Sharing a client’s state of mind

“Inspiring people has always been my goal,” says Eva Castillo, the forceful Spaniard at the helm of the global wealth management business operations in EMEA at Merrill Lynch (ML) since 2006. But what is rewarding is the moral influence, not the authoritarian one, she says. Having started her financial career at Spanish broker Beta Capital and progressed through Goldman Sachs in London, Ms Castillo, internationally prized in the financial industry, has held several key positions in ML in the past 11 years. “Each time there was the opportunity to move either geographically or across functions, I took it, because I thought it was a great progression of my career,” she says. “That has its risks, because you may move out of your core area of expertise, but for me risk means that there is greater opportunity to make progress. “This is a meritocratic industry; it does not matter whether you are a woman or a man. It has been as tough for me as for my male colleagues, to get where I am,” she says. “We are starting to see more women in the financial services at the top of the organisation, and having been in global markets and investment banking for many years, I am encountering more women in wealth management than in the other two areas,” says the former head of global markets and investment banking for Iberia. “In wealth management I notice that you have to be more flexible, you have to adapt, bring more creativity,” she says, remembering one of her many projects in ML where she drove the integration of a newly acquired broker into the firm’s wealth management structure. And empathy, that ability to understand people’s state of mind and provide a professional service is key to building the success of a business. Identifying and developing the “true potential” in her management team, like her bosses have done with her, is what truly matters. Ms Castillo conveys an explosive combination of energy and dynamism. “I like to complete mandates and I tend to complete them very quickly. I like to set up goals, I like to achieve them and then move on. And when I move on, it means that I want a bigger challenge.” Having just come out of a board meeting with the Spanish telecoms operator Telefonica, where Ms Castillo was appointed board member in 2008, asked whether this fast-paced career can sometimes be a little bit tiring, she says: “The feeling of being tired is also a feeling of being very complete, rewarded. I have so much energy and I can take a lot on. I meet so many interesting people every day and learn so many new things about life and work.”

“This is a meritocratic industry; it does not matter whether you are a woman or a man”