Tag Archive for: asian women leaders

Mandy Wan: Managing Director, Head of Markets, Co-Head of CIB APAC, Wells Fargo

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Mandy Wan“You have to put in dedication and hard work to be successful. There are no short cuts,” says Mandy Wan. “Stay true to your core principles and advancement will follow. Be open-minded to embracing new opportunities and giving them your best effort.”

Wan shares how she values learning from diverse experiences, her insights on setting the right culture in a team, and what it means to be a leader who “walks the talk.”

Finding the Right Fit on the Trading Floor

Wan learned from an early age the value of hard work and determination in pursuing her dreams. Growing up in Hong Kong as the eldest child of parents who were refugees of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Wan took care of her younger brothers and worked after school and during summer breaks to help contribute to the family. Recognizing that to build the life she wanted, she needed to find the right job to support it, Wan attended business school with a focus on accounting.

Although Wan ultimately found accounting wasn’t for her, she remained motivated to work in an environment where she could learn and meet people from different backgrounds and explore other countries. She found what she was looking for on the trading floor.

“During my final year of school, I secured a part-time role at UBS where I worked on the trading floor. It became clear to me that this was where I wanted to be. The environment is incredibly diverse, with people from many different cultures, and the fast-paced, dynamic nature of the job presents new challenges every day, making it exciting.”

Directing her energy and enthusiasm to every opportunity, Wan successfully moved up through UBS, having the chance to travel around the world to market Asian financial products. She relished these experiences as they broadened her horizons, giving her a window into how other people communicate and make investment decisions. Now as the Managing Director, Head of Markets, and Co-Head of CIB APAC at Wells Fargo, Wan channels her tenacity and drive into leading Wells Fargo’s APAC Markets business.

Shaping the Business from the Ground Up

Wan’s entrepreneurial spirit shines through when she describes her passion for leading the Wells Fargo Markets business in APAC.

“I have a full mandate to manage the client franchise in Asia. The opportunity is thrilling as it allows me to envision and shape the business we aim to create from the ground up. I love that aspect because I get to continually learn and be challenged by it.”

In addition, Wan points to the people she works with as integral to what makes her feel deeply committed in her role. She highlights the advantage of being able to recruit those who share that drive when you are in the position of starting anew.

“I always feel more energized when there are people around me who share the same passion.” She continues, “When you build a business, you have the opportunity to assemble the team, and you want to look for someone who is entrepreneurial and energetic and has the passion to enhance the business. When you get the chance to pick a team like that, people feel invested in the sense of ‘we get to do this together.’”

Setting the Right Culture

Another advantage of leading the process of developing a business and team is being able to shape the culture from the beginning. For Wan that means, “a culture of doing the right thing, of running the business, and doing what’s right for the customer and the company. The customer values partnership a lot more and are looking for a trusted party to help them really talk about how we can help them become financially successful.”

Setting an ethos of integrity not only aligns with what customers want, but it is also what members of the team want. As Wan reflects, “employees these days desire to work for a company with aligned aspirations, where they can develop personal achievements. They’re looking for meaningful goals that matter to them, and they want to work alongside people they respect and can learn from, and this particularly applies to recruiting and retaining young talent.”

As setting the right culture recruits, retains and motivates the team, it ultimately is good for business.

“A positive culture can lead to favorable P&L outcomes, as well as financial success and satisfied customers.”

Being a Leader who “Walks the Talk”

In thinking about how she creates the right culture for the business and her team, Wan points to effective communication and recognizing that you have to “walk the talk” as a leader.

“I give very candid feedback, but constructively. The team also needs to feel comfortable to embrace candor with each other in a respectful way.”

She highlights that, “this industry is all about people and the number one thing about working with people is communication. I always urge people to reflect on and improve their communication style.”

As Wan sets the tone for communication by being respectful, but constructive in her interactions, she also is purposeful in how she shows up as a leader, in some cases quite literally.

“The most important thing is that you yourself have to walk the talk. For example, after Covid, a lot of people wanted to work from home. But if you want the team to be in the office, you have to show up. You are demonstrating to them, ‘I’m here and this is why we are here: we need to talk to each other, we need to communicate, because we are on the trading floor’.”

Another example of how Wan models her expectations of others is in how she supports her team’s development.

“If you want people to really take care of junior talent on the floor, you must start with yourself. Consider how you would invest time and mentor your team members. Eventually, everyone will observe your behavior and realize that they should follow suit.”

Be Present in Everything That You Do

Wan relocated to Singapore from Hong Kong last year. Although this wasn’t the first time Wan lived in Singapore, it was the first time she made the move as a mother of three young boys. Getting a family settled while leading the APAC hub made for a busy year and Wan reflects that at times when it’s hard to find work-life balance, she puts extra effort in organizing her schedule, focusing on staying present, and engaging in doing what she committed that time to do.

“Multitasking is a myth. You have to stay focused on what you’re doing in the time that you assigned for it, and then you will find that you are a lot more efficient, therefore improving the quality of time you spend with your family and outside of work.”

Wan also prioritizes wellness and staying active and loves to connect with her kids through sports. As a family they ski, snowboard, and play golf together. She extends this passion for wellness to her work. She is a strong supporter of wellbeing and employee engagement initiatives across the region as a way to engage with her colleagues, devote time to their wellbeing, and give back to the community. Wan is the Executive Sponsor for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion council in APAC and leads with authenticity and a style that is evident both in the office and in her recreational pursuits.

“Focusing on building the right culture is important for the entire firm. That’s why it is important for me to walk the talk and show up.”

By Jessica Robaire

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Spotlight on Asia Update: Women in Leadership

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Spotlight on AsiaThis month, the Glass Hammer is doing a Spotlight on Asia to provide an update on gender disparity in the financial technology world of Asia as well as highlight some of fintech’s top women leaders.

Changes in Women Executives

According to Grant Thornton’s Women in Business Report, for the first time all regions of the world have surpassed 30% of women holding senior management positions while the global average comes to 32.4%. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had the largest jump in women leaders from 37% to 40% making it among the top 2 regions for women in senior roles. APAC has increased to 32% and has outpaced North America (31%) for the first time in 5 years. It was found that India played a large role in this increase thanks to the 2020 government mandate that companies over 1000 employees must have at least one independent female director as well as the mandate for a minimum of six months maternity leave.

The Global Board Diversity tracker found that 84% of companies in Asia have at least one woman as a board member which increased from 73% in 2020 but still lags behind the global average of 93.4%. When looking at companies with at least two women, the percentage drops to 45.4% (78.3% globally) and with at least three the number drops to 17.5% (59.8% globally). Overall, women hold 14.8% of board seats in Asia, up nearly 3 percentage points since 2020. Comparatively, however, Asia is still trailing the global percentage of 26.9%.

Even if the numbers are not on par with the global average, they are still headed in a positive direction. While the numbers of women in leadership are increasing in Asia, some industries are doing worse than others. The technology industry is found to have the weakest profile of gender diversity at all levels. In Singapore, only 6% of executives are women and only 15% of board directors in tech are women. And worse, in Hong Kong, only 5% of executives are female and only 10% of directors are women. But Singapore and Hong Kong are not the only countries with prominent disparities in technology. Indonesia has the lowest share of women at any level employed at technology companies with only 22% compared to the women in the workforce at 32%.

The Boston Consulting Group and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority found that there are three “moments of truth” playing a key role in women pursuing careers in technology. These moments are their choice of major at university, their first job selection, and their decision to stay in technology as their career advances. The research provides suggestions as ways to combat the moments of truth for young women which include introducing the idea of technology as a major to high school aged girls to increase familiarity, providing programs that link university students to companies, and creating learning and development opportunities for women already in technology.

Though there are low numbers of women executives in technology in Asia, there are still trailblazing women leading technology companies in Asia. We chose three of the top leaders who are at the forefront of the industry to highlight. These three were all named among the Top 25 Women in Financial Technology of Asia in 2020 by the Financial Technology Report.

Paroma Chatterjee

Paroma Chatterjee

Paroma Chatterjee is currently the CEO of Revolut which is a digital banking service app that includes many services like transferring money in 29 currencies, a debit card that enables cash withdrawal, crypto currency, as well as overseas medical insurance. Chatterjee received a Bachelor’s in Science with honors in physics from St. Xavier’s college then went to the Indian Institution of Management, Lucknow for a Post Graduate Diploma in Management. She began her career as a management trainee at Procter & Gamble. She then held multiple leadership roles at various companies before becoming Chief Business Officer at Via.com and Lendingkart. Now, Chatterjee is the CEO of Revolut where she builds and leads the company’s subsidiary in India. She hopes to continue to develop the subsidiary and build a talented team of people.

Cerulean Hu

Cerulean Hu

Cerulean Hu is the Senior Vice President of Blockchain Engineering at Crypto.com in Hong Kong. Hu received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Hong Kong before starting financial technology journey as developer in algorithmic trading at HBSC. From there she became a software engineer at ANX International where she was also a team lead in finance and trading systems. She moved on to work at Equichain and FINCOVA as a senior software engineer. Then, in 2018 she joined Cyrpto.com as a Lead Blockchain Engineer and worked her way up to Executive Vice President of Blockchain Engineering. Crypto.com is an alternative to traditional financial service with the belief that “it is your basic right to control your money, data, and identity.” The company has 80 million users in 90 countries and offers products like the Crypto.com app and Visa card. Hu has been in this position for over a year and uses her previous leadership experience to continue to grow her team and in doing so, the company.

Jessica Tan

Jessica Tan

Jessica Tan is the Co-CEO, Executive Director and Executive Vice President at Ping An Group, China’s largest non-State owned conglomerate by revenue with an expansive portfolio including healthcare, financial services and automobile services. Tan completed her university schooling at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she received a Bachelor’s of Science in both economics and electrical engineering as well as a Master’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering. She began her career at McKinsey & Company as a consultant before working hard and being promoted to partner. She later joined Ping An Group as the chief information officer and worked her way up to the position of Co-CEO she holds today. Ping An groups hopes to expand their technologies globally and Tan hopes to help globalize professional services, such as the ability for remote doctors as seen with remote teachers. Outside of Ping An, Tan also holds memberships with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Securities of Future Commissions. She was also ranked 2nd Fortune’s Most Powerful Women’s international section while also making Forbes Power Women list in 2020.

It May Take Time, But It’s Worth It

While these successful women show advancement of women in Asia to high management positions is not impossible, it remains very uncommon. However, global research has shown that there is a positive correlation between companies in the top quartile of gender diversity and outperforming the other quartiles, from a total-return-to-shareholder’s perspective. These companies are 25% more likely to outperform lower ranked companies and better financial returns. When women match men’s participation in the workforce there is the potential for a significant financial gain. It is estimated to be roughly $12 trillion, or about 11% of the global GDP, lost while gender disparity is still present. Katie MacQuivey quoted in the Grant Thornton study, “It’s crucial that companies build a pipeline of diverse leadership across all levels and invest in long term programs to ensure success isn’t only focused on one point in time.” Having more women in executive positions would not only be beneficial to women but to the companies’ bottom lines.

By Chloe Williams

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Spotlight on Asia: What Does Gender Diversity in Asia Look Like in 2021?

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Gender Diversity in AsiaDuring the month of August, The Glass Hammer looks to the state of gender diversity in business and among leaders in Asia. The region is ahead globally in some facets, behind in others, and facing opportunity gaps where more women are needed.

Here’s a brief overview of the key themes we see happening across Asia now:

Gains in Women Executives in ASEAN Region

According to a Grant Thornton report 2020, the greater Asian region was split when it comes to women in executive leadership.

The global average is 29% (on par with North America).

While ASEAN (Association of South East Asia Nations) tied with Eastern Europe at 35% to rank second highest in women in senior management roles globally, after Africa (38%), APAC (Asia-Pacific) had the world’s lowest representation (27%).

The ASEAN region showed very impressive growth from 28% in 2019 to 35% in 2020, thanks to a range of initiatives around diversity.

In 2018, prior to COVID-19, McKinsey estimated that advancing women’s equality in Asia-Pacific could boost the collective regional GDP by 12% by 2025 to $4.5 trillion.

Still A “1 Woman” Boardroom in Asia

A significant gap exists between women’s representation in senior management and their presence in the board room in Asia, where Asia lags behind.

According to the Egon Zehnder 2020 Global Board Diversity Tracker, only 73% of boards in Asia had at least one woman (89% globally). Only 33% had at least two women (70% globally) and 12% had at least 3 (49% globally).

The data shows only 12% of Asia board seats are held by women (23% globally), and only 16% of new appointments in 2020 were women (compared to 30% globally).

In China, women hold 12% of seats too, though only 29% of boards have at least two women and only 10% had 3 or more. In India, women fair much better – holding 17% of seats. 60% of boards have at least two women and 23% have at least three.

Arguing the financial case for diversity, the Board Gender Diversity in ASEAN report found companies with over 30% women representation had significantly greater financial performance (3.8% ROA) relative to boards with no women (2.4% ROA). Even one woman helped, according to the authors, but the financial performance difference increased with representation, especially at over 30% women.

Women in Tech Relatively Strong in ASEAN But More Are Needed

The global demand for digital talent outpaces the supply, including in Asia-Pacific. BCG reports that in the first quarter of 2020, 5% of technology roles went unfilled in Singapore.

Women’ participation in tech in Southeast Asia (32%) outpaces the global average (28%), and mature markets like the UK and Australia, being on par with the US. But despite the relatively high numbers, BCG says a significant tech gap remains. Across countries, women’s representation in tech in ASEAN lags relative to other industries.

The key “moments of truth” that must be supported in a women’s journey into a long-term career in the technology sector, according to the consultancy group’s research, include: their choice of major at college, selection of first job and decision to stay with a technology career once they’ve started.

As the dynamic is different in each country across these key truth points, the interventions to encourage and foster diversity must be tailored to each country’s context. In Thailand, women are 48% of tech graduates but only 42% of tech jobs (the highest % across ASEAN countries). Whereas in Singapore, women make up only 29% of tech graduates but comprise 41% of the tech workforce ,due to demand.

The vast majority of women in tech feel they have benefitted from diversity programs and 65% feel tech does better than most industries in tailoring programs to women, yet BCG argues more tailored efforts are needed at the “moments of truth” points.

Opportunity Gaps for Women in Asia Pacific

Per the LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2020, developing markets – including in Asia Pacific – are generally more confident about having access to opportunities: India (121), Indonesia (117) and China (116) top their list, while Japan comes in last (80).

But LinkedIn, according to Feon Ang, Managing Director, APAC, also found that women felt they had less opportunities than men, and COVID-19 not only disproportionally affected women but also their outlook on the future. One in three women in APAC felt that gender was a significant barrier to opportunity.

The research showed that 41% of women in APAC felt they had fewer career development opportunities than men, with that sentiment being strongest in China (44%), Malaysia (45%), Japan (47%) and Singapore (49%). Whereas in India, 4 of every 5 women felt they’d missed offers or opportunities due to gender.

The challenges facing women vary as well. Ang cites that “lack of time” is the main barrier to opportunities for women in countries such as India, Philippines and Singapore. Whereas “lack of professional skills” is the primary barrier for women in Japan. And in China and India, women feel they have a “lack of guidance through networks and connections.”

Less than a fourth of working professionals in APAC feel that their organizations are prioritizing gender diversity. Managing familial responsibilities comes up as a challenge to career development for many APAC women (45%) especially in India (71%).

Where are the Women Executives in Japan?

In Japan, women hold only 15% of management roles according to McKinsey, only halfway to the country’s 30% target. In 2019, Japan was ranked at 121 out of 153 in the World Economic Forum’s gender-equality index, the lowest among developed nations.

In research, McKinsey identified a gap in career-advancement goals. Japanese women are less likely to indicate they want a promotion than men (15 points lower), yet also more likely to feel gender is in the way and less confident. Overall men and women in Japan have the same hesitations towards promotion, but more women feared they would not be able to manage work/life balance.

When it came to what motivates aspirations for promotion, Japanese women tended to cite external recognition of their talent and strengths and the personal growth opportunity. Japanese men cite financial benefits, social status and rewards more.

Whereas the financial and status incentives are enough to motivate men, organizations like IBM are learning that women in Japan are more compelled when both witnessed for their personal skills and talents, and engaged individually on how advancing would particularly impact their own development.

Regional Diversity & Inclusion

LinkedIn’s Ang cites conversations on diversity and inclusion that include male allies; more women in leadership roles; family-friendly and flexible working policies; stronger mentoring and networking; and investment in learning and development as key measures for organizations to help close the opportunity gaps for women in Asia.

By Aimee Hansen

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14 Career Insights and Tips From Women Leaders in Asia (Part 1)

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women leaders in AsiaEvery August for the last ten years, The Glass Hammer has featured career insights and tips from women leaders and executives in Asia.

In this retrospective feature, we’ve mined the best experience-based guidance across those interviews, and this month we’ll be sharing in two parts!

Here are the first seven tips:

1. Be open to learn from everyone.

“Be open in your career,” advised Pamela Yeo, General Counsel and Senior Vice President at AIG Property Casualty Asia Pacific. “When you realize that everyone around you can teach you something new, and you become receptive to knowledge sharing and connecting, this can have a big impact on your advancement.”

Yeo urged young professionals to put themselves out there to catapult your journey through connection.

Update: Pamela Yeo remains in the position she has now held for nearly 17 years.

2. Do not keep your head down.

As a junior analyst, Kathy Matsui was told to “work hard, keep your head down, and you will go far.”

“This was the worst advice I could have been given as a woman just beginning her career, but when I first began working the idea that an ‘invisible hand’ would simply promote you was widespread,” Matsui told us, previously as Vice Chair, Global Investment Research at Goldman Sachs in Japan back in 2019. “Aside from excelling in one’s job, women need to also identify mentors, connect with others across their organization, and share their accomplishments.”

Update: After over 26 years with Goldman Sachs, Kathy Matsui is a founding General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-focused global VC fund, as of May 2021.

3. Check your self-limiting assumptions and projections.

Earlier in her career, Kathy Matsui also shared with us the risk of operating inside the framework of your own self-limiting projections, which meant she spent too much time early on spinning her wheels just to prove her worth.

“My client base here was pretty homogenous when I first started working in Japan, in that it was mostly Japanese men who were twice my age,” remarked Matsui. “At the beginning, I felt like I had three strikes against me because I was female, foreign, and young. But this was really a perception that I put upon myself because professionally, nobody actually treated me differently based on my identity.”

4. Claim your voice in the conversation and early on.

“Put it all out there on the field every day,” recommended Padideh Raphael, Partner at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. “Women tend to wait for validation before sharing their opinion, but they should speak up earlier.”

As a first generation American raised with gender-related boundaries by her Iranian mom, Raphael said: “I believe there are no inherent barriers to success in this industry, but in some cases I have seen that women are traditionally raised or shaped to abide by societal norms,” she says.  “To the extent possible, women should be confident in having a place in the discussion.”

Update: Padideh Trojanow (Raphael) remains a partner at Goldman Sachs, now with the firm for over 22 years.

5. Discern your own truth when it comes to work and family.

“Each person has to look inside themselves and make their own choice without feeling pressure from family members, and then ask them to support that choice,” asserted Xing Zhou when it come to work and family life, as Diversity & Inclusion Leader at PwC China. “I view it as an achievement that as the mom of two children, I am able to find the balance and can serve as a role model for others in my firm and industry.”

Zhou discussed how Chinese women face pressure from their husbands and in-laws to shift their focus entirely to motherhood, whereas that is not every woman’s desire for herself and only she can truly decide.

Update: Xing Zhou has been with PwC Hong Kong and Mainland China for 24 years. She has now additionally taken up the roles of North Markets Leader and Beijing Office Lead Partner of Mainland China.

6. Make clear choices to keep evolving.

“There were lots of things I was interested in, and I wasn’t sure what to focus on; I was always hedging my bets. Only when I started to make choices, and others could see what I was about, did it all came together,” stated Ay Wen Lie, Partner, M&A Advisory at PwC in Singapore.

Wen Lie advised getting clear on what you stand for and believe in, both when it come to the work you are doing and creating your personal brand, otherwise you dilute your ability to impact and stand out: “Don’t be afraid to make choices, play to your strengths and focus your energy on where you can best add value.”

Update: Ay Wen Lie has been a Partner at PwC in Singapore for ten years.

7. Constantly nurture your network, internally and externally.

“For women at all levels of their careers, constantly building your personal network both internally and externally is extremely valuable,” said Teo Lay Lim, previously as Country Managing Director of Singapore for Accenture. “Building personal networks helps you to draw on others to augment your own insights [and] perspectives,” she added, emphasizing that Accenture had more than 85 local women’s networking groups in 32 countries to help build up their networks.

Update: Teo Lay Lim is now a Chairperson at Accenture in Singapore, with over 33 years with the firm.

Look out for Part 2 of this retrospective of top advice from female executives in Asia!

By: Aimee Hansen

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