Rejecting the hard-sell mentality

The war for talent in the wealth management industry intensifies, but there is still a relatively unexplored pool of resources, highlighted in the PWM/Carte Blanche Women in Wealth survey. “It is very clear that there is a shortage of client relationship managers and I think that there is a great opportunity for women to come in at slightly later stages in their careers and have a very good 10 to 20 year career in relationship management at private banks,” says Bruce Weatherill, independent consultant to the industry and former head of wealth management at PwC. Their loyalties divided between work and family, women in wealth management have the opportunity to command their own time and achieve greater flexibility in their schedule, more than in other areas of financial services, says Jacqui Brabazon, global head of marketing and talent at The Standard Chartered Private Bank. “There are a number of female role models in the industry, and the fact that women are reaching senior positions encourages other women,” she says. The possibility to access private banking from other financial areas such as investment or corporate banking especially suits those women who have been out of the work place to have children and can be easily retrained. There is a consensus that women have naturally developed those relationship skills praised so much in the wealth management space. But those skills can turn out to be a double-edged weapon which may hinder career progression in a still male-dominated industry. “Women are traditionally considered very emotional, and I was always taught to control my own emotions,” says Livia Dian, senior manager at LGT bank in Zurich. “But I think this is what makes me a better relationship manager.” Feeling clients’ needs also means instinctively rejecting the product-push mentality which still too often pervades some areas of the industry. Manuela D’Onofrio, head of global investments at Unicredit Private Banking in Italy, and short-listed as part of the Women in Wealth project, breaks with any possible cliché associated with the female universe. With a masters in mathematics from the New York University, and a past career on the trading floor at JP Morgan, where she was the “odd woman out”, Ms D’Onofrio says: “I was used to giving orders, ‘buy and sell’ every day; I was not used to giving any explanations. But I am a flexible person and I had to learn how to speak to clients and what arguments I needed to use to persuade them that my investment ideas are right for them. On average, what I notice is that women I work with are more adaptable to changes.” More asset than obstacle Sonja Kohn, chairman of Vienna-based Medici bank, brings the perspective of a successful self-made business woman, who started her first company at 21years of age and has been her own boss all her life. “I have always found that being a woman is more of an asset than an obstacle,” she says. This is because a woman always triggers a wary curiosity in her counterparty. “By the time they understand you really know what you are talking about, people will remember you because you are so exotic. But apart from that, it is a level playing field,” she adds. Ms Kohn believes one of the reasons why there are few women in the very top positions in the industry is because, unlike in law or medicine, there are no specific studies to prepare them, and learning on the job is very difficult for women, as men tend to be very competitive and protective. It is debatable whether the growing number of wealthy women is having an impact on the demand for female relationship managers. But private banks often claim to aim to have a good range of people who can suit their increasingly diverse client base, although the match is not just gender based. Backed by consistent research data that shows women represent an increasing percentage of the wealthy and entrepreneurial populations, banks are introducing “female segmentation strategies”, aiming to attract more women clients. “We have a huge amount of anecdotal evidence, but not a huge amount of hard research, that would suggest women have particular characteristics,” says Cath Tillotson, partner of consulting firm Scorpio Partnership and also nominated for Women in Wealth by several PWM readers. Women also live longer, which impacts pension planning, and tend to be more risk averse, she says. However she is very critical of the common practice of adding the segment “women” alongside entrepreneurs, lawyers or other professions. “Because women are half of the market, this may very well push the agenda on segmentation more broadly,” she adds. “Women are playing an increasingly important role in the industry - from both sides of the desk,” says Zoë Couper, CEO of Carte Blanche Communications. “What we set out to do with the FT on this project is to highlight their achievements and their impact on the industry.”

The survey The Financial Times Group, in association with Carte Blanche Communications, surveyed 471 wealth management professionals around the world requesting nominations for exceptional female industry leaders. Leading women in the EMEA region were determined based on the information submitted about 130 nominees and market insight contributed by the judging panel. The criteria were: influence: determined by seniority and size of asset pool; thought leadership; industry and client recognition; impact: effectiveness in building the business. The Judging Panel Pauline Skypala, Editor of FTfm; Zoë Couper, CEO, Carte Blanche Communications; Yuri Bender, Editor-in-Chief, PWM; Cath Tillotson, Partner, Scorpio Partnership; Elisa Trovato, Deputy Editor, PWM; Bruce Weatherill, Consultant and former Head of wealth management, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Women in wealth - EMEA

• Eva Castillo, Head of Global Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch EMEA
• Dina de Angelo, Director, Pictet Investment Management
• Manuela D’Onofrio, Head of Global Investments, Unicredit Private Banking
• Helen Green, Director, Private Banking, SG Hambros
• Penny Lovell, Group Head of Business Development, Fleming Family and Partners
• Soha Nashaat, Head of Middle East, North Africa & Turkey, Barclays Wealth
• Britta Pfister, Global Head of Wealth Planning, Rothschild Trust
• Maya Salzmann, Managing Director, Credit Suisse Private Banking
• Catherine Weir, CEO, Citi Global Wealth Management EMEA
• Dolores Ybarra Castaño, CEO, Santander AM Spain

Source: FT Research Centre