Tag Archive for: voice of experience

Whether it is searching out long-lost shareholders for a proxy vote, creating new or merging existing mutual funds, or overseeing the myriad steps it takes to rebrand a family of 161 mutual funds, Kim Anderson spends her days finding ways to get things done.

Learning by Doing – Often without a Net

Kim Anderson started out as a banker in the early 90’s when the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed. Her employer, then known as Bank One AZ, decided to get into the business of selling mutual funds and Kim took her first steps into what was largely uncharted territory for both her and the banking industry. “I became a compliance principal and was responsible for approving the trades made by the bank’s representatives.” Her time at the bank was a big opportunity to prove herself and as she notes, “I learned about mutual funds and the industry, which set the stage for where I am today.”

With her first major accomplishment under her belt, Anderson went on to tackle bigger challenges. In 1995, she moved to Pilgrim Funds shortly after they were acquired by Express America. The prior Pilgrim organization had been floundering under a scandal after the firm and its CEO were fined by the SEC for misleading advertising. Certain Pilgrim Funds were purchased by Express America, a mortgage company looking to get into the mutual fund business after enduring the savings and loan crisis.

At Pilgrim, Kim leveraged her compliance experience into heading up the legal administration group. “I oversaw a paralegal team at Pilgrim who worked in conjunction with outside counsel on Board meetings, SEC filings, and the Secretarial function.” Kim’s willingness to dig into the details and make sense of a situation earned her a reputation as a problem solver. “I had many mentors who helped me along the way by seeing an opportunity and saying, ‘Give Kim a shot at it’ which had a very positive influence on my career growth.”

Taking on Even Greater Challenges by Building a Team

Eventually Pilgrim grew to a size where it needed in-house counsel and Kim moved over to run product development and strategic planning.

“We went through a number of mergers and acquisitions and each one presented significant challenges for me and my team.” Pilgrim made a series of acquisitions in the late 1990s and was acquired by ReliaStar in 1999. A year later, ING purchased ReliaStar and Aetna’s financial service operations.

The early 2000s proved to be challenging for Anderson and her team. “Each transaction required a number of new filings, shareholder and Board approvals and operational integrations,” Anderson recalls, “In 2003, we began to really pull all of the acquisitions together and there were not a lot of templates on how to get things done. It was pretty chaotic.”

Anderson’s team at the time included several who she credits with helping her and the overall effort, to be a success. One important achievement was the development of a methodical approach to decision making around the mutual fund products. “We did a full Design-For-Six-Sigma process on how we make fund decisions and it has made a significant difference in getting buy-in from various stakeholders. The [six-sigma] project created a safe environment for all of the constituents to look at the process and voice their opinions. The process ensures that fund product decisions are made based on fact and thorough analysis. I believe the stakeholders see it as ‘everyone’s process’ – with all involved working towards the best outcome.”

By 2007, the new processes were in place and they were ready to deal with any big changes. And there have been plenty of changes for Kim and her team to take on. In 2013, ING U.S., the retirement, asset management and insurance business, was spun-off from the parent company in an IPO. In connection with the IPO, Kim’s team dealt with securing fund shareholder approvals through a proxy event that touched the entire shareholder base – over 5 million shareholders. The past year or so has been dedicated to ING U.S.’s rebranding as Voya Financial (and the investment business as Voya Investment Management), reducing redundancies in its mutual fund line-up and the strategic decision to focus on growing and scaling proprietary asset management.

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Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s “Women in Tech” month! We will be celebrating successful women in technology all month long!

With 30 years of experience in financial services now, Menelly got her start early when she was selected to participate in a management intern program at Bankers Trust. Here, Menelly realized that she always tended to gravitate toward situations where problem solving skills were critical. She added, “This solidified my interest in developing business solutions and bolstered my tolerance for digging into the level of detail required to create large scale solutions.” Menelly spent twelve years at Banker’s Trust and gradually increased her responsibilities by working on bigger and bigger projects for numerous departments across the bank.

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Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s “Women in Tech” month! We will be celebrating successful women in technology all month long!

Jo Hannaford has been in Technology for 24 years, and thinks of herself as fortunate for having the opportunity to pursue a career which she enjoys.

“Technology is a fast-changing environment,” she explained, “I have learned to act positively when faced with uncertainty. Embrace new opportunities and look forward to the new experiences.”

Career in Technology

Hannaford was always drawn toward technology, and when she earned a First Class Honours degree in Computer Science, she validated her interest in the field with her talent and skill. She had an ‘apprentice’ attitude to her early career – looking for opportunities to learn new technical disciplines and gain knowledge.

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Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s “Women in Tech” month! We will be celebrating successful women in technology all month long!

Patricia Florissi Picture Image (2)

Patricia Florissi, EMC Vice President and Global Chief Technology Officer, Sales, knew from a very young age that she had an affinity and a talent for math problems and logic puzzles. What she did not realize at the time is how this skill set and passion for more technical subjects would lead her toward a rewarding career in information technology.

This is because at the time, computer science had not fully been developed as a curriculum. Perhaps it was fate –or a stroke of luck –that Florissi encountered when the first computer science course was created at her university in Brazil, giving her the opportunity to enroll in the class and take the first step toward her bright future in the field.

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Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s “Women in Tech” month! We will be celebrating successful women in technology all month long!

Doris Daif, Head of Digital Customer Experience at American Express, offers one important piece of advice for women. “Confidence and poise are two of your greatest assets,” she said. “When you possess these qualities, you will be able to articulate your point of view and make your voice heard.”

“You have to go through your own journeys in life to see what lies on the other side,” added Daif, “but if there is one thing I wish I knew earlier in my career, it would be how confidence is such a valuable career tool.”

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Katrina Roberts never envisioned herself having a career in IT, but now, after joining American Express over twenty years ago, she could never imagine herself anywhere else. Originally, Roberts planned on entering the hospitality business as a hotel manager, but after gaining some hands on experience in the industry while she was still a student, Roberts determined that was not the perfect career fit for her.

Although Roberts was still unsure of her exact career trajectory leaving college, she knew that she had a strong interest in travel and tourism. With some encouragement from her father, a Kodak employee, Roberts applied to work at American Express.

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Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s “Women in Tech” month! We will be celebrating successful women in technology all month long!

“Embrace the fact that you might be different and have a different way of approaching things,” said Emmanuelle Rivet, Partner at PwC US. “Focus instead on what drives you and find your internal purpose,” she continued.

This is just one key piece of advice that Rivet offered to young women starting out in their career, and it is something that helped her immensely when she was making an important transition in her own career; transferring from PwC France to pursue opportunities within the US firm’s Silicon Valley office.

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The Glass Hammer is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring profiles of Hispanic Women Business Leaders all week long!

“Women who have power can continue to push the envelope on women’s interests,” Elizabeth Nieto says. “We can complain about where we are or focus on what we’re achieving. Things may not be perfect in the corporate world, but we’ve accomplished a lot and we have to build from here. Our daughters are watching us and making decisions about their lives based on how we make decisions about our own lives.”

This perspective is what drives Nieto as she implements programs focused on building a diverse and inclusive workplace at MetLife.

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The Glass Hammer is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring profiles of Hispanic Women Business Leaders all week long!

Sandra Aresti, PwC partner, advises young professionals to enjoy the moment because time goes by so fast. “Don’t get caught up in the minute details,” she said. “Work hard, but also take the time to breathe, relax, and trust that your career is about the journey and not the destination.”

Career at PwC

“Despite an early interest in medicine, I knew in college that I wanted to pursue a career related to finance,” said Aresti.

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The Glass Hammer is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring profiles of Hispanic Women Business Leaders all week long!

Maria Hackley believes that women need to ensure they are as well prepared as their male counterparts to rise in the corporate world. Women and men are hired in almost equal amounts as undergraduates, but as they climb the ladder, the numbers change. “Be assertive in a respectful manner, but make sure your voice is heard,” she says.

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