Gone
are the days when women were considered no match for all the powerful men
in this world. The male dominated world was always reluctant to even
acknowledge the fact that women were as good as men on parameters of
hard work, intelligence quotient (IQ) and leadership traits.
The
new generation women across the world have overcome all negative
notions and have proved themselves beyond doubt in all spheres of
life including the most intricate and cumbersome world of
entrepreneurship. It is interesting to see following most
successful women in finance.
Christine
Lagarde is
one of the most successful women in finance.
In
her two years as boss of the IMF Christine Lagarde
continues
to impress. As the first female head of this august institution, she
took on a difficult job after the rapid and distasteful downfall of
the previous boss, Dominique Strauss Kahn. She’s
been criticized over the IMF’s involvement in the Eurozone bailout
and yet has risen above the animosity. Articulate,
smart and always well-dressed, she is every inch the power player on
the global stage.
A
lawyer by training, she went on to do well in the traditionally
masculine world of French politics. She was the first female finance
minister of the G8 and has held various other posts in French
government.
In
her early years, she represented France in synchronized swimming –
the demanding training preparing her well for her future career. Like
all who make it to the top, she has a strong work ethic. And she
clearly still keeps in great shape – another effect of her early
sporting career. Controlled, measured, focused – this is a women
highly unlikely to suffer the ignominy of her predecessor.
But
she is not just the most powerful women in finance; she is arguably
one of the most powerful women in the world on any measure. Forbes
may rate Melinda Gates and Michelle Obama higher but these only
occupy positions of power thanks to who they married. Christine
Lagarde made it to top on her own abilities.
Next
on the list of most successful
women in finance is
Dr
Janet Yellen who
will
be the first women in
to head the Fed in its hundred year history. And it’s not just
America – central banking is still an old boy’s club everywhere.
The new Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney may have
assuaged feminists with his choice of Jane Austen for the ten pound
note, but his Monetary Policy Committee is female free. Out of the
six members of the Executive Board at the European Central Bank, none
have double X chromosomes either. And not one women heads up a
central bank in any of the 28 EU member states. The Bank of Japan has
Sayuri Shirai as one of the nine members of its Policy Board. But
surprisingly, it is in Russia that a female head of a central bank is
to be found. Elvira Nabiullina took office in June of this year after
her appointment by President Putin – not a man known for his
feminist views. When asked about being one of the few female central
bankers in the world Dr Yellen said “I really think this is
something we’re going to see increase over time, and it’s time
for that to happen.”
With
a PhD in economics from Yale University and a previous career as
Professor of economics at University of California at Berkeley, she
has academic credentials aplenty. No one can doubt her immense
intelligence. She is also married to the economist George Akerlof who
has won a Nobel Prize. She is the female half of a serious
intellectual power couple.
The
Brazilian born Leda
Braga,
President of Bluecrest Capital Management frequently tops the list of
the most influential women in the hedge fund industry. But like the
rest of the hedgie community, she is notoriously secretive. She is
reluctant to be interviewed and especially to be involved in any
women-in-finance debate. Nonetheless, thanks to massive losses at her
fund, her photo was splashed over the British tabloid, The Sun this
summer. A reported loss of £1.8bn in just six weeks of trading
ensures such coverage.
According
the Forbes 2012 list of the highest earning hedgies, she comes in
thirty fifth in the world with earnings of $50mn. In fact she is the
only women in the top 40.
Again,
she is another super achiever academically with a PhD in engineering
from Imperial College in London with a further three years as
professor / researcher. And it is her mathematical ability that has
ensured her success. In a interview for Risk.net she explains “I
always liked the mathematics and maths methods. Engineering is the
edge of applied science. Engineers like to solve problems more than
anything and then apply these scientific tools to solve problems.”
After
beginning her career in derivatives at JPMorgan, she has become one
of the world’s experts in modeling complex derivatives and also
“black box” trading. However such trading systems can break down
in financial turbulence as the massive losses at the fund – 16.9%
in just six weeks to end June – highlights.
Brazilian
born, English educated and now based in Switzerland, this is an
International woman. Smart and working huge hours, she chose to “look
into” systematic or computer driven trading in her spare time:
“that research was at nights and on weekends”.
Reportedly
it was her husband who first entered the financial industry as an
options
trader
and persuaded her to get into the same business. If he hadn’t have
done that there, no women would have been on that Forbes list at all.
From
the secretive and sexy world of hedge funds to the more staid and
much more open fund management industry. This is a profession that
has far more women at the top and it was difficult to choose which
one to feature. Ann Marie Petach is CFO of BlackRock which manages
almost $4trillion globally. Elizabeth Corley is CEO Allianz Global
Investors and writes thrillers in her spare time – four published
so far. Mary Callahan Erdoes is CEO JPMorgan Asset Managament with a
Harvard MBA and three children. And of course, the apparent Fidelity
heir
is Abigail Johnson, expected to take over from her Father in the
family business.
But
for a woman who is a super achiever both in her career and family,
Helena
Morrisey,
CEO of Newton Asset management, fits the bill.
Extraordinary
career success combined with an astonishing nine children. Unlike
Leda Braga, she is also fighting for the females of the future –
she is the founder of the 30 Percent clubs trying to get more women
on Boards.
She’s
the opposite of secretive and is an active tweeter, mostly tweeting
about promoting women in business and some comments against
intervention in Syria. She re-tweeted Dalai Lama which may have
something to do with being married to a Buddhist.
But
what is particularly impressive about Helena Morrisey is that unlike
many on this list, it appears she does not come from wealth and
privilege. She was educated at a comprehensive school in Chichester
from which she got a place at Cambridge University to study
philosophy – an achievement in itself as Cambridge still favors
those from private schools. However like the others, she is
intelligent and clearly super motivated.
The
next women on the list shapes the opinions of virtually all those in
the financial industry. The Financial Times is read by over 6,00,000
professionals and Gillan
Tett is
its assistant editor. She has had a great financial crisis, being one
of the first to spot the dangers of excess credit and complex credit
instruments. In
some ways she succeeds as a women, both in the male-dominated world
of newspapers and the macho world of finance.
Highly
intelligent, she has a PhD in Social Anthropology from Cambridge
University, having spent a year in Tajikistan. Her ability to speak
Russian gave her the first career break as a trainee at the FT and
from there her rise has been meteoric.
Apparently
she can milk a goat – a useful skill she jokes if she ever faces
redundancy.
From
written media to Broadcast: the Money Honey was CNBC’s flagship
female up to November 24of last year. The very beautiful Mario
Bartiromo has
been a top financial broadcaster for over two decades. She was the
first to report live from the male dominated wild and noisy trading
floor of the New York Stock Exchange and her enthusiastic, breathless
delivery sealed
her
route to stardom. Books, newspaper columns, extensive television and
radio work, numerous awards, and over 90,000 followers on Twitter.
And it’s not just male financiers who find her attractive;
the
punk singer Joey Ramone wrote a song about her and his crush on her
just before he died in 2001.
Mario
Bartiromo was born in Brooklyn to Italian American parents and went
to New York University to study Journalism and Economics. Although
starting off at CNN, it was not long before she moved to CNBC where
she has spent most of her career. She is quoted as saying “When I
finally stumbled on broadcast journalism in business news, I realized
I had found my true love.”
She
finally left CNBC at the end of 2013 and has moved onto Fox Business
Network, reportedly for $5-6mn a year. Whilst shopping around to
other American networks for a new, more lucrative deal, the New York
Post teased her with the headline “Show me the Money, Honey”. Fox
clearly offered more cash. But it seems it was the promise of a her
own Sunday morning show on Fox News that made the difference.
Moving
to probably one of the most publicly hated areas of finance –
investment banking. It should be no surprise that few XX chromosomes
make it to the top in these ruthless and often immoral firms. But a
few have done so. The Frenchwoman, Isabelle
Ealet is
at the top table at the most powerful investment bank in the world.
She is co-head of Goldman Sachs Securities Division and ex global
head of commodities. She is boss of the division that has made a lot
of money over the last few years and thus, she wields much power
within the firm.
She
started off her career at Goldman as a commodities trader in 1991 and
made partner just nine years later in 2000 – a remarkable rise.
After studying at the elite French school, Institute d’Études
Politiques de Paris, she began her working life as an oil trader at
Total. Dubbed the Queen of Commodities – she dominated the markets.
Like
others of her profession, she rarely gives interviews. But a quote
does appear in a French magazine from some years ago. She said “What
I appreciate most is the culture of results. At Goldman Sachs, you
are judged on your performance, not on your relationships or
diplomas. It is fairer.” Basically, she made so much money
for Goldman, she had to be promoted.
Another
secretive world is that of private equity and venture capital. No
surprise after being described as “locusts” in 2005 by a
prominent German politician. Other unflattering adjectives abound –
Barbarians and Raiders to name but two. These are not attributes
typically associated with women. According to a recent report, the
private equity industry employs even less women than the rest of Wall
Street. Like central banking this is still a boy’s club – there
are only a few female top names.
Suzanne
O Donohoe joined the biggest name of all in this industry – KKR –
in 2009 and was the first female managing director at the firm. Her
background has been purely top drawer; undergrad at Georgetown
University; MBA at Wharton;17 years at Goldman Sachs. She is rarely
interviewed and adopts a low profile.
But
Adena
T. Friedman,
CFO at Carlyle group and the first women on the executive board, is
more female friendly. She worked part time at Nasdaq while her two
sons were young but notes that “men struggle with it (balancing
career and family) as much as women do”. “It’s a hard thing to
balance, needing to be at home, and needing to be at work, and making
sure you’re performing in both arenas,” Ms. Friedman said. “To
be honest, the guilt is extreme.”
This
industry boomed in the days of cheap and plentiful credit,
benefitting far more than the companies they leveraged up. But times
have been difficult since. Even so as the industry has expanded and
become more institutionalized, the need to attract more female talent
has emerged. Most of the big names have put special programs in place
to attract more female trainees.
Carmen
Reinhart is
one half of the Reinhart and Rogoff team and now as famous for her
spreadsheet mistake as for her ground breaking economics.
Specializing in financial crises, recent events have played to her
strengths. Her best-selling award winning book (with Kenneth Roggoff)
“This Time is Different – Eight Centuries of Financial Folly”
has become a must read since its publication and has been translated
into 20 languages. She even has her own Bloomberg page.
Eleanor
Roosevelt’s famous quote “A women is like a tea bag; you never
know how strong it is until it’s in hot water” aptly describes Cr
Reinhart’s in 2013. Global approbation has been heaped on her for
the spreadsheet mistake. But she has come out fighting.
Her
CV is blue chip all the way including University Professorships, the
IMF, World Bank, and even a stint an investment bank Bear Stearns as
Chief Economist. She has frequently testified before congress.
Born
in Havana Cuba, she has come a long way from her beginnings. Married
with one son, she is the world’s most famous female economist (even
if many do not realize she is a women).
Dr
Reinhart may have won many awards for economics but she has not won
the most prestigious – the Nobel Prize. The $1mn accolade given in
memory of Alfred Nobel has only been awarded to a female economist
once – to the almost unknown Elinor
Ostrom in
2009. Sadly she died of pancreatic cancer within three years of her
achievement.
She
won the prize jointly with Oliver E Williamson for their analysis of
how individuals and communities manage common resources; her
specialism was the sustainability of resources. She moved to Indiana
University – not the most prestigious in America – early in her
career and stayed there for her entire working life. Her husband was
also an academic, specializing in political theory. They collaborated
extensively and set up a research and teaching center marrying their
chosen fields of expertise.
Described
by a friend in an obituary written for the Guardian as an “intensely
private and modest person who has taken aback and sometimes
embarrassed by the attention she received towards the end of her
career”. Dr Ostrom may be last on this list but clearly not the
least.
Women
have come a long way in the financial profession but any cursory
glance at Extel rankings of analysts or Executive Boards of banks
shows this is still a male world. In time that may change. But the
ladies above do have some common characteristics. Great intellect,
tenacity and a capacity for hard work are their secrets of success.
But that goes for men as well as women.
