Identifying opportunities for career advancement is something that has served Gigi Freeman, Executive Director at MSCI , very well throughout her entire career.
She graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Earth Science, and she envisioned herself establishing a career in science before realizing that financial services held a lot of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard and learn at a fast pace, regardless of their educational background.
Although Freeman could have chosen to pursue a scientific career, she chose to follow her heart –and her instincts –instead.
Career Path
Freeman accepted an internship at a financial research firm where she learned about equity markets. This experience ultimately sparked her interest in returning to school to earn her MBA, but before she did that, Freeman was fortunate enough to secure a position in a rotational trader training program.
During the summer between her first and second year of business school, Freeman accepted an offer to be a summer associate at Goldman Sachs in their Equity Sales and Trading group, which led to a full-time position in the Boston office after she completed her MBA.
After working with large asset management clients in the Boston area, Freeman accepted an international assignment that brought her to London to be a US shares sales trader covering continental accounts. “This was great exposure for me to see how business is done in London as well as how different cultural norms affect the business space,” noted Freeman.
Freeman’s career path changed directions when she joined a small boutique investment research firm which almost had a startup environment, according to Freeman. She recalled, “This was such an interesting point in my career because I had the opportunity to perform several different tasks. With only 35 people in the entire company, I really felt like I was part of building something from the ground up.”
This firm was eventually purchased by RiskMetrics, and later RiskMetrics was acquired by MSCI, Inc., where Freeman serves as an Executive Director, overseeing MSCI’s Sales Training and Online Client Experience. “Due to these acquisitions, my role changed,” explained Freeman. She continued, “I was responsible for relationship management, and was approached several times about joining the sales team, but I knew that was not the right fit for me at that point in my career.”
Being able to accept challenging roles and transition into new territory is something that Freeman is especially proud of. “I was asked to changes roles and take a little bit of a risk when I moved into a Director of Operations position, but I knew I was a quick learner and I had confidence in my abilities,” said Freeman. “Accepting this role allowed me to learn more about our business and it led to my current role where I am involved in strategic IT products and broader business initiatives,” she continued.
“There is a lot of innovation right now in the marketing technology space,” said Freeman, which is something that really drives her daily work. “I am spending a lot of time looking at marketing automation, mobile apps, and optimizing our CRM,” she added.