The path to a leadership position and sustained career success in the investment industry is challenging, with women in particular facing unique obstacles. But it’s a challenge that women can conquer with the right strategies, skills and mindset.

Cassandra Crowe, Vice President at T. Rowe Price Group, Laura Ryan, Head of Research at Ardea Investment Management, and Jovana Gagic, Investment Analyst at Tribeca Investment Partners have faced and overcome many challenges along their career paths. Read on for practical guidance from Cassandra, Laura and Jovana on how you can develop your leadership skills and map out a career path that will get you where you deserve to be, with insights on:

• Developing key character traits and skills to become a successful leader
• Strategies to overcome obstacles that could slow your career progress
• Key factors that will help you grow and succeed in your career
• The lessons they wish they had learned earlier in their careers

WHAT’S ONE CHARACTER TRAIT OR SKILL YOU SEE IN SUCCESSFUL LEADERS IN THE INVESTMENT INDUSTRY AND HOW CAN AN ASPIRING LEADER BUILD THAT STRENGTH?

Laura: Leaders who inspire, encourage and exhibit integrity get my vote. If I had to focus on one it would be "inspire." I think inspirational leaders are really good at helping their team navigate the tough times by providing that longer term positive perspective to focus on. These types of leaders also seem to bring people together whilst acknowledging the diverse skills and perspective each individual brings to the table. Building that strength probably involves studying other leaders who inspire and then practice!

Cassandra: I am a firm believer that leadership stems from social influence rather than seniority or authority. Leaders find the potential in people, processes and place. For great leaders to be successful it’s important to have excellent communication. For example:

• How can you connect others to a future vision if you can’t convey the goal?
• How can you lead authentically if you can’t share your story?
• How can you change tact if you don’t see the path ahead?

The right communication brings clarity, which builds confidence and enables creativity. Communicating ideas clearly and frequently and in different ways (verbal, written, imagery) helps all contribute.

It’s important to remember that communication is a skill that is learned and honed so invest the time to refine and seek feedback on your communication.

Jovana: Resilience. The ability to adapt to difficult situations. It’s incredibly important in funds management. The stock market is volatile and the world is inherently unpredictable. What makes successful investors stand out is dealing with that volatility, and appropriately managing risk. If you look at the success rate for some of the best investors in the world it’s something like 60%. So for every 10 investments made, the six good ones far out weigh the four that don’t work. If you spend too much time dwelling on the investments that didn’t work and beating yourself up about it, you’ll miss the 60% of opportunities that more than offset your losses. Not to say don’t learn something from every loss, but unemotionally move on to the next opportunity. 

For aspiring leaders, running paper portfolios, and investing in the share market yourself helps you build resilience. Making mistakes and learning from them builds resilience. It helps you become aware of your own biases and emotions. This self-awareness helps you later in your career.

WHAT IS A MAJOR OBSTACLE THAT SLOWS WOMEN'S PATH TO LEADERSHIP IN INVESTMENT AND WHAT’S A STRATEGY TO OVERCOME THAT CHALLENGE?

Jovana: In general, women aren’t great at self-promoting. This doesn’t apply to all women but it’s a generalisation. Communicating our career goals early on is important. Having clarity around career aspirations and steps required to get there. Your manager can’t promote you or help you develop the skills required for a promotion if they don’t know about it.

Laura: We need to acknowledge systemic bias. Yes, everyone is responsible at the individual level for creating their own opportunities, but the research clearly shows promotion processes favour those identifying as male. We need more male champions advocating for clear and transparent hiring and promotion policies within our institutions because the reality is that men comprise the majority of senior leadership positions and hiring managers.

Cassandra: I am fortunate to have contributed to an eye-opening research project led by Dr. Laura Ryan and supported by the Australian National University and CFA Institute that highlights a gendered promotions gap in the Australian financial services industry. Three key findings from the study:

• Those identifying as female received less promotion opportunities than those identifying as male overall
• Those identifying as male tended to receive more promotions overall due to receiving more unsolicited promotions
• However, when opportunities were advertised both genders expressed interest at a similar rate and those identifying as female were slightly more successful when applying for promotion

The work highlights the need for transparency, measurement, and an equitable framework for promotion. Further, with the learning that women are often successful when they apply for promotion (as women are often reluctant to apply for roles until they can confidently can tick all of the job requirements) the study encourages women to have the courage to apply for roles that fulfill their ambitions. Expressing interest in different challenging opportunities and daring to lead, as Brene Brown famously coined, is a step we can all take that enables a more inclusive industry, for everyone, in the future.

WHAT’S ONE THING THAT HELPED YOU GROW AND SUCCEED IN YOUR CAREER?

Laura:  Persistence and learning from failure. Those big failures have always ended up being the things I've learned most from. They are horrible at the time, but now I'm better able to reframe those situations as investments in a more resilient future me.

Cassandra: Ongoing education and investing in your knowledge is essential. So much is changing in the world and across the industry, mega trends such as ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Investing or AI (Artificial Intelligence) are relatively newer aspects to financial services.  It’s important to keep up. As they say fit your own lifebelt first - this is the first step toward enabling anybody else.

Jovana: Hard work. There’s no substitute for hard work. It’s the only way to learn and grow your skillset to progress in your career. Surrounding yourself with good mentors is also important. Experienced people who you can learn from and lean on for advice is critical.

LOOKING BACK, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WISHED YOU KNEW EARLIER OR HAD DONE DIFFERENTLY IN YOUR CAREER?

Cassandra: Knowing when to quit. It’s hard to have the confidence to quit a role or situation that doesn’t feel right, the fear of failure can be overwhelming. However, sometimes quitting is necessary for growth.

Jovana: Looking back, I wish I had the confidence to back myself more, and earlier on. It was only until later in my career that I realised if I don’t back myself, then it is hard for anyone else to back you. We spend a lot of time in the investment profession hearing other people’s opinion and taking advice from others. At the end of the day, you need to have courage in your own conviction. At the same time, you have to be open-minded to criticisms and differing opinions. That can be a hard balance for some.

Laura: Networking! I'm an introvert. A BIG introvert, so networking is my least favourite thing to do. But there are lots of really supportive networking organisations out there designed to help women succeed in finance and I wish I had tapped into that earlier.

Join us at the Women in Investment Summit to hear from Jovana Gagic, Laura Ryan, Cassandra Crowe and a host of other inspirational investment leaders from 12-14 September 2023. Learn more.

To access the detailed conference program, download the brochure here.