Tag Archives: Diversity

WIIF Women in Investment & Finance: a swing and a miss – a series exploring why companies aiming for diversity are striking out

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Spring Training

Spring is nearly here. In spite of the seemingly never-ending snow and cold, the days are getting longer, and the sun just a bit brighter. With a new season just around the corner, optimism is in the air. There is always so much hope in the beginning – so many promises, so much potential, young rising stars, and real progress seems just around the corner. And then – WIIF! We are hit smack in the face with reality.

I am speaking, of course, about another International Women’s Day. Another year where we proclaim the importance of expanding diversity in the investment business, diversity in executive ranks. We women all march off to our conferences where we learn about the many ways in which we are inhibiting our own careers. We listen to inspirational stories from incredible women who have succeeded against the odds. We learn yet again how important diversity is to organizations, as they affirm their commitment to our careers.

And yet the numbers are not budging. According to research by the New York Times women represent just 10% of portfolio managers. CFA Society Minnesota’s own numbers show the number of women who hold a CFA remains stuck in the teens. We have adopted this notion that we just need to introduce women to the business sooner, we need to make them aware earlier. If we could just let them know when they are Sophomores in college, First years, high school students, toddlers. None of that explains, though, why boys somehow figure out there are good career options, and girls don’t.

Maybe girls are not stupid. They are, perhaps, responding appropriately to the very limited set of career options they see as available to them. The are rejecting a culture that appears to them to herald The Wolf of Wall Street, a frat-ish atmosphere that seems anything but welcome. They are reminded of the sense of powerlessness that haunts so many of them in so many ways as they realize what the world has in store for them.

If we expect girls to embrace opportunities in the investment business, they need to see that there is a future for them. They need to see powerful, smart intelligent women succeed in the business – not because they need role models, but because they need to believe that success is possible. It’s hard to see that success is possible when for women, it has been so rare.

Here’s my suggestion for demonstrating that success is possible: Hire and promote talented senior women. We are all weary of hearing that “the women just aren’t there.” Go out and find them.  The last time your organization had a senior opening, what did you do to identify a diverse candidate? Was any compensation or bonus tied to success in finding diversity? Did anyone work on a strategy for identifying diverse talent? Did you do anything different from your normal process? If nothing different is attempted, it’s hard to imagine different results.

This is a country that has put a man on the moon. We carry computer/television/phone/gps tracking devices in our pockets. We have developed a pillcam to take pictures of the small intestine, antibacterial nanoparticles, autonomous vehicles. But somehow, we are unable to figure out how to hire diverse candidates to manage our portfolios? This is not even plausible, and lays bare the insincerity of the effort.

It’s time to stop pretending that you want diversity, while doing nothing about it. If you say you want to succeed in this game, then take a swing. Every strike will bring you closer to the next home run.

#changingperceptions

Are you interested in contributing a blog to this important series? E-mail Diane at support@cfamn.org to volunteer.

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.

A Letter From Our Society President

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Joshua M. Howard, CFA

Society Members –

The CFA Society of Minnesota is fortunate to have more than 150 active volunteers that serve on our committees and help with individual events. This allows us to be innovative and try new things while still maintaining our popular events and programs. Although we currently have an abundance of energetic, thoughtful people on our Board of Directors and our committees, we must continually replenish our volunteer base. Every year we have 3-5 Board positions as long-time volunteers roll off the Board, and committees frequently have the need for new volunteers throughout the year.When we prepare for Board transition we look for new Board members and committee volunteers from a variety of industries – some even outside of finance, such as people with experience in human resources, marketing, accounting or law. We seek diversity in all aspects including, experience and viewpoints. We strive to represent the interests of the entire body of local members and of all occupations either directly or indirectly related to investment management. Many people do not realize that you do not have to be a charterholder to be on our Board or to volunteer with one of our committees. Event and committee volunteers technically do not even need to be local society members, though most choose to join once they start volunteering.

Our Nominating Committee for the upcoming fiscal year will begin their work in May, but it is not too early to put out the call for new volunteers. If you have an interest in joining our Board, assisting with a single event (such as the upcoming Intellisight Conference), or helping one of our committees (Employment, Membership and Advocacy have the biggest needs) please let me know and I will get you in touch with our staff or a committee chair. If you want to learn more about volunteering in general please send Diane Senjem or me an email and we can discuss the current opportunities. I guarantee we have a spot for any level of time commitment. If you know of someone who might be a good fit we also accept referrals.

To all our past, current and future volunteers, thank you so much for your contributions to the CFA Society of Minnesota.

Joshua M Howard, CFA
President, CFA Society of Minnesota

Watch Me Whip

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Susanna Gibbons, CFA

As I was doing The Whip last night in my living room, my son covered his eyes with his hand and walked out with a disgusted “that’s just wrong.” I yelled after him “I don’t need your permission to do The Whip…hey, are you listening to me…? Anybody can do The Whip if they want to. Anybody!”

So much has been written over the past couple of years about the lack of diversity in the investment business. We’ve tried the mentoring programs, we’ve highlighted the performance benefits, we’ve taken the negotiation courses, but for all of the hand-wringing, it feels like we have gotten nowhere. According to the CFA society, we have in fact gotten nowhere. Focusing just on women, there are currently a lower percentage of women applying to take the CFA exam than there were 20 years ago. Most of the people I know in the business say they can’t find the diverse applicants they want to hire. And women in particular seem to be avoiding the business because of the lack of visible, viable career paths – there’s no one who “looks like us,” so how can we possibly imagine an investment career?

Last night, as my progeny turned his back on my dancing, I had a moment of clarity around this problem. We are all, always, seeking to affiliate. We have fairly rigid ideas about who can do what. In the investment business, we have collectively allowed this urge to overwhelm our rational judgment. We have become increasingly balkanized in our own affiliation groups, somehow unable to step beyond these boundaries to make the choices we know will result in better businesses and better careers.

For those in charge of the hiring, that means you have to stop thinking about diversity as simply a willingness to accept those who show up. You actually have to go out and build the pipeline, develop the networks, and find a way to reach the people who currently are not reaching you. Stop thinking about this as an altruistic burden; it will be a profitable investment in your business.

And for those among us trying to break in or move up – they ain’t going to give it to us, you gotta take it. Stop waiting for permission, stop expecting to find affiliation. Move outside your comfort zone and pursue the investment business because it is exciting, intellectually challenging, ever changing and rewarding. Even if you don’t end up where you initially intend, the journey will be amazing.

Take that, my little teenager. Watch me whip.