Tag Archive for: Cathie Ericson

Mariah Turner: Associate, PGIM Private Capital

,

Mariah Turner“If it’s always the loudest voiced people who are taking up space, some of the more insightful opinions get lost,” says Mariah Turner. “I like to think that I’m someone that tries to champion the softer voices in the room.”

Turner speaks to showing up in a room and the community, as both a team player and a leader who amplifies the voices around her.

Finding Balance Within Finance

Having grown up with a father in finance, an economics degree from Harvard University, and a couple of consultative internships under her belt, Turner sought a position in investment management right out of college. More than three years ago, after a year and a half at Allstate, she joined PGIM Private Capital (PPC) and transferred from Chicago to the London office last year.

Initially drawn to sociology out of a fascination for how and why people think and behave the way they do, Turner combined her interest in human behavior with her attraction to finance. She enjoys considering why people make economic decisions and what factors influence the choices they make ̶— a valuable perspective when assessing investment prospects.

“I’m definitely someone who is intellectually curious, and in this industry, every day is different,” says Turner. “There are new challenges and discoveries with each transaction and type of company you’re evaluating. This keeps the work fresh and exciting, which motivates me to learn and do more.”

Turner notes that entering into the workforce five years ago, she knew she was looking for a balance with family and personal life – as her own parents modeled through their involvement in church, community, and after-school activities when she was growing up. “Lifestyle balance can be particularly challenging in the finance world, so what motivated me to come to PPC was knowing that I’d be in a role, in a space in finance, where I could still have that balance.”

Showing Up in a Room and For the Community

“I’ve been very fortunate in that I don’t feel that my race or gender have really been factors in my career to this point. I think it has definitely been more performance-based,” Turner notes. “I participated in speech and debate in high school, and I played sports, so I’m very used to speaking in front of people, being very direct and voicing my concerns. If I didn’t have that personality or had worked in spaces that discouraged those behaviors, maybe my experience would be different.”

Turner admits she is more wary of the possible dynamics at play around race and gender when outside of the office, in external meetings where she might not know what kind of biases are present. This means she’s more hyper-conscious of how she presents herself to get the reactions she hopes for, which could mean changing how she dresses or does her hair. Turner says, “That is something that we, as a society, are going to have to deal with on a longer-term basis.”

Turner is impressed by the leaders who walk their talk day-to-day, be it in the office or the community. “I look up to people with authenticity and passion, who convey it not just with words, but with what they do –whether it’s actively reaching out to people who are more junior, actively seeking their advice, or introducing them to committees or organizations within industries to try to broaden their vantage point.”

Nobody has role-modeled walking their talk more than Turner’s mother. As president of the school-site council, she helped Turner’s elementary school become a distinguished California school. She also began a group in the school district, whose aim was to provide support and advocate for the needs of Black parents and students. Turner observed her mom continuously play an active role in supporting the wider community, a trait she hopes to emulate.

Championing Voices and Being a Team Player

Turner would like her colleagues to see her as a compassionate leader who helps to amplify all the voices in the room.

“If I’m leading a meeting, I like to cold call on people and get a pulse for what different people are thinking, because it’s often people who are more reserved or introverted who have very deep insight,” she says.

Another way she seeks to champion differing perspectives is by having one-on-one conversations, fostering a safe space for people to share their opinions in a more private setting. From here, she can determine how to help those individuals share their thoughts in a larger space.

A rugby player while in college, Turner joined a club rugby team in London and applies the lessons she learned about teamwork from her childhood and current participation in sports.

“Everyone needs to be on the same page and playing their role, and when one person isn’t, it affects the rest of the team,” she says. “This applies to both sports and in the workplace; it is critical to have good communication and know how your actions affect others. In those times when you aren’t feeling your best, I think it’s important to ask for and are willing to receive support from your teammates.”

“I also believe it’s important to be mindful of how your teammates are feeling. Actively asking how others are feeling not only makes them feel more part of the team, but also establishes a level of trust and morale that makes everyone perform better,” she says. “Being aware of how everyone else is feeling helps form a cohesive team because at the end of the day, we’re all working towards the same goal. If one person is having an off day, that’s going to impact the whole team. Knowing how to rally around and motivate that person not only helps the individual but brings the whole team closer together.”

Turner wants to be the type of leader that helps aligns individuals’ goals to the broader team and organization’s vision, enabling everyone to move ahead and progress together.

Being Strong and Giving Back

Growing up, Turner remembers hearing stories about her father’s family working as sharecroppers in Louisiana before they moved to California, her home state.

“Only two generations back, my grandmother was picking cotton in the fields and making dresses out of flour sacks. That’s a reminder the past is not as far back as we perceive it to be.”

The wisdom Turner’s grandmother imparted has influenced her perspectives, “She told me ‘whatever your husband knows how to do, you should know how to do, too.’ Her lessons in perseverance and being self-sufficient have motivated me to be independent.”

What’s in the decade ahead for Turner? She envisions herself with a family and continuing to be led by her curiosity. In Chicago, she was highly involved in volunteering, especially working with children–whether helping to provide healthy meals or reading to them–and was struck by the impact of food insecurity in her community. She now participates in community service through the Junior League of London by helping raise awareness about poverty in the city.

By Aimee Hansen

/by

Why Relocating Can Boost Your Career—And How to Make It Work For You

Moving-home

By Cathie Ericson

Whether you’re employed at your company’s headquarters and want to find out more about working in a branch office—or vice versa—relocating within your company can boost your career in a myriad of ways.

It shows you’re a team player if you’re moving to fill a necessary role and bolsters your network of champions as you showcase your skills by working with others in various functions, departments and locations.

The reasons for relocation vary: One survey from Impact Group found that while nearly one-quarter relocated for a promotion, more than half said they were doing it for personal career development.
According to a Robert Half poll, 62 percent of respondents would relocate for a job opportunity—and that might be wise, considering that nearly half find they would receive better pay and perks through a move.

Many of those relocaters are women: A Wall Street Journal article reported that women accounted for nearly a quarter of moves by North American employers in 2016—up from 17 percent in 2009, according to surveys of employers by Atlas Van Lines Inc.
Sometimes the relocation is strictly for professional gains, such as your desire to learn new skills or work with new teams, but other times it’s for a personal reason, whether you want to be closer to family or have always wanted to live in other region. Whatever the reason, here are five ways to make the relocation seamless.

1. Explain why it’s in your company’s best interest.

Whether you want to work in a different division or want a change of scenery, it’s important to make your case carefully if it’s a relocation that you’re requesting, as opposed to one that’s been offered to you. Do some clandestine research on how other relocated colleagues have fared elsewhere in the company—did it propel their career or did it put them on the slow track to nowhere? That can help you determine if it’s a wise career move before you even get started.

And then conduct similar research to help you build your case. Find out how your background and skills can be parlayed into helping your division or location of choice achieve their goals and prepare to make a business case to prove your point.

As Erica Perkins, director of human resources business partners at Glassdoor, explains, “Don’t ask for something if you haven’t researched whether or not it’s feasible. Find out what your employer policy is on location transfers and (if international) global mobility programs and assignments/expatriation.”

You’ll also want to make sure you’re not professionally pigeonholing yourself “by taking on a specialist role,” Jennifer Petriglieri, an assistant professor at INSEAD, tells Harvard Business Review.

2. Learn more about the culture of the office and the location.

Ideally the firm will sponsor a trip for you to do some reconnaissance before making your decision, but if not, consider funding the trip yourself—you don’t want to complete all the paperwork and have your family uprooted only to find out that the office is significantly smaller than you had expected, located in a less-desirable area or has a culture that’s far different from your current one.

“Visiting your new office location at least once before you commit, reaching out to new coworkers via email or LinkedIn, or inquiring about the different types of culture-building activities offered to employees (or lack thereof) are just some examples of ways to vet a new opportunity,” recommends Phoebe Licata, an employee engagement consultant.

And utilize the power of social media to find out more about the city in general if you’ve not spent significant time there to make sure that it offers the ambience you prefer, whether that’s for cultural activities, outdoor adventures or a burgeoning restaurant scene.

If you are unable to visit, see how much information you can glean from coworkers—ideally you have a contact in the office who can be candid—or talk to other colleagues who regularly interact with those in the potential location. They might be able to give you important intel that can solidify your decision—or at least ensure you are prepared once you arrive.

3. Negotiate a compelling redo package.

The Robert Half survey found that more than one-third of companies have increased their relocation packages in the past five years, but it’s important to learn who will shoulder the various expenses. Among the aspects to consider are:

  • Funds for a fact-finding trip.
  • Moving expenses.
  • Temporary housing.
  • Housing allowance for a down payment, or a stipulation that the company purchases your existing home if it doesn’t sell.
  • Fees that might be required for new licenses, registration, utilities, etc. Also consider all contracts you have in place you might be breaking.
  • Other assistance, such as finding schools or jobs for your family members.

Also make sure to research the cost of living in the new location; if it’s significantly higher, you might want to ask about a bump in pay or subsidy commensurate with those expected higher expenses.

This is also the time to confirm whether it’s a permanent or temporary assignment and what recourse you have if things don’t go as planned.

4. Consider a “trailing spouse” if you have one.

As Matthew Bidwell, an associate professor at Wharton, explains in the Harvard Business Review article, “It’s not just what does this mean for your career, but what does this mean for our family?” he says.

Companies are realizing the importance of a happy family: The same Atlas survey found that more than 60 percent of employers provided job-hunting aid for spouses or partners in 2017, nearly double the 33 percent who did so in 2007.

And in addition to inquiring about the assistance your employer might offer, think through other networks or opportunities your partner can tap, whether it’s through their current job or LinkedIn connections. See if there are others in your new office who might be families with the industry and have contacts to share.

Making sure your family is on board with the move is a key part of your eventual success.

5. Embrace the adventure.

Whether the relocation was your idea or was something “strongly recommended” by your employer to advance your career, look at it as an incredible opportunity to try something different, meet new people and further enhance your career and your value to your company by bolstering your network and your skill set.

“A career is long; we can all afford a few adventures, and we have plenty of time to experiment and explore,” notes Petriglieri.

/by

Voice of Experience: Melissa Barrett, Managing Director, Chief of Staff Global Compliance & Head of Global Compliance Training, Goldman Sachs

Melissa Barrett By Cathie Ericson

“Work hard, seek advice from mentors, and the advancement opportunities will come,” says Melissa Barrett, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, who has experienced that firsthand in her journey with the firm.

Barrett has spent 19 out of her 20 year career at Goldman Sachs, beginning in the Investment Management Division and then moving through several locations and departments to her current role in Compliance. “What is unique about Goldman Sachs is that there are so many opportunities to take on diverse roles while staying with the same firm,” she says. “I’ve loved having the opportunity to do different things at the firm and that I haven’t had to look outside of the company to be able to take on new challenges.”

Much of her current focus in Compliance is helping employees achieve a similarly diversified career, as she spends time on people initiatives for the division. Her goal is to determine what motivates employees and help them identify rewarding career paths at the firm. To address research showing that millennials are apt to job hop, Barrett spent time last year reaching out to other managing directors on ways to engage specifically with millennials. This year, she is doing the opposite and ensuring that millennials are best prepared to engage with people of different generations. “I want to figure out how to retain this generation and ensure they carry on the firm’s culture of employing high performers over the long-term,” she noted.

Mentors Can Make the Difference

Barrett attributes much of her success to trusting her mentors and managers, who encouraged her to take risks that she says she otherwise might not have considered. That’s why she believes it is important for professionals at all levels to find people who will be their sponsors or mentors. “Some of the moves I’ve made in my career were a result of someone I trusted advising me that taking a risk was the best move for me. Use your mentors’ guidance to help you navigate your career. No matter what their level, or whether they’re inside or outside the firm, find people who can answer questions and provide solid advice,” she says. “Have a diverse group of people you can turn to – at various points in your life and career you will need to seek advice from different people.”
Based on her positive experiences with mentors, she encourages her peers to sponsor women and act as a role model. “Think about what the younger generation is searching for and realize that you are what they aspire to be. Make an effort to support them and be open and honest about what attributes will lead to success. Being transparent about your personal struggles allows people to connect with you.”

Barrett advises younger women to be confident and trust in their abilities. “Have a voice and know that you have a place at the table and your opinion is valued,” she said. She also recommends that women get involved in activities at the company beyond day-to-day work, such as an affinity network. “I think one of the things that has kept me so tied to Goldman Sachs is that I’ve worked with and met so many people, and coming to work each day becomes more than just a job,” she noted.

She herself participated in the year-long Vice President Leadership Acceleration Initiative (VPLAI). One of the most unique facets was a feedback component that was directly targeted to specific areas of development. “I really appreciated that direct feedback so I could understand what skills and areas I needed to improve to get to the next level,” she said.

Balancing Work and Home

Barrett was already established in her career when she had her child, now three years old, so she has been adjusting to the challenge of being a working mother in the finance industry. “Every day is a juggling act to find time to be a good mom, a good spouse and take time for myself. Each person has to figure out how to make it work.”

Barrett also notes that flexibility and a work-life balance aren’t solely for working parents. “Ultimately, I think it’s up to you as an individual to determine what’s important to you and ensure you prioritize things outside of work. I try to lead by example in this regard.”

Save

/by

Voice of Experience: Nili Gilbert, Co-Founder & Portfolio Manager at Matarin Capital Management

Nili GilbertBy Cathie Ericson

“My best advice is that women should appreciate the benefit of taking measured risks, those you can understand and manage,” says Nili Gilbert, co-founder and portfolio manager at Matarin Capital Management, citing starting the firm as one of those measured risks.

“You have to believe in yourself to ensure that you don’t shrink in the face of challenges,” she says, adding that the goal isn’t to look for the course without them, but instead to rally and meet them.

Innovating in the Financial Industry

Gilbert’s interest in financial markets dates back to when she was a young girl in Switzerland and was curious about the different currency markets she encountered while traveling. She designed her own related field of study while attending Harvard, earned her MBA from Columbia Business School by age 24 and joined Invesco.

There she met the team with whom she’s been working ever since. They founded Matarin Capital Management in 2010, taking pride in the fact that at that time they’d been together for almost a decade, managing more than $25 billion as a team at Invesco.

“Our team has always operated under the investment philosophy that human emotions drive markets, and so our strategy to make money is to trade on the dislocations that these emotions create and to deliver our clients a more stable return,” she says.

Cofounding and helping build Matarin is the professional achivevement she’s most proud of and one that reflects her initial career inclinations. Gilbert wrote in her business school application that she dreamed of one day founding a financial services company. “I said that I hoped to create a company that would help shape values in the industry and so starting Matarin was a seminal moment,” she says.

The firm was established based on values and a longer-term view. “We realized there are thousands of asset managers out there, and the world doesn’t need just another hedge fund. That’s why we set out to build something that is different and that has purpose, something that would be an enduring business.”

The firm is continuously engaged in a variety of research projects to support its investment strategies. Some of the research that Gilbert is most engaged with at this time includes a review of valuation as a market timing tool. She notes that it’s tricky to use valuation to determine the future direction of the S&P, for example, because the market index can stay overvalued for a long time before it corrects.

A second project the firm is undergoing is a consideration of how the advent of negative interest rates may change basic assumptions about how macroeconomics work, as they look at a combination of theoretical viewpoints and historical observations.

Winning as A Team

Gilbert says that one thing she’s learned over time is that success doesn’t come from individual contributions, but rather from a strong team as a whole. She says their team sets goals as a group and achieves as a group which is why the people you team up with are so critical to your career.

Since all five of the principals at Matarin have previously been senior professionals at large, well-respected firms, they know that there can be a better way to work, away from the typical silos. In that setting, portfolio managers only have control over their returns but that’s not the sole factor affecting client well-being. She appreciates that the firm’s approach gives them the ability to control what strategies are appropriate, what fees should be, how to manage communications and when to close funds that have reached capacity.

“There are some very technical questions in the industry that for us start at the core with conversations about values,” she says, adding that while some cultures are focused on asset accrual, Matarin chooses to set goals in terms of dollars of added value generated for clients over time.

Making the Industry Positive for Women

The industry will benefit when women see more women like themselves in it, which will show them the path to success, she believes. That’s why Matarin tries to stay visible with its principals acting as mentors and speaking at conferences, including involvement in “100 Women in Hedge Funds.”

Since the portfolio management space is such a performance-oriented business, it can be quite meritocratic, which makes it an excellent career for women. “Investment performance can be a great equalizer. Women who deliver strong returns can have long and fruitful careers in the industry,” she says. “Because of the emphasis on performance, women should be attracted to the industry as a place they can excel.”

She says that diversity as a whole is important for any business, and her firm supports diversity in skill sets, gender, culture and backgrounds. She emphasizes that they hire based on merit but never before they’ve considered a diverse pool of potential candidates.

“If you have a good mix of viewpoints around the table, you can embark on a professional debate that puts your ideas in the best form so you can test and vet them from different perspectives.”

Work and Home Combine for a Positive Life View

Gilbert serves as a member of the board of directors and chairs the finance and investment board for the Synergos Institute, an international development organization focused on poverty alleviation. She says the group identifies breakdowns in the system which cause or perpetuate poverty, and helps to implement leadership initiatives and structural changes to repair them.

An avid traveler, she and her husband just returned from their honeymoon in French Polynesia.

Gilbert says her ability to work hard comes because of one belief. “When you do something you love, it helps you build resilience to make it through the hard days, and it makes the good days better, too.”

/by

Mover and Shaker: Yingli Zhu, Senior Portfolio Manager and Manager of Quantitative Research, Voya Investment Management

Yingli ZhuBy Cathie Ericson

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” is one of Yingli Zhu’s favorite expressions. “That’s because when the next opportunity arrives, you will find yourself ‘lucky’ if you are prepared to take advantage of it.”

Making the Most of Opportunities

Zhu’s career is the result of this equation. After earning a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, she joined the newly formed quantitative risk management team at ING Investment Management (now Voya Investment Management). As a logical, numbers person wanting to understand the math behind any idea, she found the position to be perfect for her.

Although Zhu had a very limited knowledge of fixed income prior to this role, working directly on different projects provided her with the opportunity to understand the building blocks of, and nuances for, fixed income securities.

Soon, she shifted her focus from data analysis and modeling to working closely with portfolio managers in different asset classes, developing tools to help them manage asset risks. Shortly after the financial crisis in 2008, the company underwent a major reorganization which created what she calls a “lifetime opportunity” to join the mortgage derivatives team, where she’s stayed for the past eight years.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be part of a team managing multi-billion dollar assets for corporations,” she says, adding that she finds it satisfying on a daily basis. She notes that a luminary in the industry, Bill Gross, once said that a good bond manager should be 1/3 mathematician, 1/3 economist and 1/3 horse trader. “I’m proud to work on a team that combines so many talented individuals,” Zhu says.

Every day can present a great investment opportunity as the team works to achieve optimal risk adjusted returns and income while considering different reporting and accounting standards. “We have to be constantly creative and reinvent ourselves to achieve optimal returns,” she says. The decisions are complex since national and international developments can all have a direct or indirect effect on the assets that are bought and sold on a daily basis.

“All these developments can create opportunities, and it is always exciting to see how we can leverage these opportunities to create value for investors,” she says. “We evaluate new instruments we’ve never looked at before and study them to understand the risk/return profiles and determine if they are the right investment for each of our many portfolios.”

Hard Work Paves the Way for Success

Having grown up in China, Zhu had little knowledge about the financial industry and its corporate culture when she first started. “I assumed that I could succeed with hard work, determination, diligence and persistence, and those attributes continue to serve me well whenever there’s a new challenge I need to tackle,” she says.

What she appreciates about working at Voya is that everyone is an expert at some part of the business, so she can always find a resource to help her with any issue. “Everyone is willing to channel their energy for the good of the team,” she says.

Zhu’s current boss has always been her mentor. “We’re on the trading floor together so there is constant communication. If I have questions or need help I can get immediate feedback and help to resolve challenges,” she says.

Like her colleagues, she strives to be helpful to anyone who’s willing to learn and wants to move the business forward.

Over the years Zhu has found that the best learning approach is often getting your hands dirty. “If you see a challenge within the business that doesn’t seem to be your direct responsibility, but is one you can contribute to, you are going to benefit if you step up and help resolve it because of what you will learn along the way.”

While it’s common for anyone to wonder if what they do will pay off, she maintains the belief that all of her effort and persistence prepares her for the next challenge.

But no matter how exciting her days are at work, Zhu says she can’t wait to come home each day to see her family: her husband and her two children, ages four and one, whom she calls “the joy of my life.”

/by

Voice of Experience: Susanne V. Clark, General Counsel, Senior Managing Director; Centerbridge Partners, L.P.

,

Susanne V. Clark“Be brave. Take smart risks. Recognize that you belong at the table.” For Susanne Clark of Centerbridge Partners, those are three key elements for women who aspire to success in the professional world.

Clark has lived the philosophy of “smart risks,” with a career path that has involved a series of decisions to step outside of her comfort zone, each of which added a new layer of experience.

She began her career as a capital markets lawyer at Shearman & Sterling and after a few years joined Goldman Sachs in its Investment Banking Division, which expanded her responsibilities and skills to the broad range of investment banking services. She later joined a team working for Goldman’s public parent company, which extended her responsibilities and had the benefit of allowing her to see the business through an even broader lens, interacting with all of Goldman’s divisions including sales and trading, prime brokerage, research and asset management.

She became increasingly curious about asset management from Goldman’s dealings with fund clients, took a leap and reached beyond her historical skill set to join Amaranth Group, her first experience working directly for an investment adviser. From there, she took her first general counsel role at Basso Capital Management, which she found was a perfect place to learn how to hold her own as a general counsel. From there, she joined Centerbridge Partners, a private investment firm that manages capital for the world’s most prominent pensions, endowments and foundations, where she is a Senior Managing Director and the firm’s chief legal officer. In each case, she let the excitement of a new challenge overtake the fear of failure.

At Centerbridge, she has designed and developed its Legal & Compliance department, which she credits as the professional achievement she is most proud of so far, having built the department from the ground up, but with ample credit to her team for their role in the department’s success. “We have a diverse team of professionals who are dedicated to each other and their work. It is a pleasure to step back and observe how capable they are,” Clark said.

Confidence Counts

Clark knows that it’s good to be humble, but cautions women not to confuse humility with unhelpful and unnecessary self-deprecation. She says that early in her career, she wrote in a self-evaluation that she needed to “gain confidence in her new role.” Although her intent was just to set personal goals, that comment found its way into the next year’s review – “Be more confident.” Clark recalls. “Seeking to convey that I was eager to learn, I unwittingly created a false impression that I was unsure of myself. It was a good lesson to have learned early on.”

An Ideal Industry for Women

Clark finds there is an inaccurate presumption that the asset management industry is a man’s world. “In fact, investment firms are a great place for women because there is no glass ceiling. In general most asset management firms are meritocracies where success is defined and driven by one’s work product and results,” she says. “It’s a dynamic industry that offers great career mobility for motivated professionals who do excellent work.”

Making an Impact

She has been following recent studies on board composition, which show that better decision making occurs on boards of directors that include women. And she has started to see more and more women in the GC seat within the fund industry. “It excites me to see these high-impact women at complex firms who are doing a great job for their firms.”

During her early years in large organizations, she participated in and benefitted from programs that focused on career development. At other firms, she finds the approach may be more organic, but equally powerful provided that the organization is focused on the growth of its professionals, as is the case at Centerbridge. Whether large or small, she believes that firms benefit from good managers who prioritize the career development of others.

Outside of the firm, Clark participates in various mentoring platforms and professional peer groups – including a few for C-suite women – where she has “made many long-standing friendships.” She notes that “These groups provide a context for exchanging professional insights, sharing pitfalls and triumphs, establishing connections and collecting wisdom that covers the full career arc.” Among Clark’s favorite mentoring moments was the fast-paced award-winning Minute Mentoring® program, which she describes as speed dating for career success.

Clark’s philanthropic activities are largely focused on education, including sitting on the board of an independent school in Connecticut. She also participates in a foundation that focuses on education. Though it’s not limited to girls, the group benefits girls as well as boys by helping them develop their confidence and a wide range of life skills.

By Cathie Ericson

/by

Voice of Experience: Heidi Stam, Managing Director and General Counsel, Vanguard Group

,

Heidi Stam“Choose something that you love because if you love what you do, work hard and learn as much as you can, everything else will come.”

Directly out of law school Heidi Stam took the law firm route as was suggested, working for a large firm and then a boutique firm. She realized litigation didn’t resonate so she switched to deal work, which she describes as the antithesis of litigation. “I loved helping two parties build a solution together,” she says.

After having her first child, though, she started debating her options and found out that the SEC was looking for lawyers. With her experience in corporate deal work, she believed it could be a good fit until she learned they were offering a position in the investment management division. Unfamiliar with that vein, she turned it down – and was surprised when two days later one of the interviewers called her and expressed their disappointment that she had passed. They offered a chance for her to come back and talk to attorneys and get a feel for the work; so instead of a day of interviews, she had two attorneys at her disposal to learn more about the role, which she eventually accepted.

“It was the best thing I’ve ever done,” she said, ultimately spending 10 years in five different positions at the SEC, which eventually led to her role at Vanguard. “You never know what will present itself to you, and being open minded and flexible can help your career.”

A Company on the “Vanguard”

When Vanguard’s CEO contacted her, she said she was particularly interested because of her high regard for the company: In her role at the SEC she had had the opportunity to see all the investment management firms and mutual fund companies in the country.

“I knew Vanguard was a special company with top-notch leadership and terrific values; it was a risk worth taking to leave Washington and join them.” She joined as head of securities regulation in 1997, and became general counsel in 2005, joining the senior executive team.

The firm has been expanding internationally and so the legal and compliance function has been growing simultaneously. Part of her role will be to build that function for the next decade, which involves working globally in different cultures and countries and through different legal systems and compliance regulations.

“We’ve embraced the challenge because we’re excited about the opportunity. Seeing the team collaborate on this work makes for a rich and exciting experience,” she said.

Other industry developments that she will help oversee include the growth of Vanguard Personal Advisor Services in which Vanguard is offering a hybrid model of a professional advisor paired with an online experience that they believe offers a superior approach at a very low cost. The service recently launched after two years of preparation and Stam believes that it’s a model that will work for investors at all stages of life. “Our mission is to offer the best chance for investment success and we think this program will deliver that. “

For Stam, the achievement she is most proud of is her ability to teach others as she grows her team. “When I look back on my career, what’s most satisfying is the ability to have touched all those people along the way. Hopefully they feel they learned something, or I put them in a better position to lead or otherwise progress.”

That achievement underscores her philosophy that a great team dynamic produces superior results. “Understanding your role within a team and what you can do to help create a strong team environment is very important as you move through your career.”

Increasing Women in Leadership Positions

Stam says that her industry seems to attract a higher representation of men than women and that creates its own challenge: women should not be daunted by the current numbers. To that end, she says she is privileged to be one of the founding members of Vanguard’s Women’s Initiative for Leadership Success (WILS), which was started seven years ago.

The WILS organization is designed to support the women at Vanguard and create an environment that fosters development and encourages women in their leadership abilities.

So far she says there has been great success, with more than 4,000 members and an increase in internal promotions as more women pursue senior leadership roles. “We’ve helped women at Vanguard see what they can do, and now we’re focusing s on external hires.”

As Stam points out, the funnel doesn’t have a high representation of women, but the company is committed to patient hiring because they know the benefits that women in senior roles offer.

Although the firm has an equal overall representation of women and men, she said that their goal is to make sure there is similar diversity in senior leadership roles. “It’s been a personal pleasure to see the number of women role models increase,” she said.

On the home front, Stam has a “wonderful husband,” and four adult children.

“The last one was a two-fer” she says, indicating her 21-year-old twin girls, as well as a son who is 26 and a daughter, 28. “I wouldn’t change a single thing.”

By Cathie Ericson

/by

Voice of Experience: Leann Balbona, Managing Director, Tax – Global Mobility Services, KPMG

,

5033967967One of the best ways to enhance your career, according to KPMG’s Leann Balbona, is to speak up. “It’s important not only to demonstrate you can do a good job, but you have to tell people, too. Managers can’t read your mind, so you have to let them know what you’re interested in for the next step in your career progression,” she said, adding that otherwise, they might not know if you are ready or willing to move to a position that might be a perfect fit. “Tell them that if they see an opportunity for x or y, you’d like to be kept in mind.”

That has been key to the ascension Balbona has achieved in her career, which she describes as both interesting and rewarding. Currently a Managing Director with KPMG’s equity tax practice, she has traveled around the world and worked in five different countries on projects. “The ability to be creative has always been important to me because of my natural curiosity so it’s been wonderful to have had so many opportunities.”

One of those opportunities that helped shape her career was being asked 15 years ago to be a team lead on an important IT projectto help build a web application from the ground up. Web technology was just emerging, and this role offered the chance to learn more about using this new technology to automate international tax processes and assignment management. After developing the application, she was able to spend three years on the road, traveling throughout Asia, Europe and North America to meet with corporate clients and discuss how they could use it to enhance their businesses and better manage mobile employee populations. To this day, some of KPMG’s largest clients, as well as the internal KPMG teams, use this technology to manage their mobility programs and deliver services.

Now, as Balbona is one of the leaders in the rapidly growing Global Incentive Compensation Services, a business in KPMG’s Global Mobility Services Tax practice, she finds it particularly rewarding to build a team, create efficient processes and deliver a service offering that truly helps clients become more tax compliant in delivery of equity awards to their employees around the world.

A great way to give back is to serve on boards.Balbona has served as a leader of KPMG’s New York office’s Network of Women for five years. This leadership experience with one of the firm’s largest offices helped position her for her current role as a board member of the Global Equity Organization (GEO), a non-profit trade organization.In this position, she helps guide the organization, which serves the equity industry from an educational and trade perspective on best practices and industry trends. “The current regulatory pressure and enhanced emphasis on corporate governance means that companies must be ever vigilant and focused on mitigating risk, especially since the mobile workforce can create unintended liabilities and multiple tax obligations. It’s more important than ever to proactively address and properly report tax obligations in an efficient manner to avoid unplanned costs for the company,” she says.

Advice for Early Careerists

Balbona’s experience underscores that “Big Four” firms are a great place to start and build a career, with their emphasis on a strong foundation in accounting, tax and advisory with a focus on both classroom and on-the -job training and advancement. There’s also a high potential for challenging and unique assignments including international assignments or projects, which are important opportunities to take advantage of early in a career. “The skills you learn at a Big Four firm will pay dividends throughout your career.”

She also believes that while mentors are important, sponsors play an even more vital role as you move up the chain. “I can’t emphasize the impact of having someone watching out for you, offering opportunities and championing you when you are not in the room.”

Building a strong network is key and it doesn’t happen without effort. Balbona urges professionals to build personal contacts by getting out of the office for lunch, coffee or networking events. “Others are more willing to help you if they know you on a personal level,” she says.

A Progressive Work Force

Over the years, Balbona has seen an evolution in policies and perspective that has increasingly led to the retention of high-performing men and women. She has seen that achieving work/life balance is increasingly important to all professionals. “Here in the 21st century, where technology has allowed so much more flexibility in our industry for alternative work arrangements, such as working remotely, I don’t feel as though there are gender-based issues.”

Despite these advances, Balbona sees the value of women’s networks after spending five years leading the chapter in the New York office. “It was a great way to give back to the organization and mentor our women professionals while developing programs to help them become better leaders,” she said, adding that she was able to meet people she otherwise wouldn’t have met, who have served important roles over the course of her career.

While there, she helped pilot and roll out a program that is already having an impact on retention. Intended to help younger professionals manage their career and life choices, it provides a framework for evaluating their progress and then setting actionable goals and priorities.

She also recently completed a one-year program at the Executive Leadership Institute for senior women, which was led by an external coaching firm and attended by both KPMG partners and managing directors, as well as those from equivalent levels from other companies. She found that mix provided an interesting perspective and the skills she learned have already enhanced her leadership.

At Home and Around the World

Close to home, Balbona supports Harlem RBI and YWCA and enjoys walking her dog in Central Park. She also loves traveling with her husband and meeting people in other cultures around the world. “Journeys come in all shapes and sizes, and you can learn from all of them, whether you’re at home or abroad.”

By Cathie Ericson

/by

Voice of Experience: Natalie Eckford, Managing Director, Cambridge Associates

,

Natalie Eckford“I am a black woman from Jackson, Mississippi, and that experience gives me a valuable, unique perspective. I shouldn’t shy away from that difference,” says Natalie Eckford. “I’m using my education and my skills to make my stamp on justice and equality, and I’m really proud of that.”

Eckford describes her career path as traditional – developing a solid background in finance by joining an investment banking firm right after earning her undergraduate degree. She then moved back to Mississippi, where she worked for WorldCom in its broadband division. “Even though I was still in finance, my work at WoldCom was completely different. In banking, I worked with prebuilt models to try to make the deal fit, but at WorldCom, I had to build the model to fit the situation. I was learning how to run a company.”

In addition, she had much more interaction with people, which was lacking in her former role as an Investment Banking analyst. When evaluating potential M&A deals for WorldCom, she had to understand how every department would be affected. “I actually had to get out of my chair and talk to people,” Eckford says, adding that it was an important development in her career skills.

After attending Harvard Business School, she landed at Cambridge Associates, which was the perfect fit for her. At Cambridge Associates, Eckford helps institutions navigate the global markets, access profitable investment opportunities, and grow their endowment capital. “My role here takes all the skills I’ve been building and utilizes them to help further missions in which I really believe,” she says. Her clients include nonprofits that work in education, community development and civil rights advocacy.

Eckford feels she is following the model set by her parents, both of whom earned their degrees during the Jim Crow era and used them to combat inequality and poverty. “The example they set was that I had a responsibility to use the privileges with which I had been blessed to try to help someone else, and I’m proud of what I do to help my clients access capital to further their important missions.”

The passion for the work she’s doing has its roots in her undergraduate thesis on women-focused microfinance as a means for broader economic development. She says that she has always been interested in how you can make investments that have a double bottom line – not only are you making an impact that is visible, but you are doing it through a market orientation. She says that she is seeing a broader use of impact investing in portfolios, though it’s still in the early stages. “There are more funds being created to bridge the gaps in income inequality and education through new technology, and a growing number of these funds are being led by women. It is a very exciting time.

Learning To Speak Up

Eckford recognizes the power of sponsors, citing that advocacy as the reason that she earned her initial spot on the real estate investment banking team. Someone for whom she had interned on another team championed her, alerting the decision makers that Eckford had really made a difference on their team and had potential to be a value-add for the group. “I’m very thankful that I have had advocates, but we also need to do it for ourselves – we need to shed the fear of telling our colleagues how we’ve added value to the company.”

And she says that young women should not be afraid of taking risks. She looks back on her business school experience and how most of the women in her class took jobs within very established companies or industries, whereas many of the men were looking for positions with independent groups, angel investors or start-ups. “They were not afraid to go to a place that had been unproven and because of it, many of them have been able to benefit from valuable experiences learned when you are part of a small team working to grow a business or when you have an individual investing in your career because your success is tied to the business’s survival.” She cites her time working for a start-up group at WorldCom as a risk like that: “I was coming up with the ideas and that really impacted my viewpoint on the rest of my career.”

“They were not afraid to go to a place that had been unproven and because of it, many of them have been able to benefit from valuable experiences learned when you are part of a small team working to grow a business or when you have an individual investing in your career because your success is tied to the business’s survival.”

Over the years, Eckford has learned that it’s not enough to just work hard – that women need to promote themselves and develop a network of allies who will help promote them. “As a black woman I had worked so hard to just fit in over the years, it felt unconscionable to try to stand out,” she says, “and yet, you get to a point in your career where it’s critical if you’re going to progress. Most likely, your male counterparts are not holding back.”

She says that speaking up and sharing your unique perspective is what will make people remember you. “I’ve worked so hard to get the seat at the table, and when I got promoted to managing director I really thought about how I wanted to use that.” Eckford knows that even if was her stellar resume that got her in the door, it is the sum of her experience that differentiates her in meetings.

She knows that her clients appreciate the different perspective and voice that she can bring and believes that all organizations can benefit from incorporating diverse perspectives to their governing bodies. She firmly believes that women need more board representation. “Even as we look for more diversity in portfolios, that decision tends to be determined at the board level. We have to have a more diverse board calling for diversity in our portfolios.”

Walking the Walk

Eckford is active in a group at Cambridge Associates that founded a Diversity Council, which encompasses employees of different ethnicities, genders and sexual orientation through all levels of the firm.

She knows that her firm is interested in the business case for diversity – and that clients care. She says that in the past year, they’ve talked frequently about the barriers for women and minority managers. “We’re making progress, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” she says.

As if her busy professional life wasn’t enough, Eckford also makes time to give back outside her firm. “Nonprofit boards have always been a passion throughout my life.”

By Cathie Ericson

/by

Men Who Get It: Phil Porado, Content Director, Advisor and Financial Services Groups, Rogers Publishing

,

Phil PoradoAs content director for the Advisor and Financial Services Group at Rogers Publishing, Porado oversees three teams that produce trade publications read by financial industry professionals in Canada. He’s been with the company for 10 years, holding six different positions. Prior to joining Rogers, Porado worked for a variety of publications in the United States in the finance, architecture and political industries and also covered general news at United Press.

“Having held a variety of different journalism and publishing positions really helps as a manager,” he says, “because when people ask about processes you can give them a real answer.”

Following His Mother’s Advice

“I’m a diversity champion because my mom told me I had to be,” says Porado, only half joking. He says that he had an advantage through growing up with a mom who was an early 20th century career woman, which normalized women in the work force to him.

“I’m a diversity champion because my mom told me I had to be,”

After her father died, she went to work to help support her four siblings when she was just a teen as a bookkeeper at General Electric. It was during World War II when women were welcomed into the workplace so she took advantage of the opportunity to contribute to her family’s income. Before her 19th birthday, she was running the payroll department.

Porado said she stayed home to take care of her own children, but continued to do people’s taxes on the side and assisted with the bulk of financial planning for his father’s business.

“I remember her telling me when I was 10 that someday I would be in charge and I would have to advocate for diverse people in the workplace, because I was a ‘privileged white male,’” he said, adding that his family never hesitated to make him aware of the fact that he was better off than many.

Porado admired that his parents modeled an even division of labor and says that his home was very much a partnership, with no one shouldering the bulk of the less desirable tasks.

Given his upbringing, Porado expected it to be standard operating procedure to work with women and was surprised to enter the workforce and find that sexism was still rampant in the 1980s.

“It offended me,” he says, since he had been raised in a different environment. “If you’re fortunate enough to be enlightened, then it’s your responsibility to pass it on.”

Publishing Industry Better Than Most

On the whole, Porado says the publishing industry was better than most, largely because it is a desirable field for women. He found that there were a large number of women who were choosing the field who were not only interested, but what he calls highly motivated to succeed.

“I find that women differ from some of their male counterparts many times because they are looking to learn things and up their game. They are constantly soliciting information they can use to become more skillful, which men don’t do as much,” he says. He has had the experience corroborated by others. In fact, just recently a colleague who was hiring for a writing and reporting job asked him, “Is it me, or do you also find that the woman are just stronger candidates?”

He says that when people demonstrate a willingness and desire to learn, he can facilitate their learning, making a point to actively teach them how they can progress.

That’s the greatest management lesson of all, he’s found, to help people thrive and then get out of the way. “That’s when championing gets interesting — when people whom you’ve taught show signs of eclipsing you. And that’s when you need to be able to point them to someone who might know better, though not everyone is comfortable with that. Mantle passing is hard, but if you are able to identify and help mentor a protégé, then you are doing your job.”

He has found that being a sponsor comes naturally since his focus is always on helping others with their career growth. He believes you have to advocate for promotions for people behind the scenes, and the best way to do that is to speak up for people when they’re absent, giving credit where it’s due.

“I have the uncomfortable position of people giving me credit when I am undeserving since it was an entire group effort, and I am just the leader,” Porado says. He rights the confusion by being quick to name the team members who actually did the work and acknowledging that even though he might have outlined the game plan, they were the ones who carried the ball.

Boldly Questioning Stereotyping

He says that over the years, he has seen the effects of stereotyping and has been bold about questioning it. “I would step up and say, ‘Why not so and so?’” when the situation presented itself.”

“I would step up and say, ‘Why not so and so?’” when the situation presented itself.”

Another way that he encourages inclusion is by always suggesting that other team members join meetings when it’s appropriate. If he does find himself in a meeting where he feels another team member should have been invited, he makes the contributions he thinks they would have made, even deliberately pointing out that if that person was there, this is what they would say. “The subtle message is that you were remiss in not inviting that person and only consulting with me.”

However, he is quick to point out that things are progressing rapidly; whereas 20 years ago a stereotypical mindsight was noticeable, now it is much less of an issue. “I’ve been privileged to see a lot of change in my life, and I often point out to young people that they are living in a world that we hoped would one day exist, and they should realize and appreciate it.”

By Cathie Ericson

/by