From cosmetics to commodities to travel and tourism, Sandy Chaikin has successfully re-invented herself and her career.Starting in marketing roles, she fine-tuned her skills to open her own consulting firm and a Bed & Breakfast in Connecticut.When the stock market fell in 2008 and she lost 40% of her investments, Chaikin decided it was time to transform once again. After co-founding Chaikin Analytics in 2009, she is now helping other women re-invent themselves as confident and profitable stock market investors.
After graduating from the University of Denver with degrees in Sociology and Psychology, Chaikin moved to New York and started her career in the cosmetics industry.She held senior marketing roles at L’Oreal and Elizabeth Arden. Chaikin then moved to her home-town, Philadelphia, and took a marketing role at The Franklin Mint.
“Marketing a service or product is the same formula in any industry – identify your audience, have a unique product, know how to promote, package and price your service,” she said.
In 1995, Chaikin moved to Connecticut and opened her own marketing consulting firm. It was also around this time that she segued into the travel and tourism business by opening a Bed and Breakfast.
“My personal experience owning a B&B attracted other inns and before I knew it, my consultancy was 100% focused on travel and tourism.You have to be immersed in something to market it and that’s why I was so successful, because it was my business, too.I was an innkeeper and I knew from my own experience how to market an inn – I knew what worked and what didn’t – which I then applied to my clients’ businesses.”
During her days as an innkeeper and marketing consultant, Chaikin invested in mutual funds.
“As my consulting business grew so did my 401K plan and I didn’t feel I had the inclination or knowledge to manage this myself,” she said. “On a recommendation, I met with a portfolio manager and hired a professional.”
When the markets fell in 2008, Chaikin became concerned about her investments.
“I asked him repeatedly if we should make some changes to my portfolio,” she recalled. “I remember calling him several times but he advised me to hold on to the investments. I didn’t have the confidence to over-ride his judgment.”
Chaikin ended up losing 40% of her 401K.
“This was a devastating turning point because I thought I was doing the right thing,” she said. “When you need advice, you go to a professional so I was upset this professional didn’t help me.I took the money out of his control and was determined to do this on my own.I put my money in Vanguard and started investing it myself.”
The Birth of Chaikin Analytics
Sandy’s personal losses in the stock market using a financial advisor was the inspiration behind the launch of Chaikin Analytics. She knew there was a need in the marketplace for novice investors like herself to have access to investment tools that professionals used so she could take control of her own investments.
Partnering with her husband, Marc Chaikin, a 40-year Wall Street veteran, they founded Chaikin Analytics.
“Before he retired, my husband Marc created tools for institutional investors on Wall Street.In 2009, he watched as millions of dollars were coming out of brokerage firms and into self-managed accounts like mine,” she explained.“We decided to take the tools he created for the pros and apply them to individual investors.”
The Chaikin Analytics model takes into consideration 20 different factors that professionals analyze when looking at a stock and boils everything down to one easy-to-understand rating.The ratings categorize a stock as bullish, bearish or neutral.The Chaikin Power Gauge model is also one of the only models that blends technical indicators with fundamentals. Most investors use either technical indicators OR fundamentals – Chaikin’s blends the two.
“I spend about 15 minutes a day monitoring my account and only invest in about 8-10 stocks at a time,” she explained.“I started investing in Comcast and Ebay, both had a bullish rating, and they went up 40-60%, so I was off to a good start. I also picked the two best-performing stocks in 2014, Southwest Air (LUV) and Skyworks (SWKS), and found them early on. I also knew when to get out at the top. 90% of my investments are in individual stocks.”
Chaikin said that if she can manage her own investments with no prior experience, other women can do this too.
Empowering Women in the Stock Market
While Chaikin Analytics is for all types of investors, she targets female baby boomers as well as emerging women.
Focusing on female investors is a smart move.According to BMO Wealth Institute, women currently control 51%, or $14 trillion, of personal wealth in the United States and are expected to control $22 trillion by 2020.
Chaikin Analytics is collaborating with NASDAQ to present frequent webinars educating their audience, of all levels, on how to invest in the market. Her curriculum includes knowing what to buy and sell, timing the ideal exit and entry points, how to avoid common pitfalls as well as how to shed insecurities about investing.
Chaikin cited a study done by Fidelity that only 28% of women feel confident making decisions about their financial investments on their own.This means that 72% of women don’t feel they have the knowledge to participate in the stock market.
“I have found that women are overwhelmed with financial information and find the stock market off-putting, which is believable because I found the stock market like that too. This is why we created this system, it puts everything together in one neat package…. I break it down to following 5 simple steps to build a killer portfolio.”
Besides collaborating to produce webinars, NASDAQ asked Chaikin Analytics to create 3 indices for the Exchange; the NASDAQ Chaikin Power US Large Cap Index, the NASDAQ Chaikin Power US Small Cap Index and the NASDAQ Power US Dividend Achievers.All the indices outperformed in 2014 by 52%, 77% and 49% respectively.
“We took the stocks that are in those funds, overlayed the Chaikin Power Gauge model, and then removed the non-performing stocks,” she explained. “We re-balance once a year.”
Chaikin e
xplains that the NASDAQ webinar collaboration is a pilot program and they hope to expand to other investor communities soon. Her most recent webinar has attracted about 900 attendees.
“Just like marketing an inn, you have to immerse yourself in the stock market if you want to be credible.This is why my webinars are so powerful,” she explained.“I use stocks I invest in as examples – I am one of them.”
Most Proud Accomplishment
While Chaikin has been able to reinvent and transform herself successfully throughout the years, she said conquering her insecurities about stock market investing is her greatest accomplishment.
“This was the one area of my life that I felt I didn’t manage successfully,” she said.“It’s great to have a profitable portfolio and to be making money investing. However, the benefit you can’t put a price on is the tremendous amount of confidence that you get by managing your money and your future.”
Chaikin will continue to produce webinars and help women gain the knowledge and confidence to manage their own investments.After re-inventing herself and her career throughout the years, she believes other women can transform themselves as well.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are,” she said. “Never stop learning and transitioning.”
By, Jessica Titlebaum
Perspective Taking: How to Utilize It & Benefit from It
Office PoliticsIt could be that you are expressing yourself in a way that makes perfect sense to you, but not to those who you are trying to communicate with. Often someone involved with in-house dispute or adversarial negotiation cannot see the same solutions that a person standing outside the situation can. Sometimes it is necessary to consider a problem from a different vantage point.
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Why Talk is Expensive When it Comes to Boardroom Diversity
Career Advice, Women On BoardsAs much as highlighting the potential that companies could realize if only women were in the decision room, recent findings quantify the tremendous losses that companies are bleeding right now by their absence. The lack of women in boardrooms and executive positions is, plain and simple, being identified as self-sabotage for organizations.
Male-Only Executive Boards Create an Opportunity Cost
Recent research by Grant-Thorton has revealed that the opportunity cost for companies with male-only executive committees in the S&P 500, FTSE 350, and CNX 200 across the US, UK, and India was a whopping US$655 billion in 2014, and US $567 billion in the US alone, or 3% of GDP. The loss results from lower return on assets.
It turns out that talk is not cheap. When it comes to gender diversity at the executive level, talk alone is very expensive. (As is “action” that is PR-strong but falls short of robust follow through on outcomes.)
Only 35 of US S&P 500 companies have at least one woman executive in the boardroom (a far lower ratio than UK or India), but those companies with female executive presence on the board outperformed the all-male executive majority by 1.91%.
Francesca Lagerbeg, global leader for tax services at Grant Thornton said that corporate culture “kick(s) the can down the road” when it comes to board diversity not because they don’t know it’s necessary, but out of short-term fears of what it takes to implement real change.
“These companies are suffering now,” Lagerbeg says. “A lack of action now will make it all the more difficult to respond in the future when both problems are likely to be more acute.”
Executive Women in the Boardroom Equal Better Decisions
What’s noteworthy about this study is it hones in specifically on the presence of at least one female executive within the boardroom, holding female non-executives aside, as plumping up boardroom statistics mostly with female non-execs (UK) still leads to power imbalances on decisions.
“The research clearly shows what we have been talking about for a while: that diversity leads to better decision-making,” said Lagerbeg. “We only looked at listed companies in three markets and the figures are compelling. Now imagine extrapolating the results for all companies globally.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently asserted that more women on the boards of financial institutions leads to stability. Iterating opportunity cost, the IMF report states, “Women’s financial exclusion limits the growth-promoting potential of finance and it may also prove costly in terms of lower financial stability.” The authors wrote “…on average, stability is significantly higher in banks with a higher fraction of women in the board of directors.”
Research has also demonstrated that companies with a compelling track record of promoting female executives consistently perform better across 18 measures of profitability.
Despite This, Gender Parity Is A Long Way Off
It’s contrary to the nature of businesses not to evolve when compromised operational strategies lead to loss, but that’s happening on a macro level.
It will take 28 years to achieve gender parity in the boardroom at the present rate of change and that’s not even specific to executive seats.
Forbes contributor Sabina Nawaz asserts that real change will take more than current low levels of consistent jogging towards an abstract goal. Nawaz argues it takes real intensity, including: honest assessments of the presence of women in leadership roles, programs to meet quantifiable metrics by a determined date, and transparently published results. But too many companies are still talking and denying instead of committing.
What If You Don’t Want to Wait?
What about women who want a board seat and don’t want to wait until 2042 before it might be fair game? What about women who don’t want to wait for their company to catch up to the business impact of her voice?
Slow progress is not the same as no progress. This year, there are 11 women executives that are new to Fortune’s 2015 list of Most Powerful Women. Women are gaining ground on leadership positions within boards as well as representation on the committees that select new members.
Just because many companies are self-sabotaging their growth does not mean you have to do the same. If you want a board seat, beginning to make your bid is far better than biding your time until it’s easier to do so.
Forge Your Connections
Develop your connections to existing board members and seek sponsors. The recommendation of board members is the strongest factor in new member selection. If you don’t know the board, it’s unlikely they know you. Take the risk of going beyond your comfort zone with connections.
Be Visible
Janice Ellig, chair of the Corporate Board Initiative of the Women’s Forum of New York, recommends to “pat yourself on the back in a very visible and confident way.” Ellig advises women to “value their ambition” and “stand up and make it known” that you want a CEO or board position.
Actively Seek
Jan Babiak suggests that since 70% of board roles are attained through existing board/management networks, it’s important to cast wide. Connect with high-level professionals outside of your immediate field of work because opportunities may be found where you’re not looking.
All in all, it’s a wake up call to companies: Waiting for gender executive diversity to get easier? It’s a strategy that is costing you.
By Aimee Hansen
Professional Women in France: The Chutes and Ladders
Career Advice, NewsNajat Vallaud-Belgakem, the French Minister of Women’s Rights said that quotas at top tier positions are only part of the solution. She cites training and increased opportunity at the bottom rungs of French companies are what’s truly needed to change French society. Currently, French women are over-represented in part-time jobs which have little chance for career advancement.
And of those women who are well represented, they seem to be concentrated in a few key areas such as the retail and service industries. Vallaud-Belgakem recently said that only 12% of France’s working population is employed within a mixed gender profession. This is evidence of a strong culture of professional segregation alive in France today. Most French industries are either overwhelmingly male or female dominated.
French politics today remains, like certain industries a definite old boys club. The Assemblée Nationale, the Lower House of France’s congress, remains resolutely male, with only 18 per cent of seats held by women. And with the introduction of the quotas in 2011 some big parties have shown they prefer to pay fines rather than introduce the mandatory numbers of women to their ranks.
A Socialist woman politician, who asked not to be named, recently told the Independent that macho attitudes remained dominant in French politics, even on the supposedly progressive Left. “If a man makes a mistake, he’s a poor politician or a poor manager. If a woman makes a mistake, then she is the mistake. She should never have been appointed in the first place.” This attitude is characterized by an incident where Cecile Duflot, the former Housing Minister, appeared in the National Assembly wearing a white and blue summer dress, she immediately received catcalls from other members of the national assembly. The anonymous Socialist politician said: “It is difficult for some French men. But the world is changing, whether they like it or not.”
This seems to characterize a prevalent belief in French society that women are not suitable for leadership. Florence Montreynaud, a leading feminist activist in France stated,“It is still very difficult for a woman to be accepted in a position of power in this country. It may not always be easy for women elsewhere but it is very, very difficult in France. Here, if a man has a strong personality, people say: ‘Isn’t he a powerful character?’ If a woman has a strong personality, they say: ‘isn’t she a difficult person? Isn’t she impossible to work with?’” Montreynaud says this feeling is sometimes characterized in the way French media refer to prominent French women. “Have you noticed, that prominent women in France are called by their first names? It is always Segolene, not Madame Royal. It is Atomic Annie, not Madame Lauvergeon. In a whole page of articles in Le Monde about Madame Nougayrède’s departure, she was constantly referred to as Natalie. That disgusts me. It is way of diminishing people, infantilizing them.” When it comes to high power business roles this attitude can make it hard for women to be taken seriously. “What is very difficult in France is for a woman to be both powerful and feminine. They have to dress like men, with severe suits and short hair, if they want to be half-way accepted,” said Montreynaud.
The present reality and the future progress
But attitudes in government and business seem to be changing. Initially many high profile businesswomen opposed the encroachment of quotas. Some believed that the tight deadlines would result in a wave of unqualified women into high level positions and result in even more discrimination. But after years of trying to change what is seen as the old guard, many now see the quotas a something of a necessary evil. Anne Lauvergeon, the chief of the nuclear power giant Areva said, “The situation in France is abnormal. If we cannot manage otherwise then let’s make things move with quotas.”
Since the introduction of the quotas back in 2011, the rate of women serving on boards of directors or supervisory boards of prominent CAC 40 companies rose by 7.4 points. In just 5 years this rise has tripled the amount of women in these key advisory roles. According to the Ethics and Boards Cabinet, on the 1st of June 2014, 30.3% of boards of directors and supervisory boards within CAC 40 companies were women. France as a whole has had the largest increase in its share of women in governance roles out of all countries within the European Union with an increase of 17.4%.
But despite the progress in general governance bodies within large French companies there is still a long way to go when it comes to the feminization of French executive boards. Between September 2013 and June 2014 the rate of women in CAC 40 companies and SBF 120 companies increased only 0.3 and 0.1 points respectively. This puts these executive boards as of June 2014 at a low 10.3% and 12.1%.
By Ben Rozon
Virtual networking, does it work?
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work
Voice of Experience: Amanda Hindlian, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
Voices of Experience“I also wish that at the outset of major career transitions I’d had the hindsight to enjoy the ride a little more – but then hindsight is always 20/20,” she says. “You might feel uncomfortable any time you make a significant change in your career, but try to enjoy that phase because it’s when you’re growing, where you’re adding to your skills and building new relationships.”
Hindlian began her career as a semiconductor equity analyst in the Global Investment Research (GIR) Division at Goldman Sachs where over the course of six years she assumed incremental coverage responsibility. She then accepted an opportunity to work as chief of staff for the global head of Research, and for several years she worked in different capacities with him and other senior divisional leaders, including as chief operating officer of GIR and senior director of the Global Markets Institute.
In mid-2015, Hindlian joined the Executive Office, working with the president and chief operating officer of the firm to develop and implement key strategic initiatives. Later in the year she assumed broader responsibilities in the Executive Office, working with the chairman and chief executive officer of the firm and overseeing the Client Strategy Group, as well as serving as secretary to the Management Committee.
Hindlian is proud of the relationships she’s developed over the years both inside and outside the firm. “The partnerships I’ve formed and mentoring I’ve received from colleagues has been crucial to my success. It’s difficult to describe the accumulation of knowledge that comes from interacting with and being surrounded by so many incredibly smart and talented people.”
Immersed in Content and People
One project Hindlian is working on now that she particularly enjoys is developing content for executives that facilitates their interactions with clients, regulators, the media or policy makers. “I love thinking about what is top of mind in the world and assessing how we can be helpful to our clients by providing them with our institutional insights on major issues.”
She interacts with different divisions within the firm to identify their specific goals and also meets with clients to understand what’s important to them. She then supplements her advice with research to strengthen that perspective.
Another project Hindlian recently undertook was organizing a dinner for more than 20 ministers of finance and central bankers to discuss what they could do to stimulate global economic growth. Hindlian participated in the two-and-a-half hour family style dinner, where participants discussed key issues from political and economic perspectives.
She is also immersed in people-related initiatives and strongly supports the firm’s efforts to hire, retain and promote the best and most diverse people. “I believe our people are our number one asset and we must remain focused on diversity so that our people reflect the world in which we and our clients live.” Hindlian has found value in being involved in the firm’s Women’s Network over the years and is an advocate for programs and initiatives that support an inclusive work environment.
Mastering the Balancing Act
While Hindlian acknowledges that everyone faces challenges balancing work and their personal life, she notes the unique challenges shared by most working moms – particularly surrounding the notion that there aren’t enough hours in the week. She cites a conversation she had with a group of accomplished women at a recent Next Generation Most Powerful Women event hosted by Fortune: “We each had our own journey, but the one commonality we had was that it’s really hard to balance it all on a daily basis. You have to hope that even if you can’t achieve balance every day that you can find it when you look back over a longer stretch of time, and if you don’t feel that way it’s time to reassess. Parenting and working can be challenging, but for me it’s been such an incredibly rewarding combination.”
A Different View of Mentoring and Networking
Hindlian finds that mentoring should happen organically and believes it’s easier to form a mentoring relationship once you have worked with someone on a project or shared a goal, vision or challenge. Otherwise, she says, the mentor doesn’t have any context to provide advice and advocacy. “You will naturally provide the foundation for mentoring relationships if you are a team player and do good work.”
A Yearning To Travel
Before she had a child, Hindlian says she would travel often, hopping on a plane with her husband for a short trip without hesitation. Now, with a 21-month-old she is enjoying her time with him closer to home, although she can’t wait until he’s old enough to join in their family adventures.
By Cathie Ericson
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2015 Year in Review: Professional Women, The Gender Discussion And Why Leaders Need To Be Involved
Career Advice, Featured, Year end reviewBy Nicki Gilmour
I have outlined three crucial points in this article for any firm to take notice of when embarking on this journey. The other continuous notable effort that I think is worth mentioning is the increase in male gender champions and my favorite open letter of the year comes from John Ryan as he writes to Michael Moritz showing us that men also care about the endless stereotypes that make a mockery out of talented people of both sexes.
What do leaders who “get it” look like?
People, and specifically leaders of companies who get how to really create culture change around this very unresolved gender dilemma, all share a common ability. Smart leaders understand that they personally have to get involved as well as re-engineer processes to support behaviors beyond the evangelizing part. Leaders comprehend the strategic nature of what needs to happen, that companies are eco-systems and so every action has a reaction downstream and are prepared to address multiple areas at once. Since the culture of any team, company or even country is simply a culmination of ‘how we do things around here’, what and who gets tolerated, as well as what and who gets rewarded for their work means that any firm who can hold behavioral boundaries can improve their culture for all working there. It can be a win win and not a zero sum game.
Pierre Nanterme, CEO and Chairman of Accenture is the latest leader who is putting his money where his mouth is. He has aggressive hiring targets, revealing his goal as 40% of new hires being female by 2017 as well as initiatives to ensure pay parity at entry level and throughout a woman’s career to ensure women don’t get left behind. This disparity has been documented by Catalyst and others over the years to be almost $500,000 in the span of their career earnings.
Nanterme states, “We believe strongly that gender equality is essential for a high-performing, talent-led organization. This commitment extends to pay, and we strive to ensure that all our people – women and men – are compensated fairly and equitably from the moment we hire them through the milestones of their careers here.”
Why do I believe Nanterme? Or least believe he has a shot at it? Well, other than the fact that he actually believes there are equally talented women as men to hire, unlike Mike Moritz of Sequoia Capital who just last week stated that there are no qualified women for him to hire (in Silicon Valley venture funding), Nanterme has addressed his blind spots whereas Mike has just showed his cognitive bias when he unwittingly revealed his closely held paradigm that hiring women would probably be a reflection of him lowering his standards.
That is the differentiator for me and as an organizational psychologist who is nine years into this topic with several live projects under my belt and the publisher of 4000 articles on theglasshammer.com, I find that the barriers to progress are definitely systemic but correctable, such as accurate succession planning processes and equal pay for the same job done. More interestingly, is that the maintainers of these barriers are actual people and it is entirely feasible to address issues just like any other area of operational efficiency and resource optimization but their refusal to acknowledge there is a problem beyond some sort of Noah’s Ark approach of ticking off lists is where the work gets weird.
We all have bias in the sense of preference but it is how preference is built in us that needs closer examination-let’s face it, when you have all the cards and have bias towards hiring one type of person and the rest of the system is aligned to support the stereotype, the stakes to change aren’t so high to address your own paradigms in life. Hence the word ‘diversity’ is a misnomer because what we are talking about in actuality is about who we choose and authorise to lead us, manage projects and generally get heard. It is all a meritocracy project and meritocracy exists in very few places if at all.
What three things can companies do better in 2016 to ensure progress?
Action #1 Leaders can lead on equality.
Status quo doesn’t change organically ever. There are levers and deliberate actions to take. How managers act will enhance or minimize the effects and impact of any program or policy that even the best HR team or women’s network could produce. So ensure they act well. Why leave that to chance?
By being a sponsor to ensure the right people get promoted or get allocated onto a project, men and the senior women that can “lift as they climb”, this can change the world one person at a time
Action #2 Stop expecting the women in your firm to fix the gender issue
Attracting, hiring or promoting women shouldn’t be a “woman’s” thing. Too many times, I see women’s networks trying to address these issues whilst everyone else gets on with their day jobs. Exclusively outsourcing this work to ERGs, networks and committees is really erroneous. Why would you put the onus on the group that is asking for their fair share of promotions and access to sit at the power table to be the people to fix the inequities in the system?
Not all companies leave all the work to the women and the women’s networks to deal with the issue. Simply put, it is everyone’s problem to fix inequities but some people can fix it faster than others due to their official influence on talent processes and workplace culture.
Action #3 Women and Men all need to address their biases
One of the most surprising elements that I have personally discovered over the years is that some women revere men as stereotypical leaders more than men do, or on a equal par, even if they themselves are arguably the smartest person in the room. Fascinating to say the least and it happens in small and big ways, from deferring to the male counterpart in meetings to unconsciously believing that men make better leaders. I have talked about this at length in other articles in other years.
My advice? Admit you are part of the problem (if you are) because everything you need to know about how ridiculous we all are, based on the binary of gender identity and how being a woman is still somehow a trait that effects a woman’s ability to lead, manage, do deals and generally do well at work can be seen most compellingly here.
While we are on the subject, can we dispel the myth that brain science has anything to do with performance at work (and men are from next door not Mars as it turns out).Social conditioning has a lot to answer for and you can do something about that as the impact is real with the latest research from Accenture showing that Gen Y women despite everything we have told them are still less likely to ask for a pay rise than their male counterparts and 47% of this particular survey respondents cannot see a path to the top.
Finally, can you get everyone on board? Of course not! But those who don’t will be in the minority both in numbers and effectual influence and power, so let’s get started! Smokers still want to smoke on airplanes, right? The difference is culturally a shift took place only because a law and a process facilitated that shift. Think about it.
We wish you a peaceful, prosperous and Happy New Year to all theglasshammer.com readers and supporters.
By Nicki Gilmour
Mover and Shaker: Leonora Xhekaj, Vice President of Operational Risk Management, Voya Investment Management
Movers and ShakersThis philosophy has helped lead to Xhekaj’s successful career ascension. She started at Paine Webber (which was subsequently acquired by UBS) as a client services associate in the institutional equity sales area, providing research to institutional clients. While there she developed a reputation as someone who was persistent and reliable – arriving at work at 5 a.m. if needed to get the job done.
In 2000 she joined Voya Investment Management, previously known as ING U.S. Investment Management, and, at the time, they were involved in a number of M&A consolidations. “I learned early in my career on the buy side that change is the one constant you can count on, and it is something I learned to adapt to and embrace.”
Xhekaj, who earned a B.B.A in management and finance from Baruch College, has held her current role in risk management since 2009. She supports the equity investment platform, structured assets and alternatives group and institutional distribution, as well as other business support areas, such as operations.
Over the years, she has held a variety of positions, including leading the business resilience program for Voya IM including managing crisis events such as Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy. In the days leading up to each, Voya IM activated contingency plans that had been developed and tested, allowing the firm to continue business operations uninterrupted with remote capabilities for all staff with essential functions.
Xhekaj is most proud of her contributions over the years that have led to the development of the company’s effective risk management program that partners with the business to identify, analyze and mitigate risks. “I appreciate that I can contribute to teamwork that benefits the end client, and have opportunities to lead initiatives for the firm that involve collaboration with multiple business areas,” she says.
The operational risk function was relatively new when she assumed the position, offering her an opportunity to help create and establish a key function for the company. “It’s amazing to be in this position where I can offer foresight as we evaluate risks and that I can contribute to enhance programs or processes that add value.”
Working Girl
Even though family and friends warned her that Wall Street was a “man’s world,”Xhekaj learned much of her early career impressions from the movie Working Girl, where she remembers identifying with Melanie Griffith’s character and wanting to be one of those women who succeeded based on talent and skill.
She found breaking into the environment more challenging than expected, but she quickly recognized that becoming a subject matter expert would allow her to push through those barriers. “I was able to earn a seat at the table. I was accepted because I earned respect,” she says. “You can be your own worst enemy if you dwell on the fact that you’re often outnumbered. I decided I needed to think differently and the actions I took showed I belonged and could achieve success.”
Earlier in her career, Xhekaj hesitated to seek mentors and was less vocal about volunteering for stretch roles. But with senior sponsors advocating for her, she realized that they were seeing possibilities in her work that would lead to advancement. Her cadre of mentors ended up being an organic mix of men and women offering a diversity of age and specialty, from backgrounds in risk and investment functions to operations to technology. “I saw it as a major benefit that I could tap into all those resources, views and perspectives to gain as much information on different angles and functions as possible.”
Recipe for Success
From those diverse perspectives she has identified a number of colleagues who display qualities that she would consider important for a role model: humble, inspirational, insightful and credible. One manager in particular stands out for her ability to defuse and navigate through uncomfortable situations with grace and poise.
Over the years Xhekaj has amassed a list of values and principles that she believes provide a path to success: integrity; respect; valuing differences; a positive attitude; avoiding excuses; building relationships, engaging people; and appreciating differences in skill sets. She has also always admired those who don’t say ‘that’s not my problem,’ but contribute to meaningful discussions and provide recommendations instead; or those who are willing to roll up their sleeves to collaborate even if it’s not officially part of their role.
Advice for Balancing Work, Family and Outside Life
At a conference recently, one of the speakers mentioned how outsourcing helped her balance work and life, and Xhekaj realized she had not heard outsourcing used in this context before. She saw that outsourcing everything from housekeeping and other chores to child care can be achieved in a number of ways, such as asking family and friends for help and relying on your partner to contribute more if you both work.Xhekaj says her mom has been her biggest advocate and supporter of all aspects of her life.
Finding that balance has been essential, as Xhekaj is active with a number of groups that grow her professional skills outside of her job commitments. She has been involved with Voya’s New York Women’s Network, her town’s Professional Moms Network and also participates in informal networking and other leadership skill-building conferences and opportunities. Always eager to stay sharp in her field, Xhekaj is a member of a number of industry associations, such as the Security Industry Financial Marketing Association and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).
Married with two kids, her priority is to spend as much time as she can with daughters Leyla, age 10, and Hana, age 8. “Both inspire and motivate me to continue to contribute to our culture and community,” she says. She shares her passion for charity, helping with the March of Dimes and juvenile diabetes organizations, as well as other local charities in her town.
She also loves to travel, and together her family has explored different cultures from Germany and Switzerland to Kosovo, Antigua, Montreal and Quebec. Closer to home, the family regularly visits local monuments and historical sites, and as avid readers, they love nothing more than a Saturday in front of the fire at their local library.
Voice of Experience: Olwyn Alexander, Partner, Investment Management, PwC Ireland
Voices of ExperienceAfter earning her Bachelor of Commerce and Master’s in Accounting at University College Dublin, Alexander began her international career at PwC with a quick start. “On a Wednesday they asked if I’d be interested in leaving for Dallas for six months on the upcoming Saturday,” she recalls, knowing that it would provide unparalleled experience.
She subsequently worked out of Boston during a particularly busy season; returned to Dublin; and went to New York City with her fiancé for a planned 18-month engagement that became four years.
While there, she specialized in hedge funds and private equity, a role that set foundations for her future. She enjoyed the challenging work, as well as the opportunity to collaborate with great peers and partners and oversee many projects in the Caribbean, where they would work hard and then scuba dive on a Saturday.
When she returned to PwC Ireland, she realized that her experience was very valuable: The United States was ahead of Europe at the time in this industry, so what was her standard experience was ground breaking back in Europe. Since the industry was just emerging in the U.K., much of her role was developing and marketing the practice, which paved the way for her to become a partner in 2004.
Investing in Her Career To Keep Up With Change
Other moves she made have strengthened her expertise in the area. She earned her Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2003 which she found to be an important investment in her career because it bolstered her credentials for target clients, such as hedge fund managers. She also became involved in an international trade association for alternative assets and co-authored a global guide to hedge fund valuation in 2005, prior to the crisis that was revised and reissued in 2012. She also sat on a working group on valuation for The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) as an expert post crisis.
Being asked to be part of an expert working group for IOSCO and her election to the Alternative Investment Management Association’s Global Board were thrilling professional achievements for Alexander, as has been her work winning new clients and expanding the business. As an example, she cites a client where they were just able to secure substantial new projects as a result of the strong relationship and good work they’ve delivered since 2005. “It’s very rewarding when that’s acknowledged,” she says.
Looking forward she knows the industry will continue to have exciting developments, with asset management moving center stage amid increased efforts to get private money into investments. While the United States is a more developed market in this area, in Europe and Asia funding remains heavily weighted toward banks as the traditional source of funding but with new, tighter controls on bank lending, asset management is playing a larger funding role as an alternative way to raise money. “It’s very exciting to see the changes in our industry with lots of deals around property and private equity. Rather than just investments in stocks and bonds, we are seeing investments in real projects and businesses where we can see the capital go to work.”
In addition, she is excited to see the growth in digital and fintech investments that are being developed at an unbelievable pace of change.
Succeeding Among Limited Diversity
She says that the industry is still heavily male-dominated, so it’s important for women to rise above it and not allow that to be intimidating. One area where she sees that young women need to be mindful when working among men is not to second guess themselves. “If there’s a big job, men will say, ‘This is why I should have it,’ while women will worry if they can do it. You have to have confidence in your own abilities so you don’t preclude yourself from something that could be interesting and challenging.”
Alexander cites the need to raise awareness around the “He for She” initiative, which opens the discussion and encourages people to consider their own personal bias and whether they are being fair with opportunities. But she sees that gender diversity is just one area that needs support. “We have to consider gender, culture, nationality and age because everyone brings different perspectives,” she says, adding that the speed of development means that it’s more important than ever to know what younger people are thinking and doing.
Family Makes the Difference
Alexander tries to make the most of her personal time with her two daughters, ages 7 and 4 and her “amazingly supportive husband who reassures me in those doubting moments.” For her own relaxation, she’s an avid horse-woman and regularly competes in dressage and show jumping events. “It’s important to have a commitment to something non-work related to ensure you enforce your own work-life balance.
By Cathie Ericson
Intrepid Women: Sandy Chaikin, Co-Founder of Chaikin Analytics
Intrepid Women Series, PeopleAfter graduating from the University of Denver with degrees in Sociology and Psychology, Chaikin moved to New York and started her career in the cosmetics industry.She held senior marketing roles at L’Oreal and Elizabeth Arden. Chaikin then moved to her home-town, Philadelphia, and took a marketing role at The Franklin Mint.
“Marketing a service or product is the same formula in any industry – identify your audience, have a unique product, know how to promote, package and price your service,” she said.
In 1995, Chaikin moved to Connecticut and opened her own marketing consulting firm. It was also around this time that she segued into the travel and tourism business by opening a Bed and Breakfast.
“My personal experience owning a B&B attracted other inns and before I knew it, my consultancy was 100% focused on travel and tourism.You have to be immersed in something to market it and that’s why I was so successful, because it was my business, too.I was an innkeeper and I knew from my own experience how to market an inn – I knew what worked and what didn’t – which I then applied to my clients’ businesses.”
During her days as an innkeeper and marketing consultant, Chaikin invested in mutual funds.
“As my consulting business grew so did my 401K plan and I didn’t feel I had the inclination or knowledge to manage this myself,” she said. “On a recommendation, I met with a portfolio manager and hired a professional.”
When the markets fell in 2008, Chaikin became concerned about her investments.
“I asked him repeatedly if we should make some changes to my portfolio,” she recalled. “I remember calling him several times but he advised me to hold on to the investments. I didn’t have the confidence to over-ride his judgment.”
Chaikin ended up losing 40% of her 401K.
“This was a devastating turning point because I thought I was doing the right thing,” she said. “When you need advice, you go to a professional so I was upset this professional didn’t help me.I took the money out of his control and was determined to do this on my own.I put my money in Vanguard and started investing it myself.”
The Birth of Chaikin Analytics
Sandy’s personal losses in the stock market using a financial advisor was the inspiration behind the launch of Chaikin Analytics. She knew there was a need in the marketplace for novice investors like herself to have access to investment tools that professionals used so she could take control of her own investments.
Partnering with her husband, Marc Chaikin, a 40-year Wall Street veteran, they founded Chaikin Analytics.
“Before he retired, my husband Marc created tools for institutional investors on Wall Street.In 2009, he watched as millions of dollars were coming out of brokerage firms and into self-managed accounts like mine,” she explained.“We decided to take the tools he created for the pros and apply them to individual investors.”
The Chaikin Analytics model takes into consideration 20 different factors that professionals analyze when looking at a stock and boils everything down to one easy-to-understand rating.The ratings categorize a stock as bullish, bearish or neutral.The Chaikin Power Gauge model is also one of the only models that blends technical indicators with fundamentals. Most investors use either technical indicators OR fundamentals – Chaikin’s blends the two.
“I spend about 15 minutes a day monitoring my account and only invest in about 8-10 stocks at a time,” she explained.“I started investing in Comcast and Ebay, both had a bullish rating, and they went up 40-60%, so I was off to a good start. I also picked the two best-performing stocks in 2014, Southwest Air (LUV) and Skyworks (SWKS), and found them early on. I also knew when to get out at the top. 90% of my investments are in individual stocks.”
Chaikin said that if she can manage her own investments with no prior experience, other women can do this too.
Empowering Women in the Stock Market
While Chaikin Analytics is for all types of investors, she targets female baby boomers as well as emerging women.
Focusing on female investors is a smart move.According to BMO Wealth Institute, women currently control 51%, or $14 trillion, of personal wealth in the United States and are expected to control $22 trillion by 2020.
Chaikin Analytics is collaborating with NASDAQ to present frequent webinars educating their audience, of all levels, on how to invest in the market. Her curriculum includes knowing what to buy and sell, timing the ideal exit and entry points, how to avoid common pitfalls as well as how to shed insecurities about investing.
Chaikin cited a study done by Fidelity that only 28% of women feel confident making decisions about their financial investments on their own.This means that 72% of women don’t feel they have the knowledge to participate in the stock market.
“I have found that women are overwhelmed with financial information and find the stock market off-putting, which is believable because I found the stock market like that too. This is why we created this system, it puts everything together in one neat package…. I break it down to following 5 simple steps to build a killer portfolio.”
Besides collaborating to produce webinars, NASDAQ asked Chaikin Analytics to create 3 indices for the Exchange; the NASDAQ Chaikin Power US Large Cap Index, the NASDAQ Chaikin Power US Small Cap Index and the NASDAQ Power US Dividend Achievers.All the indices outperformed in 2014 by 52%, 77% and 49% respectively.
“We took the stocks that are in those funds, overlayed the Chaikin Power Gauge model, and then removed the non-performing stocks,” she explained. “We re-balance once a year.”
Chaikin e
xplains that the NASDAQ webinar collaboration is a pilot program and they hope to expand to other investor communities soon. Her most recent webinar has attracted about 900 attendees.
“Just like marketing an inn, you have to immerse yourself in the stock market if you want to be credible.This is why my webinars are so powerful,” she explained.“I use stocks I invest in as examples – I am one of them.”
Most Proud Accomplishment
While Chaikin has been able to reinvent and transform herself successfully throughout the years, she said conquering her insecurities about stock market investing is her greatest accomplishment.
“This was the one area of my life that I felt I didn’t manage successfully,” she said.“It’s great to have a profitable portfolio and to be making money investing. However, the benefit you can’t put a price on is the tremendous amount of confidence that you get by managing your money and your future.”
Chaikin will continue to produce webinars and help women gain the knowledge and confidence to manage their own investments.After re-inventing herself and her career throughout the years, she believes other women can transform themselves as well.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are,” she said. “Never stop learning and transitioning.”
By, Jessica Titlebaum
Overcoming stereotype threat as a woman in technology
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work