Monthly Archives: April 2018

Event Recap: “Strategies for Success: Thriving in the Finance Industry”

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By Nouchie Xiong, an MBA Candidate at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business, Class of 2019

On April 16, CFA Society Minnesota hosted a panel discussion with prominent women in the financial services industry. Abbot Downing’s Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Carol Schleif, CFA moderated the event as panelists shared their unique experiences, concerns over the industry’s lack of diversity and career advice to young professionals.

The panelists were:

  • Beth Lilly, CFA – President and Portfolio Manager, Crocus Hill Partners
  • Kate Kelly – Regional President & EVP at PNC Bank
  • Mary Daugherty, CFA – financial educator, consultant and corporate director

The event began with the panelists introducing themselves and providing a brief history about their career journey and family life. The conversation was followed by answering the questions: why is there limited diversity in the financial services industry? What happened? How do we move the needle to thrive?

Beth began with an explanation that the number of women in the industry and their participation declined around 2008. Furthermore, there is a misperception that women must be good at math to succeed in the field when in fact that isn’t always true. Beth confessed she wasn’t the best in math herself but loves and has a real passion for the industry. Citing Peter Lynch, she clarified that working in this industry is 75% artistic and 25% scientific. Professionals in the field draw on a variety of skill sets to inform their research and decision-making. Women are also intuitive and their different perspective can lead them to see things that male colleagues might miss. There is also the false perception that work-life balance is impossible due to long hours. The reality however is that not everything is dictated by investment banking hours. In fact, there is flexibility as long as you’ve proven yourself. The onus is on companies to allow for this flexibility to support women who want a family or to care for their aging parents.

Kate added that participation from women on corporate boards has also flattened. Women need to participate in these roles because having more representation can influence culture and shift organizational dynamics long-term to be more inclusive. Carol elaborated on Kelly’s point with supplemental data: women as board members contribute to 42% increase in sales, 66% increase in capital, and 53% increase in equity. Ultimately, women contribute to profitability and sound business practices.

Mary also shared three theories of her own. One, women and minorities don’t major in something that doesn’t make money or get them a job. They tend to go into accounting and some find out that it’s a poor fit. However, when they are trying to switch careers they come up against companies that tend to hire people who follow a more traditional path into finance. Companies need to think differently if they want quality talent. Two, the STEM fields have done a good job attracting talent at an early stage and parents love STEM too. As a result, these young women opt out by the time college rolls around. Finance needs to do a better job in attracting talent early. Three, the lack of women colleagues in the male-dominated industry allows for the “macho effect” pushing away potential candidates. There are so many battles that women in the industry must decide whether to take on, take offline, or not pursue at all. An environment like this is not conducive to promoting inclusivity or equality.

Following the Q&A, the event concluded with the panelists imparting lessons learned and career advice.

Carol started by telling everyone to be bold, be strident, and put a stake in the ground. Most importantly, try not to overthink and make sure to read The Confidence Code. Beth talked about how she wished she had spent more time emotionally to develop a stronger self-esteem and encouraged everyone to work on themselves. Everyone should believe that they deserve to be where they want to be. Kate inspired everyone to think about pursing infinite desire rather than perfectionism. Mary concluded that learning to admit mistakes is also important to becoming a better decision-maker.

UMD Shines on the Big Stage

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University of Minnesota Duluth seniors Ryan Woitalla, Reed Leonidas, Nawal Mirza, Frank Takkinen and Ryan Kimbrel earned an opportunity of a lifetime last month by winning one of the two sub-regions of the CFA Institute Research Challenge – Americas competition on March 19-20. The team, all members of UMD’s Financial Markets Program, are led by program director Joe Artim.

After winning the Upper Midwest local competition in Minneapolis in February, the UMD team advanced to the CFA Institute’s version of March Madness, which brought 54 teams and more than 250 students to Boston from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Barbados, Dominican Republic, and Canada.

The Americas Regional clearly demonstrated to be a very challenging and demanding competition. Every team in Boston advanced out of local competitions collectively besting hundreds of other teams. In speaking with one of the finals judges, it was evident that the margin of victory between teams was very small. Additionally, a 10 minute presentation with 10 minute Q&A certainly leads to a lot of information to communicate and a lot of information for the judges to evaluate. A premium had to be placed favoring those teams that were clear in their recommendation while weaving together facts to support it.

March 20 seemed to be an anxiously long day for the five UMD students who presented their investment recommendation on their subject company Fastenal first in the morning semi-final session before advancing out of the five team pool to the evening finals round. By the time the finals took place that evening, the 54-team field was down to just five for each of the two sub-regions.

On the big stage with the bright lights, the UMD team shined not only in their extensive presentation but perhaps most importantly in the Q&A segment of their “buy” recommendation. My sense was that UMD prevailed not by focusing solely on the 10 minutes of prepared presentation but by spending six months truly grasping a deep knowledge of the company and conducting the proprietary research necessary to excel in the pivotal and unpredictable Q&A.

Faced with advanced questions on the company’s inventory turnover, product mix evolution and future in the face of a growing e-commerce threat, the team seemed to stay in stride. Further, questions on insider trading and short interest could have been easy to overlook or misinterpret.

They now head to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Global competition on April 27.  Just five teams will compete at this level: two from the Americas Regionals, two from the EMEA Regionals, and one from the Asia Pacific Regionals. It will be a couple more weeks of following the tick-by-tick of FAST for the five students who showed the drive, knowledge and teamwork to continue to break new ground for UMD.

 

Christopher Young, CFA is a Senior Investment Manager for Wells Fargo Wealth Management and a volunteer for our local Research Challenge competition. He traveled to Boston for last month’s Americas Regional and wrote this first-person account of UMD’s success.

Changing Perceptions Interview with Carol Schleif, CFA – Deputy Chief Investment Officer

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Carol Schleif is everything a role model for young professionals should be. With her dedication and go-getter attitude, Schleif has swiftly climbed the financial ladder to her current position as Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Abbot Downing; which was recognized as The Best National Private Asset Manager by Family Wealth Report Awards in 2016. But, where did her career in the financial industry start?

While studying equestrian science at William Woods University with hopes to become a horse trainer, Schleif decided to explore other options and found herself fascinated with her economics and marketing classes. In ‘83 she had graduated in an impressive three years with two degrees: one being equestrian science, the other being business administration.

She landed her first job as an Administrative Assistant with Edward D. Jones in Missouri. One of her more interesting duties for this position was clipping obituaries from local newspapers to prospect widows. “Not for me,” she decided. One thing Schleif did take away from this position was that when she had to make calls to the home office, she noticed, “The only people that ever knew what was going on were the folks in the research department.” So she decided to move home and pursue her interest in research departments.

Schleif then almost immediately started her next job at Piper Jaffray as a Market Strategist and started working on her Chartered Financial Analyst designation right away. After three years of industrious dedication, she distinguishably passed her CFA exams in ‘86.  When it was time to move on from her position at Piper in ‘87, she went on to work various positions such as Vice President and Research Analyst for First Trust, Director of Research at John G. Kinard & Co., and ultimately recruited by Lowry Hill, Abbot Downing’s predecessor, and has been there ever since. Schleif strived to incorporate her interests in economics, writing and strategy into her various positions. Along the way, she also stressed the importance of a well-developed research department and the respect it could bring to the company. It is clear to see that with each position, Schleif both learned more about the industry and contributed to the betterment of each company.

Where is Schleif currently at in her career and how was she been so successful?

Schleif currently holds the important position of Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Abbot Downing. Some of her duties include: creating and communicating the firm’s Asset Management Strategy, managing client relationships, and business development. On top of this, she serves on the firm’s Asset Allocation, Investment Themes, Investment Governance, Editorial and Publications Committees. She is a published writer and in 2016 was a Top Women in Finance Honoree. After having a conversation with her, it was obvious to see how much Schleif truly loves and is passionate about her job. She says, “I love my job. It’s a fascinating business and I feel fortunate to be able to do it here in the Midwest.”

In addition to her passion, her merit has contributed greatly to her success. She distinguishably graduated as Valedictorian of her high school class and Salutatorian of her college class. Schleif also stresses the importance of reading. Every day, she reads a variety of material such as Psychology Today, The Financial Journal, local papers, and New York Times. Schleif describes herself as a planner and goal setter. She explained, “Every year I try to look at what I’ve done and what has worked and what hasn’t. Then, I try to get better.” She even sets her computer password to a goal or aspiration she has, so every day she is reminded of it.

What has it been like to be a successful woman in the male-dominated financial industry, and what kind of advice does Schleif have for young women pursuing similar careers in investments?

Schleif sees a substantial benefit of being a woman in the world of investments. She says, “We bring a whole different level of analysis and emotional intelligence, skills and perception.” Nowadays, with more and more companies focusing on cognitive diversity, it is important to have women bringing their strengths into the investment field. However, Schleif believes a significant reason why more women are not pursuing these types of careers is because there is not a “cool depiction” in the media of women in financial positions. She points out that the only fun female role in “The Wolf of Wall Street” is Margot Robbie in a bubble bath.

While there is a substantial need for women in positions such as Wealth Managers, Asset Managers, and Advisors, they are not pursuing these careers. Schleif states, “The growth of women in the financial industry has been flat compared to other industries. We need to get the message out there that these really are viable careers.” She has been discussing with other women in the industry on how to get this message out and inspire women to consider these positions. As a grandmother to three granddaughters, Schleif strives to set the example that women really can be successful in this industry. Seeing the growth of women in the industry remain flat, and with her granddaughters as inspiration, she says, “I don’t dare retire until we move that needle a little further.”

What final advice does Schleif have for young professionals seeking jobs in the financial industry?

As a mentor with CFA Society Minnesota, and a member of the Board of Trustees at the College of Saint Benedict, Schleif is passionate about helping young professionals get started in their careers. She has a lot of hope and sees considerable potential in these younger generations.

One of her favorite quotes is, “Long days, short years.” While approaching 35 years in the industry, she explains this as the perception that some days can feel never-ending, especially when clipping obituaries from newspapers. However, 35 years, several positions, multiple publications, three children, and three grandchildren later, the time surely does seems to fly. So, as Schleif has modeled, do what you love and what you are good at, and don’t forget to enjoy it along the way. Success will follow, as it has clearly done for her.

 

Student Interviewer

Maria Vitale is a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas studying Economics and Political Science. She grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota and plans on pursuing careers in the financial industry upon graduating in 2020. Maria hopes to incorporate her passion for writing in any position that her career path may take her.