by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)
The number one hiring request at fund management firms right now is for diverse candidates, says Karen Fenaroli, a recruiter who specializes in senior level jobs at asset management firms. It sounds encouraging, but is it really? Are the requests for diverse candidates a response to the growing body of literature and research that shows a strong correlation between women at the top and healthy bottom lines? Has Wall Street decided more women and people of color makes for better business? Or are human resource professionals merely mandating that their hiring managers simply follow the Equal Employment Opportunity Guidelines. As Fenaroli puts it, “Are they looking for an appropriate perspective of women in management or just checking off a scorecard?” The answer lies somewhere in the middle.
Clara Sierra is the Executive Vice President of mutual fund company Sentinel Investments, and one of the highest ranking people at the firm. She has an impressive resume having worked at AIG and Alliance Capital before joining Sentinel. She is also female, Hispanic and a mother.
“On paper I look like everyone else,” she says, “but in real life, I don’t look like anything in the room.” So when she got a call from a recruiter who told her she was the hottest ticket in town and not to worry what the job entailed, just know the position was “top echelon, corner office and they want a woman,” Sierra thought it was “bombastic.”
James Walsh, author of “Mastering Diversity: Managing for Success Under Anti-Discrimination Laws“, says hiring managers are looking first, for great people and second, not to get sued. “The key question is do you want a diverse payroll or do you want diverse people working for you? Is diversity something you look for in the individuals you hire?”
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Diversity Hiring: An Asset for Asset Management?
Featured, Office PoliticsThe number one hiring request at fund management firms right now is for diverse candidates, says Karen Fenaroli, a recruiter who specializes in senior level jobs at asset management firms. It sounds encouraging, but is it really? Are the requests for diverse candidates a response to the growing body of literature and research that shows a strong correlation between women at the top and healthy bottom lines? Has Wall Street decided more women and people of color makes for better business? Or are human resource professionals merely mandating that their hiring managers simply follow the Equal Employment Opportunity Guidelines. As Fenaroli puts it, “Are they looking for an appropriate perspective of women in management or just checking off a scorecard?” The answer lies somewhere in the middle.
Clara Sierra is the Executive Vice President of mutual fund company Sentinel Investments, and one of the highest ranking people at the firm. She has an impressive resume having worked at AIG and Alliance Capital before joining Sentinel. She is also female, Hispanic and a mother.
“On paper I look like everyone else,” she says, “but in real life, I don’t look like anything in the room.” So when she got a call from a recruiter who told her she was the hottest ticket in town and not to worry what the job entailed, just know the position was “top echelon, corner office and they want a woman,” Sierra thought it was “bombastic.”
James Walsh, author of “Mastering Diversity: Managing for Success Under Anti-Discrimination Laws“, says hiring managers are looking first, for great people and second, not to get sued. “The key question is do you want a diverse payroll or do you want diverse people working for you? Is diversity something you look for in the individuals you hire?”
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Climate Change: The New Investment Frontier
Green is Goodby Elizabeth Harrin (London)
Fund managers are faced with a rack of new decisions, shaped by the climate change agenda: should we invest in ‘clean’ energies like wind power? If you know an organisation consumes a lot of carbon, does that make its market value less? On top of that, it’s a political hot potato, with the impending discussions at COP 15 (December’s climate change conference), and the Obama administration pushing ahead for a cap-and-trade scheme.
With the US carbon emission trading market set to be worth $1 trillion by 2020 investors can’t help but take notice. Companies are going to need to know exactly how much they are emitting. A whole industry has sprung up around green house gas emission calculations, with the aim of permitting allowances to be accurately traded with software like GreenCert, which has been produced as a joint effort by IBM, C-Lock Technology, Inc. and Enterprise Information Management.
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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up
NewsThe FDIC identified an increase in the number of problem banks. The Terra Firma seals its first US acquisition. Close Brothers are bidding for a private banking franchise. These are but a few highlights of important market events that we’ve gathered to help you start the week well informed.
Economic Backdrop
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Queen of the City: Pay Limits for Bankers? The Debate Rages On
Queen of the CityOn this side of the Pond, we found it a bit strange that, in the US, CEO and CFO pay at more than 100 banks on the TARP program did not decline in line with profits. In the City, there’s much dissatisfaction at guaranteed bonuses being waved at some lucky so-and-so’s by banks still owing millions to the government. Muttering taxpayers are saying “But it’s our darned dosh they’re throwing at these guys, not theirs.” The resentment among those who’ve lost jobs, bonuses and taken a big hit on their pension pots is running feverishly high.
It’s no wonder then that, this past March, the FSA, in an effort to align executive compensation with risk for bank boards and management, recommended that two-thirds of bonuses should be deferred, and that individual compensation awards should also reflect the overall performance of the business, rather than that person, team or division. More puzzling, however, is the Financial Services Authority’s recent pull back from the sterner draft suggestions.
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Green Jobs for Executive Women in Finance and the Fortune 500
Green is GoodEven as traditional jobs are being cut, “green” jobs are opening up, creating hot new career opportunities for executive women.
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35 Under 35: Gayle Tait, General Manager of UK and Ireland business, L’Oréal
35 Under 35For our ongoing series, London-based writer Elizabeth Harrin spoke with Gayle Tait, a 32-year-old executive woman from cosmetics giant L’Oreal, about her career path, her international placement in Paris, and her ascension to general manager of Ireland and the UK.
“Initially I was interested in joining [the company] because it is a sector that appealed me personally,” Tait explained. “I did an internship in the summer between my second and third year at university and it was following that experience that I wanted to join L’Oréal permanently. The people, their energy and their passion, and the fact that I had so much responsibility so early on in my career, were very appealing to me.”
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Confessions of a City Girl: Navigating the Testosterone-laden Financial Industry
ReviewsWhat does it mean to be a City Girl today? Can City Girls have it all? Barbara Stcherbatcheff (a.k.a. City Girl), who has worked in banking and derivatives in London for over five years, tackles these questiosn and more in her new book called “Confessions of a City Girl.”
TheGlassHammer.com has 10 signed copies of the book to give away. To win, simply join The Glass Hammer social network and post a comment or discussion. The ten members who’ve posted the most thought-provoking comments/discussions win a copy of the book. This competition ends Friday, so join today!
Women occupy a special place in the City of London. There aren’t many of us, but the successful ones have overcome exceptional odds.
I started my financial career bright-eyed, with a suitcase full of hopes. I was looking for fortune, freedom, and maybe even love. And amazingly, I found it all, but not without some challenges.
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Ask-A-Career-Coach: How Do I Create A Cover Letter Template?
Ask A Career CoachWhen creating a profile specifically for a company’s hiring site, what is the best, most effective “generic” cover letter for different positions within various divisions?
This question came from a recent teleseminar attendee, and I love the sub-questions implicit in it.
First of all, should you ever write a generic cover letter? The ideal answer is no. You should have a specific position in mind and a specific person to whom to address the letter. Knowing the position enables you to highlight the right skills and experiences within your background that position you appropriately. Knowing the person enables you to better engage the reader. However, some companies ask that all candidates, even senior ones, upload their resume into the hiring site, so in that case your cover letter ideally mentions you are referred by Jane Doe Insider regarding the X Specific Spot.
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Overcoming Madoff in Fund Management
Featured, Newsby Elizabeth Harrin (London)
UPI Photo/Monika Graff
“We have definitely seen a deterioration in potential investors because of Mr. Madoff’s activities,” says Tonya Powell, Principal at ELP Capital, Inc, investment company which specializes in real estate-secured assets. “The biggest issue is trust, and the almost automatic assumption created by the media that all fund managers may have participated in the same kind of activities.”
Judi Snyder, Partner at JP Snyder, Inc, a boutique financial planning firm, agrees. “Previously, people blindly trusted advisors and didn’t do their own research. This blind trust led to much of the current economic and investor climate.”
Both women’s firms are using multi-pronged approaches to win back consumer confidence. “There’s a fundamental shift – clients are demanding more education,” says Snyder. “I believe, however, Wall Street doesn’t necessarily want people to be educated.” This is a problem that Snyder’s firm is tackling head-on. “We give our clients homework,” she says. “We want them to do research, become educated and ask questions. We want them to take as long as they need to be comfortable with the investment options that we recommend.”
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Voice of Experience: Marlys Appleton, Vice President and Chair of Sustainability Steering Committee, AIG Investments
Voices of ExperienceMarlys Appleton, chair of AIG Investments’ Sustainability Steering Committee, is a champion for and architect of the integration of sustainability into the investment process. But it is a role no one – not even she – could have foreseen when she began her career more than 20 years ago.
Upon completing a fellowship and an MS from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Appleton started her multi-disciplinary career as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley. But she switched paths and companies a few years later when she heard the siren call of sales. “It looked as if people were having more fun and making more money [on the sales track].” When Appleton reached out to management to try to make the switch, she was told that, while adding her to the sales force would likely upgrade the skill level of the force, the head of the sales desk only hired his ski buddies. It was an important lesson for Appleton, who then realized that not all promotions are based on one’s abilities; some are based purely on who you are.
She then joined Bank of America as an institutional fixed income sales person, ultimately becoming the top producing salesperson on the East Coast in the bond trading operation for the bank. She attributes that success to her thoroughness and her ability to build trusting relationships with clients. “I’m an information hound,” says Appleton, “I want to know and understand everything myself before presenting it to clients. I think that what made me the most comfortable was what made the clients most comfortable with me. I was successful because, over time, the foreign and domestic banks and domestic money managers I had as clients learned that I wouldn’t lead them down the wrong path and they could trust me to deliver for them.”
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