do with the equity versus the fixed income we had. I loved that work – the people were great, but the organization drove me nuts,” she said with a laugh. “I wanted to go someplace that moved more quickly. I decided I would do my non-profit work on the side.”

She took a role at Morgan Stanley where she spent the next twelve years, doing equity research under Byron Wien, covering the US stock market.  Desiring a more flexible work schedule she left Morgan Stanley and spent the next couple of years working independently and doing board and volunteer work.

“Then two years ago, I joined Neuberger Berman as a multi-asset class strategist. I still get to work with really interesting clients and I love what I do, but I am only here part time.”

Investment Strategy

Today Modigliani works with Neuberger Berman’s biggest clients at some of the world’s biggest pension funds, endowments, and foundations to help create and manage their portfolios. “I’m helping to solve problems and I’m sitting on the cutting edge of investment management and risk management. It’s really fun for me.”

She continued, “I learn a lot from my clients – they are very demanding and that’s the kind of work I want to do. I have to think about risk. An investment portfolio with constraints and objectives is an interesting and rewarding challenge to work on.”

Modigliani says she is fascinated by risk-based asset allocation. “It goes back to this idea of how do you invest and manage risk in the most appropriate and efficient and insightful way for your clients.”

She says she is proud of how she has succeeded and advanced in every company she has worked for. Another point of pride was developing the Modigliani Risk-Adjusted Performance measure (or M-squared measure) with her Nobel-prize winning grandfather Franco Modigliani. “I got to write the paper with him. The work is included in the CFA exam and people still ask me about it – ‘you’re that Modigliani?’”

“It’s so directly relevant to what I do every day, and I shared that with my grandfather, whom I adored.”

Women in Investment Management

According to Modigliani, the lack of women in the investment management makes it a more challenging industry for women to join and thrive in. “There are stereotypes and attitudes, and just not having a lot of women leading companies is a challenge in itself that leads to the perpetuation of the stereotype that only men are managers.”

“It hurts us all, and not just women,” she added.

Work/life is also a challenge. “I think that balancing the demands of a job with trying to have a family still mostly falls on women. I put it pretty front and center and manage it pretty efficiently, and it’s still hard for me.”

She says one of the most important lessons she has learned through her career is how important your boss is. “I got lucky in that respect,” she recalled. “I didn’t pay attention to it at first, but I think who you’re working for and what type of person you are and what values you share winds up being the most important part of where you work. It seems obvious, but I didn’t really get that at first.”

Modigliani participates in the Women’s Forum at Neuberger Berman whose mission is to help recruit, retain, and develop women across the organization, recognizing that Neuberger Berman is a place where strong female professionals thrive. She believes it is important for everyone to be involved in developing industry-wide diversity. “When I was at Morgan Stanley, I was involved in minority recruiting. I felt it would be more useful to have people who are not part of that group to be reaching out and supporting them.” She continued, “I’d like to see more men going to women’s recruiting events. I’m getting a little tired of the ‘preaching to the converted,’ and I think it would be helpful to make these initiatives broader.”

In Her Personal Time

Modigliani serves on a number of investment committees for colleges and New York City non-profits. “I love that work. I’m able to apply what I’m learning at work to these wonderful organizations. I learn a lot from being on the other side of the table. I also just meet wonderful people, who I may encounter in a different way otherwise – like investors or hedge fund managers. It’s a nice way to get to know people and brings a different perspective to those relationships.”