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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
WELCOME TO THE...
Women play a huge role in the financial landscape: from asset management to banking and financial governance, the industry is full of extraordinary women working against the odds to succeed in a male dominated market. As such we have created the 2016 Women in Wealth Awards, which showcase the very best women from across the financial environment. We are not concerned with company size or how illustrious their clients are: what matters is dedication,hard work and a focus on supporting clients. Sector is not an issue either; everyone from all aspects of business are eligible for this prestigious programme.
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CONTENTS 4 Fabric Innovations Inc Best Woman-Owned Fabric Company 2016 - Florida 6 Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) Best Financial Trade Association CEO - Washington D.C 8 Lark (Group) Ltd Best Insurance Business Developer - UK 10 AIM Inc Best in Workers Compensation Claims - New England 11 Avant Insurance Limited Best Medical Indemnity Insurance Specialist - Australia 12 Apollo USA Best Promotional Products Business Owner - USA 14 Bankers Advisory Best Mortgage File Assessments Business Leader - USA 15 Green Park Interim and Executive Best Executive Search Firm Director - UK 16 Mundays LLP Best Private Wealth Lawyer - UK 17 Sancus Capital Management Best Hedge Fund CIO - New York 18 Acketts Group Ltd. Best ATM Services Commercial Director - UK 19 Blanchard Training and Development, Incorporated Transactions Attorney of the Year - USA 20 NickJen Capital Management Best Female COO In Capital Management – USA 21 Cheri’s Desert Harvest Best Food & Beverage Entrepreneur - Arizona 22 Funding London Best SME Financing Firm CEO - UK 23 Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold Best SME Financing Firm CEO - UK 24 M Griffith Investment Services Inc Best Woman-Owned Personal Injury Law Firm - New York 26 Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty Best Investment Firm COO - New York 27 Saffery Champness Registered Fiduciaries Best in Complex Trust Structure Management - UK 28 Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC Best Business Leader in Marketing 2016 - Massachusetts 30 The Wagner Law Group Best Woman-Owned Employee Benefits Law Firm - USA 32 Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP Best Female in Probate Leadership 2016 - UK
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Woman-Owned Fabric Company 2016 - Florida
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160020
Company: Fabric Innovations Name: Deborah Herman Email: deborah@fabricinnovations.com Web Address: www.fabricinnovations.com Address: 3111 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Coral Gables, Florida 33134 Telephone: 305.860.5757
Fabric Innovations is a design-driven fabric company providing bedding, drapery, and upholstery fabrics to the hospitality industry. Since 1997, they have been recognized as a leading supplier of linens, bedding, and customer fabrics to some of the industry’s most prestigious hotels. We spoke to Deborah Herman, Owner, about the challenges of being a female in this industry and the service offered by Fabric Innovations. Boasting more than 200 skilled staff members, Fabric Innovations’ site in South Hill, Virginia, is their primary manufacturing center, and houses state-of-the-art equipment to allow their team to produce top-ofthe-bed and window coverings for hotel and resorts around the world. They simplify the overall ordering process for their clients by offering fabrication and installation services which complement their production process.
since I was 25 and have 3 generations of Hotel Bedding Manufacturing experience in my family. My Father and Grandfather made bedspreads, and from a young age I was very interested in the textile side of the business. That initial interest has grown into Fabric Innovations today, and is the reason that I am so passionate about quality in our productions.” Deborah believes it is very important to support other women looking to break into this industry, and advises them to partner with their financial institution in order to reach the top of this sector.
Alongside this, Fabric Innovations is certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). This certification is considered the gold standard, and is nationally accepted by thousands of major corporations, as well as government entities, seeking to do business with a women-owned business. Deborah explains how there are very few textile businesses owned by women currently, and how this has caused her to be met with some prejudice over the years.
“I think that banks like working with women, and the old belief that they do not has been fading for the past decade. To reach the top of this industry, tenacity, financial stability and business acclamation are all very important. People who are looking to be successful in this space should start small, and not try to expand their businesses too quickly; that is a definite recipe for failure. Since our inception we have doubled in size, and we attribute our success to building slowly over time, great employees and big name contracts like W Hotels, Virgin Hotels and Starwood. I also believe that education is very important, and I am involved with programs like AHLA Scholarship Funds and Executive Women in Hospitality to give back to the wider community.”
“It is something that I used to meet with, but which I am hoping to begin to see dissipate. I feel that education and my interest in the business has helped me to overcome the obstacles that being a female in this industry may have caused for me. The textile market is huge, and I aim to be a global leader; I was one of the first living persons, and female, to be awarded the Design Style Icon Award in 2015. This huge honour has helped me to position my business and company to be a leader.
Deborah believes that setting goals is incredibly important as she looks to the future for Fabric Innovations.
“At Fabric Innovations we pride ourselves on quality, and have a seven-stage process of inspection, which takes place at each production facility across the globe to ensure that every seam leaving our manufacturing facilities is flawless. I have worked in the hospitality and textiles industry for 36 years now, have owned by own business
“We plan to continue to be a global leader in textile manufacturing and distributing, and hope to build our own office building in the future. I look forward to working with new brands, developing new upholstery, box spring covers and throw blankets you would use for beds and furniture, like chairs.”
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Financial Trade Association CEO - Washington D.C
IRI proudly leads a national consumer coalition of 40 organizations, and is the only association that represents the entire supply chain of insured retirement strategies. The institute’s members are the major insurers, asset managers, broker-dealers/distributors, and 150,000 financial professionals. As a not-for-profit organization, IRI provides an objective forum for communication and education, and advocates for the sustainable retirement solutions consumers need to help achieve a secure and dignified retirement. IRI also proudly leads a national consumer coalition of 40 organizations, who partner to promote retirement planning and disseminate retirement planning resources to consumers. Specifically, with regards to the institute’s leader, Cathy joined the association in 2008 in this role and quickly began an extensive reorganization and rebranding of the association. The rebranding resulted in expansive membership growth and more than doubled the organization’s budget. It also included instituting a research division, which today produce industry-leading reports focusing on the retirement outlook and needs of various consumer demographic groups. This includes research reports on Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Women, and Recent Retirees. In addition, IRI produces considerable educational content for consumers, including retirement planning resources, tip sheets, and online calculators. The rebranding of the association also entailed relocating the association to Washington, D.C., and establishing a government affairs operation to advocate for policies that encourage savings and promote lifetime income. Today, IRI is a high-profile organization at the center of discussions involving retirement security issues. This involves participating in meetings with the White House, Members of Congress, and state, federal and international regulators. Having spent most of her 40-year career as a regulator and consumer
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Company: Insured Retirement Institute Name: Cathy Weatherford Email: cweatherford@irionline.org Web Address: http://irionline.org/ Address: 1100 Vermont Ave., NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20005 Telephone: 202-469-3000
The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) is the leading trade association for the retirement income industry. We profile the institute and its dedicated President and CEO Cathy Weatherford to explore how its services revolve around supporting its members. advocate, Cathy has strong experience in this field, which include serving as Oklahoma’s Insurance Commissioner, a state-wide elected office, a position she held from 1991 to 1995. In this capacity, she served on the Board of Trustees of the Oklahoma State Employees Retirement Systems and on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma State Employees Group Insurance Program. She also served as the EVP and CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the U.S. standard-setting and regulatory support organization created and governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.
horizon, which will enhance both her own career and those of her fellow women within the industry. During the fall of 2016, she will be promoting the release of her book, “Women and Wealth.” This will include media outreach focused on the needs of the women’s market, and speaking engagements to encourage holistic retirement planning among financial professionals and identify steps firms can take to promote financial advising careers for women. One key concept she espouses in the book to financial professionals is “holistic retirement planning.” Holistic retirement planning involves focusing on more than earnings or reaching a certain savings number. Rather, it requires developing retirement plans focused on the goals and higher aspirations of the client that those earnings and savings can help achieve. The holistic retirement plan, as described by Cathy, is multidimensional and takes into account the client’s unique needs. Her philosophy is that the holistic planning method will engender trust with clients, particularly those who are turned off by advisors who dedicate the bulk of meetings to discussing investment products, rather than goals. This philosophy is embraced by IRI which will continue to implement this going forward.
Cathy’s background as a regulator and consumer advocate have uniquely positioned her to ensure that the consumer is front and center of all IRI’s efforts. This includes IRI’s efforts spearheading the National Retirement Planning Coalition, comprised of more than 40 organizations, who work together to promote retirement planning. The coalition manages the consumer website RetireOnYourTerms.org, and organizes National Retirement Planning Week® each year to help consumers develop plans to meet their future needs in retirement. This also includes developing IRI’s Protecting Older Investors Resource Center. The resource center offers the latest information, tools and resources to help consumers and financial professionals detect diminished capacity and protect against financial elder abuse. IRI’s membership and annual revenues have more than doubled during Cathy’s tenure as CEO. Today, IRI serves more 200 dues paying member companies, including 30 new member firms that joined in 2016. IRI also delivers membership benefits to more 150,000 financial professionals. A large part of the success of IRI has been based on building a model focused on creating value for its members by providing industry-leading resources. As such, the association is committed to supporting its continued success, and Cathy herself has a number of exciting plans for the
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Insurance Business Developer - UK
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160030
Company: Lark (Group) Limited Name: Eloise Ellis Web Address: www.larkinsurance.co.uk Address: Ibex House, 42-47 Minories, London, EC3N 1DY
Lark Group are an independent insurance broker providing cover across a wide range of areas, including financial, commercial, travel and even musical instruments. We invited Eloise Ellis to talk us through her role and how she has contributed to the firm’s success. Originally established in 1948 by Roger Lark, Lark Group are now one of the remaining few independent brokerages in the UK, and still have Roger’s descendants – Graham and Stephen Lark – on the board today. Whilst the firm are a general broker, one of its areas of specialism is in supporting Financial Institutions which is Eloise’s area of focus. She discusses her role and how she supports her clients in more detail.
“This is a great step but there is still much further to go. The challenges for women in finance are the same as for all women in any sector – for those who wish to have children then you have to make a decision as to at what stage you feel comfortable doing this and how this will impact your career. Increasingly firms support part time roles, flexi time, working from home etc., which can support women who want to come back to work, but it is still a challenge for women everywhere.
“I’ve worked at Lark for over 11 years, starting out as a trainee in our SME team based out of our Kent office, progressing to head up a New Business team there, before moving to our London office to head up the Development of our Financial Institutions Division.
“My advice to anyone looking to succeed in this market is simple: work hard. Accept that there will be challenges to overcome, and learn from every mistake. You may find that you change your mind along the way as to what you ultimately want to do, so be prepared to be flexible and be open to opportunities to try different things. Support your colleagues, earn their respect and treat them with respect too.”
“Now I work solely with new clients to Lark; clients that do not buy through the company at present. Typical clients that we work with are anyone in the Financial Services sector who are regulated by the FCA. We are able to assist all sizes of clients, ranging from large corporate clients to smaller firms who need some additional support.
Over the past year Lark have performed positively. The sector is very competitive so achieving organic growth is challenging for any business, but Eloise is optimistic that Lark will continue its positive growth moving forward.
“Recently, we have seen an increasing number of early stage FinTech firms who need valuable guidance at this crucial stage of their business. We are able to offer them support with not just their insurance arrangements, but with introductions to other firms who may be able to provide ancillary services to them, as well as helping them with their own Risk Management.”
“Looking ahead, our Financial Institutions Division is a really exciting area of the business, and we are keen to continue to grow this, providing many great opportunities for myself and my team. We have recently taken on more resources to help us with this and have some exhilarating plans for 2017 and beyond, which include the launch of a research report which we commissioned earlier this year into the wealth management sector. This is a totally unique offering and we are looking forward to sharing it in the near future. Ultimately, our made to measure, personable approach combined with our strong existing client relationships will ensure that we continue to grow organically and through strategic acquisitions, maintaining our great client service whilst being able to serve a much wider client base.”
Having worked in the male dominated financial market for over a decade, Eloise believes that she is beginning to see this changing. “Fundamentally there is no getting around it; the financial services industry is still largely male dominated. However, this is starting to change. I have been to several events for women in the sector, and there seem to be more of these being planned. I would say that those in the financial services industry are actually more accepting of women in high profile roles.
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016 WW160026
Company: A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies Web Address: www.aimmutual.com Address: 54 Third Avenue, P.O. Box 4070, Burlington, MA 01803-0970 Telephone: 800.876.2765
Best in Workers Compensation Claims - New England
A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies is a workers’ compensation insurer based in Burlington, Massachusetts that provides coverage to more than 18,000 policyholders in a tri-state region. We caught up with Director of Claims Laura Parsons to learn about the space for women in the insurance market and how this is steadily changing. Established in 1989, A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies are the 2nd largest writer in Massachusetts, the 4th largest writer in New Hampshire, and growing in the state of Connecticut. Laura, who has been working in the insurance industry for over 36 years, outlines the challenges she has encountered and the advice she would like to offer any woman seeking to emulate her achievement.
industry, it is also important for me to develop bench strength for our key positions. “I am very fortunate to work for an incredible company whose primary goals are to be innovative and excel at the services we provide. All new ideas and processes are given a serious review, and as such there are no limits to what we can achieve.”
“When I first started in the insurance industry, there were not many women in management, particularly in the technical disciplines. I found I had an aptitude for claims, and I worked hard to learn everything that I could to make myself valuable to the department. I never backed down from a challenge and tried to not become discouraged. “Advancement opportunities eventually came, and I think the most important piece of advice I can offer any woman looking to succeed is to prove your value as an individual in your field by becoming proficient at what you do. Be confident in your ability and never believe that you have learned everything there is to know. Remember to listen and keep an open mind when dealing with your co-workers.” “Ultimately, I am amazed at the change in the landscape of my industry since I first started my career. I truly believe working for a good company with progressive leadership gives women a real opportunity to succeed today and also feel satisfied with her contribution to the industry.” Moving forward, Laura is keen to continue to succeed and support her team in offering the very best possible service to their policyholders. “Personally, my goal moving forward is to continue to work and find efficiencies within my department. In that way, I can help the claim team succeed in their jobs with fewer errors, better response time, and a real sense of accomplishment. With the aging workforce in our
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160017
Company: Avant Mutual Group/ Avant Law Pty Ltd Name: Pamela Michael Email: Pamela.Michael@avant.org.au/ Headavantlaw@avant.org.au Web Address: www.avant.org.au
Best Medical Indemnity Insurance Specialist - Australia
Avant Mutual Group (Avant) is Australia’s largest medical defence organisation (MDO). Avant is a mutual, not-for-profit organisation, wholly owned by their members. Through their licensed insurance subsidiary, Avant Insurance Limited, they offer a range of insurance products to medical practitioners and students throughout Australia. We spoke to Pamela Michael, who told us more about their expert medico legal advice, and the assistance that they offer to over 72,000 medical practitioners and students. Avant has its own legal firm, which is a point of difference with all other MDOs in Australia. With 48 lawyers nationally, who specialise in medical-negligence and health law, they provide high quality legal services and personalised support as well as rapid responses to urgent medico legal issues. Pamela has over 26 years of health and legal experience, and in June 2015, she was permanently appointed to two roles at Avant, which she holds simultaneously.
in their fields, and now, more often than not, experts in running their own businesses. Avant is looking to provide a range of products and services that will help our members to practice medicine safely and to run successful businesses.”
“I am the only person in Avant to hold dual roles, with teams of 80 and 53 respectively. My previous roles with Avant included Head of Professional Conduct NSW, then Head of Professional Conduct and Civil NSW, and was subsequently appointed to the National Head of Avant Law, which I now hold concurrently with the Head of Medical Defence and Services role for NSW.
“I have a strong interest in business, as well as being passionate about the fashion industry. At some stage, I would like to challenge myself and combine my business, leadership skills and creative side.”
Pamela is excited about her future, finding her current position fulfilling and stimulating.
“These roles gave me the opportunity to work with my teams, the business and our members, so we could better assist our doctors when they are faced with a claim or complaint, particularly given the medicolegal environment is constantly changing.” Tort reform in Australia in 2001 resulted in the capping of the amount of damages a patient may receive as a consequence of suing a doctor. However, despite this, patients have become increasingly demanding of doctors, and are now quicker to complain or commence legal proceedings when their expectations are not met. A patient’s presentation, the medicine and any co-morbidities can be extremely complex for doctors, particularly in circumstances of an increasingly ageing population. “The business of medicine is changing, requiring doctors to be experts
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Promotional Products Business Owner - USA
I started the company in California with two employees and one embroidery machine, solely doing contract embroidery. Before entering into this industry, my research showed that it was mainly run by small independent shops that lacked quality standards and preset pricing structures; most owners were machine operators or salespersons. Therefore, there was a great need in this industry for a well-organised, principled supplier with rapid turnarounds who could consistently meet rigid event dates and deadlines. Apollo seized this opportunity and came out strong with strict quality control, on-time delivery, standard pricing guidelines, and a trained team for customer service. I was the first in our industry to send out our digitising to be done and transmitted through email, with overnight service from China, thereby shortening the standard sample times from 5 days to 24 hours. With this attention to quality, pricing parity, and quick delivery, our business doubled and tripled year over year. In 1999, we open our first additional branch in Chicago; again in 2004, we opened another branch in New Jersey. Having 3 locations allowed us to cover customers across the country with shortened delivery and savings on shipping fees. Running the business has not always been easy - in 2006, I felt Apollo had reached a plateau and changes were needed to remove bottlenecks‌ so I decided to go back to school. I enrolled in the Harvard Business School Owner/President Management Program, held for three weeks each year over the course of three years. There, I was taught by some of the world’s best professors in marketing, strategy, branding and leadership. After returning from Harvard, I shifted my company’s emphasis from
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160030 Company: Apollo USA Name: Dora Ngan Zhang Email: Dora@apolloemb.com Web Address: www.apolloemb.com Address: 1650 W Artesia Blvd, Gardena, Ca 90248 Telephone: +1 800 982 2146 or +1 310 217 2700
Apollo USA is an advertising specialty & promotional product supplier specialising in customised embroidery products. Our customers are primarily distributors who in turn work with American corporations. I founded Apollo with my brother in 1996, and have been running the company as its president ever since. Before that, I had graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree concentrating in accounting and passed CPA certification upon graduation. My aspiration and intention was always to become an entrepreneur, and the CPA background helped me tremendously as a business owner to wisely plan the company’s financials. embroidery services towards building the soft goods brands of AMC and Simplicity. When I source our new products each season, I keep in mind the feel of the materials, the quality of the stitching, current retail trends, and giftable packaging. This bridges the gap between a corporate giveaway product and a desirable gift that anyone would be happy to receive. Apollo’s product lines now feature scarves set in gift boxes and plush blankets tied with ribbons and bows. Our new branding efforts have elevated our company beyond simple embroidery services and our revenue tripled from where it had plateaued.
on a jacket or a cap. Because the sales team also loves the job, they’re naturally able to interact well with our customers and our customers love us for it. We constantly educate and remind employees that the customer is king and many of them take it to heart by going the extra mile, working overtime and on weekends to meet the needs of customers with rush orders. As the advertising landscape keeps changing, many corporations are moving their budgets away from promotional product giveaways in favour of online campaigns through search engines and social media. Minimum wages are also on the rise. Many smaller contract embroidery shops have been unable to adapt and are closing. However at Apollo, we have a solid and strong foundation with over 2000 customers across the country, so we don’t depend on a few customers to dictate our business. Over the past 20 years, even during the economic recession from 2008-2011, we’ve stayed strong, growing from our initial two employees to over 200 countrywide.
I have never considered being a female business owner as a disadvantage. I am a strong believer that a woman can do things just as well as a man, or perhaps even better when it comes to the embroidery industry. We work just as hard as men, multi-task well, and women are often better in picking thread colours and design details which is so important in my business. At Apollo, the majority of the management and sales teams are staffed by women, including many who are single moms. I was a single mom with two children, aged one and two years old, when I started Apollo, and I hope that I have been a positive influence to the other women that I work with. I empower each salesperson and encourage them to think of themselves as entrepreneurs; they hire their own assistant upon reaching certain sales quotas and additional ones at higher numbers.
I attribute the success of Apollo to managing it as if it were corporationscaled but with a family’s warmth. I treat my employees like family, but expect them to live up to high corporate standards. Our employees are a wide mix of ethnicities and nationalities - we celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Cinco de Mayo and Chinese New Year together. I involve them in developing new product lines and refine existing ones. I have an open-door policy, always inviting employees’ input and discussion. Despite the demanding work, many of our employees have stayed with the company 10 to 20 years. Because of our team, I still envision a bright future for Apollo. It all goes back to loving what we do and feeling invested in it as a family. This attitude reflects in how we deal with clients, and allows us to be great at what we do.
Believe it or not, bulk embroidery can be a fun business as many of our orders are tied to daily life and culture. Our employees will stay up late watching a NBA or NFL game to know which team will get their logo on items as the new champs. We make and embroider a lot of the textile merchandise for new movies and video games. While visiting different stores, I always enjoy noticing a corporate logo we’ve beautifully sewn
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016 WW160001 Company: Bankers Advisory, a CliftonLarsonAllen LLP Division Name: Anna DeSimone Email: anna@bankersadvisory.com Web Address: www.bankersadvisory.com Address: 131 Hartwell Avenue, Suite 300, Lexington MA 02421 Telephone: 781-402-6400
Best Mortgage File Assessments Business Leader - USA
Bankers Advisory, a CliftonLarsonAllen LLP Division, provides mortgage file assessments, consulting and training to banks, thrifts, credit unions and mortgage bankers throughout the United States. We invited Principal and Founder Anna DeSimone to talk us through her role in the firm’s success. Bankers Advisory was founded in 1986 as an educational consulting company servicing the mortgage industry, and was acquired by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, a professional services firm delivering integrated wealth advisory, outsourcing, and public accounting capabilities to help enhance its clients’ enterprise value, in 2014. Anna discusses her role in the company and how her previous experience helped her in her role.
a large staff of female attorneys and former bankers. CliftonLarsonAllen is a career-building firm with a compelling infrastructure for recognizing talent and empowering people toward individual achievement.”
“As founder and CEO of Bankers Advisory, my role from 1986 was managing and growing the firm. As a former banker working in the residential mortgage area, I understood the challenges of regulatory compliance changes and built Bankers Advisory as a firm to help banks maintain compliance with those changes.” Under the direction of CLA, Bankers Advisory has grown and continues to serve nearly 150 financial institutions nationally. For Anna the future is equally bright, as her role as publisher of a compliance newsletter and a series of best practices guidebooks has been very rewarding and will continue post-retirement. Anna, who is proud of the successful career she has forged for herself in the financial industry, is eager to see more women succeed in this environment going forward. “On a global basis we have so many accomplished female leaders who serve as role models to women in finance. They continue to inspire us and I am truly proud to be among their ranks. I feel the strongest attribute a woman can have is industry knowledge. True confidence is built upon learning and experience, and that takes time. But once achieved, women can soar to great heights. “Moving forward, I would like to see more training and education offered by financial institutions for women so that they can succeed, and I believe that this training should be linked to benchmarked goals and rewards. People need to know where they are going in a job and they need to visualize their career path. At Bankers Advisory, we have
Bankers Advisory Founder Anna DeSimone, with Chief Operating Officer Marissa Blundell, J.D.
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160003
Company: Green Park Name: Jo Sweetland Web Address: www.green-park.co.uk
Best Executive Search Firm Director - UK
Jo Sweetland is Managing Partner at Green Park, an Executive Interim and Executive Search and Leadership Advisory firm, where she is Head of the HR practice. In the private sector, Green Park specialise in enabling financial organisations, whether they are FTSE 100 companies or SMEs, to source diverse talent from their deep networks of financial expertise.
Green Park have continually managed to move the dial on diversity by developing a suite of equality and performance-optimising services which enable both clients and candidates to achieve favourable success from their mandates. Jo told us more about her work as head of the HR Practice.
integrate flexibility for women into their culture which would provide a compound platform to progress the careers of women on an equal basis to their male peers. “Looking to the future, I think my main goal is to have a vital role in Green Park’s continuing success story, and to continue to lead the field in the search and interim sector. Personally, I want to make it easier for women in business to succeed and continue to open the eyes of my clients to the power of gender, and holistically, diverse workforces.”
“I work with a range of businesses, right across the private sector, enabling them to solve some of their most pressing people-based challenges. Being a trusted adviser to my clients is vital to both my own and Green Park’s HR brand. I was the fifth hire at Green Park, and have now been at the company for ten years. I was headhunted by the CEO of Green Park from Boyden, where I was Senior Consultant looking after interim and senior appointments across the private sector. “Green Park have enjoyed great success to date, and I feel very lucky to have been a part of this fantastic journey. A big factor in our future success will be continuing to work with the most talented people, whatever their background, and I want to help this process by being a mentor and role model for future women leaders, both in Green Park and beyond. I think the playing field is levelling for women in business, and women are increasingly recognised for their performance. However, I think that as women, we do have to work harder to demonstrate our credibility and be heard. In financial services, there are preconceptions that have to be overcome and positive strides are being made towards this. Even ten years ago, HR was still seen as a ‘fluffy’ subject; now, businesses increasingly recognise that the people agenda should be right at the heart of a successful organisation.” Jo would like to see women given the opportunities that their skills, experience and talent deserve. She believes that companies should fully
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016 WW160007
Company: Mundays LLP Name: Julie Man Web Address: www.mundays.co.uk Email Address: julie.man@mundays.co.uk Address: Cedar House, 78 Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey KT11 1AN Telephone: +44 (0)1932 590643
Best Private Wealth Lawyer - UK
Mundays LLP is a long established law firm, who are proud to have built a strong and vibrant client base, alongside a national reputation, from their office in Surrey. This office is well located for national and international clients, as it is situated within an easy commute of London’s orbital M25, and both London Gatwick and London Heathrow airports. We profile Julie Man, Head of Private Wealth, within the firm. Before joining Mundays, Julie was a Partner in another Surrey-based law firm, then joined Mundays in November 2006 for technical progression. During her time at Mundays, she has progressed from her role as a Solicitor, to Associate, to Partner, and more recently Head of Private Wealth in 2013.
forward. She hopes to develop the business to ensure that they can attract a broader client base, and maximise the opportunities of growth that the addition of the London office in 2015 has brought about. She will continue to attract high net-worth work, international work, new clients and referrers.
Julie now continues to lead the Private Wealth team. Julie says that, “As manager, I believe it is within my role to harness the talents of the Private Wealth team, each one hand-picked for their exceptional abilities. I work with them all to maintain the highest level of client care standards, whilst keeping an eye on the bigger picture of recognising and honing the skills in a way that ensures an enviable team spirit and work-life balance at Mundays.” The detailed knowledge and experience that Julie has acquired over the last ten years of continuous progression at Mundays has helped to establish her as a solid legal adviser in the private client arena, both internally within Mundays and externally. This has been complemented by an approachable and grounded style, which has earned her an enviable reputation for success amongst her loyal client base. Her ability to distil complex points of law and clearly explain them based on the nuances and practical objectives of each client has been highly praised. The wide range of experience and knowledge that Julie has built up during her career allows her to advise a broad spectrum of clients, from established and long standing clients wishing to pass wealth down to the next generation to successful high net-worth entrepreneurial clients. The former may need advice in meeting the challenges brought by the ever changing ‘modern family’ and changes in legislation, whilst the latter may need help with the necessary technical rigour. In the future, Julie will continue to drive the Private Wealth team
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WWI60012
Company: Sancus Capital Management Address: 1325 Ave. of the Americas, 28th Floor, NY, NY 10019 Phone: (212) 277-8255 Fax: (646) 217-3710 Email: info@sancuscap.com Website: www.sancuscap.com
Best Hedge Fund CIO - New York
Sancus Capital Management is a long/ short credit fund specialist focused on exploiting inefficiencies across credit markets. Founder Olga Chernova provides us with an absorbing overview of her career and how this has led her to fine tune the award winning investment process which has made Sancus the success it is today. Sancus Capital was established in 2009 by Olga Chernova, whose track record trading credit derivatives dates to 1999 and includes positive returns every year during the financial crisis. Prior to Sancus, Olga was a Managing Director at JPMorgan, serving as Head of North American Credit and Structured Credit for the Proprietary Positioning Business (PPB). At JPMorgan, Olga was responsible for building and managing a 12- person credit trading team, and also served as a member of the PPB Risk Committee.
Barclays US Corporate HY Index is +15.111. Out of the 735 credit hedge funds listed in BarclayHedge under any of the 11 Fixed Income strategies, Sancus Capital Select Master Fund Ltd. comes up as second best. Similarly, in the Preqin database Sancus Capital Select Master Fund Ltd. is ranked 3rd in year to date performance out of 202 Credit Strategy Funds. Recently Sancus Capital Management has been awarded Best Multi-Strategy Credit Fund Manager in the fifth annual Hedge Fund Awards, sponsored by BarclayHedge. In addition, HFMweek has recognized Sancus Capital Select Master Fund, Ltd. as Highly Commended during 2016.
From August 2006 to July 2007, Olga was a Managing Director and Head of Correlation and Index Trading at Dillon Read Capital Management LLC. From 1999 to 2006, Olga worked at Goldman Sachs where she held a number of senior trading roles. This vast experience has helped her in running Sancus and she is most proud of her work at JPMorgan, as Olga outlines:
Olga talks us through the fund’s investment approach and how it differentiates Sancus from other, similar investment products on the market. “The fund’s investment approach combines fundamental analysis, a relative value framework and momentum trading. Credit markets continue to be highly bifurcated, resulting in similar cash flows being valued differently by various market participants. While many credit funds focus on one particular area, such as distressed, converts, or structured products, I feel it is our ability to look broadly cross-products and find relative value mispricing that gives Sancus a competitive edge.
“My best trades were made when I worked at JPMorgan. During my time there I was one of the few credit managers to avoid losses during the financial crisis in 2008. One of the positions I took was buying protection in sovereign CDS of the US and Western European governments. Sovereign CDS was a relatively new contract at that time. This position alone moved from 3 to 100 basis points as the US government bailed out and took on risk of the investment banks. I view this as an achievement not only because it generated great positive returns but also because this trade was very creative. It showcased my approach to investments: finding an obscure instrument to express a simple idea to avoid crowded trades and benefit from complexity premiums.”
“While some competitors might shy away from more complex products, such as CLOs and synthetic credit baskets, it is my belief that there is often a complexity premium embedded in these instruments which offers attractive compensation. This approach stems from my unique experience as I started in the industry trading fundamental high yield and then moved to more macro credit products such as synthetic indices and tranches.”
The fund has achieved an extraordinary year so far for 2016. As of September 2016 the Fund year to date is positive +41.56% and inception to date is positive +63.89%. This compares with HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index YTD return of +1.33% and HFRX Fixed Income- Credit Index YTD Return of +2.866%. In addition, Fund’s returns compare very favourably to the static credit benchmarks: The Barclays Aggregate Credit Total Return Index is +8.862% and the
Ultimately there are very few female hedge fund money managers. While there are a number of women in senior hedge fund roles, there are very few who are responsible for founding and launching the business as Olga is, and this is what truly makes her insight so valuable to other women looking to succeed in the fund industry.
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016 WW160031
Company: Acketts Group Limited Name: Andrea Wainwright Web Address: www.ackettsgroup.com
Best ATM Services Commercial Director - UK
Acketts Group Limited are experts in all aspects of ATM installation and security. Group Commercial Director Andrea Wainwright talks us through the services the firm offers and how she helps drive it to success by constantly striving for excellence. Positioned within a niche industry, Acketts Group Limited are one of the longest established ATM service providers remaining and boast a complete end to end service solution for ATM installation work.
well as consultancy.” Operating across so many roles and undertaking a wide range of projects highlights Andrea’s drive and determination to succeed, which has proven useful when working in a highly male dominated industry.
Through its core project management expertise, Acketts have dealt with many sizeable programmes throughout the UK supporting many of the major F.I’s and IADs, (Independent ATM Deployers).
“The industry I work in is significantly male populated. There may be some apprehension by women to strive for success, in a fear that opportunities may be limited. Based on my own experience, this fear is the biggest obstacle. I hope that my own success in this awards programme will provide confidence to anyone that would like to consider a financial role.
Andrea, who has worked for the company for 14 years, talks us through the extensive knowledge she has obtained through working various roles in the firm over the years. To apply successful leadership and management, she believes that senior staff should also have a broad level of knowledge and understanding of the business throughout, inspired by the variety of roles and projects she has undertaken during her time with Acketts.
“My advice to anyone, male or female, looking to emulate my success would be to challenge and believe in themselves. Anything is possible if you are willing to put the time and effort in. Do not feel discouraged if you are a minority.”
“My background and introduction to the company starting as company bookkeeper and after a few years I was promoted to lead the accounts function. With AAT training, I had always enjoyed management accounting, as this had allowed me to understand the overall business. Significant commercial and strategic planning was essential, whilst navigation through the economic downturn of 2009 and whilst these were challenging times for many, Acketts Group Ltd remained strong.
Moving forward, Acketts have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline. For Andrea the future looks equally bright, as she talks us through her core focus. “Looking ahead, I am focusing heavily on service delivery, because I believe in ensuring our clients have a service they can be proud of. Whilst significant time has been focussed on building the framework, I now want to dedicate my time to our clients, and I look forward to the opportunities this will bring.
“By default I began assisting the Managing Director during this period, supporting her across a variety of projects and areas, and I was then appointed Group Commercial Director in 2013.
“Acketts Group Ltd as a firm has seen year on year growth and our market share has increased significantly. Our strong balance sheet has supported investment to broaden our service provision and double our staffing levels, and this has allowed us to take on many larger projects which will allow us to grow our market share further and provide us with increased exposure.”
“Currently my role is significantly broader, but key responsibilities include; obtaining work under competitive tender and RFPs; reviewing commercial pricing; supporting the operations team in ensuring service delivery; strategic planning and growth strategies; review market trends and subsequent growth strategies; presentation and public speaking; as
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160023
Name: Karla J. Pinckes, Esq. Email: karla.pinckes@kenblanchard.com Web Address: www.kenblanchard.com Address: 125 State Place, Escondido, CA 92009 Telephone: 800-728-6000
Transactions Attorney of the Year - USA
With more than three decades of helping leaders and organizations, over 18 million books in print, programs offered in more than 12 languages, and clients across six continents, The Ken Blanchard Companies is recognized as one of the world’s foremost leadership, organizational, and engagement consulting firms. The company’s groundbreaking thinking and memorable learner experiences create lasting behavioral change that has measurable impact on the organizations with which it works. Karla J. Pinckes, in-house attorney, has been with the company as its Business Contracts Manager since 2005. She told us more about the work of Blanchard and her role within the company, and shared her advice for success in the workplace. Blanchard has partnered with Fortune 500 companies, small to mid-sized businesses, governments, educational, and nonprofit organizations to develop leadership capacity, improve workplace cultures, and drive organizational change and strategic alignment. Using a collaborative diagnostic process, Blanchard helps identify each client’s unique needs and business issues, and then helps to develop an appropriate leadership strategy to increase employee engagement and organizational performance.
in a new way; from Blanchard 1.0 to Blanchard 2.0. We updated our corporate values and spent considerable time, thought and effort ‘getting the right people on the bus’ as well as reminding ourselves who we are and what we do. We are in an excellent position for growth. “I believe in mentoring, which means empowering others with knowledge, skill, and opportunity so that they can achieve even greater success, personally and professionally. This also means giving them the autonomy to demonstrate their brilliance. My advice for success in the workplace is that people become the subject matter expert within their organizations. Their point of view will then be solicited to discuss and help resolve complex issues. I also recommend being a servant leader (more focused on others than self) who is ethical, believable, and intent on listening to learn (opens the mind to think about things in new ways which fosters innovation and creativity). As Ken Blanchard says, ‘Every day is a gift’; to me this means living a life full of love, meaning, friendship, humor, and authenticity.”
As the innovator of SLII®, a widely used leadership development system, the company’s behavioral models add a situational context to the training experience. Karla notes that this allows individuals to learn to be more productive in real-world scenarios, and makes the shift from learning to doing easier and more efficient. “My role within the organization incorporates a number of important responsibilities, from sales support and corporate compliance and ethics, to cross-functional collaboration and training to drive operational excellence as well as management. More specifically, I draft, review, and negotiate contracts related to the company’s international indirect/ reseller network and direct sales efforts as well as conduct legal research related to these efforts. I also compose and implement policies to ensure compliance with data privacy and security regulations, antibribery (FCPA) and sanctions (OFAC) obligations, including third-party due diligence, all while ensuring adherence to federal government pricing and subcontractor requirements. I support company growth through continued education and peer discussions about industry standards, practices, and market trends, and provide guidance to executive management regarding these important topics. “We recently embraced a ‘do less, better’ mind-set, which will continue to guide our efforts going forward. We are also looking at our company
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016 WW160014
Company: NickJen Capital Management & Consultants LLC Name: Lisa Parrinelli Web Address: www.nickjencap.com Telephone: 212-226-2137
Best Female COO In Capital Management – USA
NickJen Capital Management is a Discretionary Commodity Trading Advisor and their Commodity Only Program is called the NRD-1. Lisa Parrinelli is their COO and Risk Manager however her role is far from typical; it includes Investor Relations, Strategic Planning, Business Development and Marketing. We spoke with Lisa to find out more about her time at NickJen Capital. NickJen Capital was established in April 2014 and Lisa has been working to develop their brand since the firm’s launch. The Founder and Portfolio Manager, Nick Gentile, reached out to her when he began contemplating leaving his old job to start NickJen Capital and asked her if she would be interested in helping him develop the CTA.
“In the upcoming year our main goal is to continue to grow the portfolio, nurture and maintain our current relationships and hopefully add several new clients. This month we were extremely pleased to announce that our AUM increased by more than 12% to reach 54 million. Our new objective is to target 100 -125 million by the end of 2017.”
“Nick told me that a Family Office had expressed interest in having him establish a CTA and that they were willing to give him the seed money to get started. Trading the Program was his priority and he needed a counterpart who could do just about everything else and he felt I would be the perfect fit. He offered me a position as COO – Risk Manager and also gave me a percentage ownership in NickJen Capital, making me his partner.” Since becoming a partner at NickJen Capital, Lisa’s own success has become synonymous with the success of NickJen. “This is an extremely exciting time in my career; it is the first time that I have been afforded the opportunity to actually reap the rewards of my hard work. On a bad day I give 100 %, so I cannot begin to tell you how disappointing and frustrating it is to give your all and end up with no say in the outcome of a project. I have experienced that situation more times than I would like to admit; one of my old bosses was particularly infamous for regularly engaging in that type of behaviour. Here at NickJen, I play an integral part in the decision making process and often make key decisions on my own. It is refreshing to work alongside a strong team of accomplished people, and the group that Nick has assembled is incredibly talented. On a day to day basis I mostly work with Nick, whom I revere, and I have happily discovered that we work very well together; my strengths are his weakness and my weaknesses are his strengths. When all is said and done, our knowledge bases are very complementary.
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160029 Company: Cheri’s Desert Harvest Name: Cheri Romanoski Email: cheri@cherisdesertharvest.com Web Address: www.cherisdesertharvest.com Address: 1840 E Winsett Street, Tucson, AZ, USA 85719 Telephone: 520-623-4141, 800-743-1141
Best Food & Beverage Entrepreneur - Arizona
Cheri’s Desert Harvest (CDH) is a food manufacturing company that produces all-natural and organic preserves, candy, syrup and quick mixes made from local, indigenous fruits and vegetables. Founder and President Cheri Romanoski talks us through her passion for healthy, fresh foods and how this has led her to drive her business to the success it enjoys today. Established in 1985, CDH’s products can be found in the specialty food, health-oriented, natural grocery markets and the restaurant industry from coast to coast. Cheri outlines the firm’s success so far, and how she has worked to ensure that it offers the best quality products to clients.
along with tenacity, honesty, vision and the drive to move the business forward is essential in succeeding in the food industry, and therefore it is vital to the market’s growth and continued expansion that more women enter into it. “It has always been a challenge to be taken seriously as a womanowned business, but years of taking on that challenge, receiving support from people in the industry as well as customers has brought CDH to the success we enjoy today, and I am keen to support and guide other women to help them achieve the success that I have. Many women have great ideas and a vision to help move the food industry forward in a healthy and prosperous way, but they are faced with many obstacles in obtaining financing to fund the ideas. More opportunities need to be offered to women in business in the way of counselling, mentorships and grants in order to ensure that they succeed.”
“CDH has grown every year since its inception with the exception of two in 31 years. I attribute this success to a lot of hard work and dedication, but also to learning early that being diversified is critical to small businesses. It is important to position your business serving multiple segments of the industry, so when a segment of the market is declining, the business is already in position to service other segments that are strong and more profitable.” Former teacher Cheri is truly passionate about passing on her knowledge about Nature’s bounty in the desert and how to be a steward of the environment while enjoying the fruits of her labour. She discusses the role she plays in educating others outside of her role in CDH and how this has enriched both her personal life and her professional career.
Looking ahead, CDH’s ongoing focus is to continue to innovate and diversify, as it seeks to offer the best range of natural products on the market, drawing inspiration from the environment around them, as Cheri concludes.
“Personally, I have had the distinct privilege of working and networking with professional women in various organizations, mentoring students, coaching women in new businesses and donating time in our facility to female-owned businesses. I am currently working with an organization in the USA that are striving to support a small village in Ethiopia that relies on cactus fruit for sustenance, but that are not sustainable. With our expertise in working with this particular produce we are offering direction to help problem solve issues in a third world country to make the village sustainable as well as progressive in business.”
“Being stewards of our environment, at CDH we have developed two side businesses in different industries by utilizing every part of the cactus fruit we harvest. Excess fruit is now being used to dye apparel for the clothing industry and the seeds from the waste is collected, cleaned and processed to extract the valuable oil within them for the cosmetic industry. Waste from this process is then used as an ingredient for animal feed in our zoos. We have developed processes to use all parts of this nutritional fruit that have never been explored before.
The food industry overall is a male-dominated environment, from the production of products to the sales and representation of the products in the marketplace. Women bring creativity, long range vision and the ability to remain in-touch with the trends. Cheri believes that more women need to be incorporated into this industry to capitalize on the assets and direction they can bring to the ever-changing food industry. “Women are innately hard workers and multi-taskers. These attributes
“This helps me to achieve my overall goals for the business; to continue to create new products, to expand our businesses into new countries, to educate consumers about being environmentally conscious and to encourage and foster new ideas from women striving to start a business. We will achieve these goals by aligning our businesses with strong, supportive leadership from businesses with the same foresight, direction and integrity.”
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016 WW160025
Company: Funding London Name: Maggie Rodriguez Piza Email: maggie@fundinglondon.co.uk Web Address: www.fundinglondon.co.uk Address: 22 Upper Ground, London, SE1 9PD Telephone: 020 7043 0739
Best SME Financing Firm CEO - UK
Funding London was established in 2004 by the then Mayor of London, with the specific long-term mandate of supporting the Economic Development Strategy for London through its SME funding activities. Since its foundation, Funding London has invested more than £45 million into nearly 600 SMEs through its equity and loan funds. We spoke to Maggie Rodriguez Piza, CEO, about the firm’s mission and how her own career has progressed in this exciting sector. Funding London’s vision is to be a catalyst for growth within the capital by providing strategic funding and independent support for early stage businesses within the London ecosystem. They also aim to enable the exploitation of sustainable growth opportunities for smaller enterprises. They achieve this by supporting best of breed fund managers to deliver investment. Funding London reinvest their returns into new funds; thereby fuelling the continuous provision of funding to the next generation of high growth businesses. Maggie believes that to achieve this vision, their strategy must be to grow their capital base, and by focusing on making the best commercial decisions when they invest.
senior industry figures and European regulators.” Maggie tells us that one of the challenges that she has faced in her career has been the male dominated culture that exists in many organisations, which can make it difficult for women to inhabit senior roles. “Although this is changing slowly, there were very few women in senior roles in the organisations where I have worked, and I have found that it is a similar story for women in our client organisations. I found that there was a lot of sports talk in my time at previous organisations; whilst this didn’t affect my ability to progress, it meant that it was sometimes difficult to relate to the senior directors/partners. Owing to this, I’d like to believe that the respect that I have earned from my superiors has been based on my competence to deliver excellent work and advice for the purposes of our clients, rather than being based on external elements. “During my entire career in the City, I was raising very young children. The time commitment required in investment banking kept me from getting home at a decent hour the majority of the time, but I was fortunate as, more often than not, I could spend my weekends at home. That made a huge difference to me. However, my career has meant that I have arrived late to a few school performances, and that I have always shown up to sports day in my business suit. I managed this lifestyle as well as I was able, because I loved M&A, and I really enjoyed working with my colleagues and clients. It is also fair to say that as I became less junior in the organisation where I was working, I was able to manage my time more efficiently.”
“I became the CEO of Funding London in 2010, with a mandate to transform the company from a Special Purpose Vehicle into an investment organisation, successfully managing around £50 million of investments with a focus on early stage and growth companies. I am responsible for the overall strategy of the company and the design, structuring and implementation of new funds. Under my leadership, Funding London has launched two very successful early stage equity funds; A ‘series A’ fund and a co-investment fund (the London coinvestment fund), which is recognised as one of the most active early stage investors in the UK in 2015 and 2016. Going forward, we plan to double the size of our activities by securing new funding, plus recycling the returns from our current funds. “Before joining Funding London, I was a Corporate Finance Partner at Mazars LLP, based in London. My role was to advise clients on M&A and fundraising transactions. I have spent 12 years in the City, firstly at Hawkpoint, which is now part of Canaccord Genuity, carrying out midmarket M&A transactions and fund raisings and later at Mazars.” Working in M&A requires a high level of discipline, attention to detail and precise analytical skills. Maggie has had to develop strong arguments based on facts and intelligent analysis, in order to best advise her clients on the merits of particular transactions or how to achieve their objectives.
Looking to the future, Maggie feels fortunate to be able to move into the venture capital industry at such an exciting time of growth and progress. In particular, she feels positive about the efforts that VCs are putting into supporting more women entrepreneurs and increasing the proportion of women who are decision makers. “My aim is to continue to support the growth of Venture Capital in the UK, and longer term see it become a more important part, by value, of the private equity industry. The company as a whole are hoping to design and launch a new fund in the next 12-18 months, so it is a very exciting time to be involved with Funding London.”
“These skills have served me well as a basis to develop proposals for new funds in my current role. My experience of working with clients who were normally C-suite executives or NEDs of publicly listed companies has proven invaluable in the management of Funding London’s stakeholder base, which spans politicians, public sector managers, 22
www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160004
Company: Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold Web Address: www.rosemariearnold.com Address: 825 Third Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022 Telephone: 212-883-8833
Best Woman-Owned Personal Injury Law Firm- New York
Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold provides aggressive representation for victims of serious injury in Bergen County, Hudson County, and throughout New Jersey and New York. Their staff of experienced trial attorneys handle cases involving catastrophic injuries and wrongful death, and pursue compensation for damages caused by negligent drivers, property owners, vicious dogs, employers and manufacturers. Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold offers a comfortable and supportive environment for clients to discuss their legal needs. They challenge insurance companies and big businesses in lawsuits involving negligence, dangerous property conditions, products liability, discrimination, and sexual assault. Rosemarie Arnold leads a team of lawyers and legal professionals known for compassionate personal service and the relentless pursuit of their clients’ interests.
a settlement or collected judgement. In New Jersey, the fee is usually one-third of the net recovery, after the deduction for necessary litigation expenses. They also have flexible office hours, and can facilitate home and hospital visits, as well as the free processing of medical bills for their clients. The firm cover a wide range of claims, including; • Motor Vehicle accidents - where they represent drivers, passengers, and pedestrians injured in car accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents; • Dog bites - representing clients injured during animal attacks; • Workplace injuries - workers’ compensation and third-party claims, involving building explosions, construction accidents, industrial accidents, chemical burns, repetitive stress injuries and other work site injuries; • Dangerous and defective products - including auto defects, defective drugs, defective tools, equipment and construction materials; • Slips, falls, and premises liability - slip-and-fall claims involving ice, snow, and other hazardous conditions in grocery stores, malls, and public areas; • Elevator accidents - representing workers and private individuals injured in elevator falls, crush accidents or other accidents caused by faulty safety equipment; • Assault injuries - representing clients injured by an assault or other criminal activity; • Accidents resulting in catastrophic injuries - representing clients suffering from spinal cord injuries, burn injuries, eye injuries, and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Additionally, the firm represents clients who have lost a loved one by pursuing wrongful death and survivorship claims; • Discrimination and harassment, age discrimination, race discrimination, and sex discrimination - including sexual harassment or sexual assault, also civil rights violations involving disability, national origin, and religion. Additionally, the firm represents clients who suffered child sexual abuse, and who are now seeking compensation for their injuries, and psychological pain and suffering.
The firm’s offices are conveniently located in New Jersey, less than onemile south of the George Washington Bridge, and the New York office is located on Third Avenue. Attorney’s at the firm are licensed in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and Nevada and include four lawyers who are certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as Civil Trial Attorneys. Clients approach Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold for help in a wide array of personal injury cases. They are in the business of helping people, and do not decline cases on the basis of the fees that it will produce. The law firm receives significant attention in professional publications and major media outlets due to their success in high profile cases. Attorney Rosemarie Arnold heads a team of personal injury lawyers who provide sensitive and caring legal assistance to serious injury victims, whether they have been injured in motor vehicle accidents, motorcycle accidents, in a slip-and-fall, by a dog bite, or in the workplace. The firm is well-known for successfully handling major cases throughout the state of New Jersey and in New York. Their reputation amongst their clients is based on their sincere commitment to personal service. As Ms. Arnold says, “personal injury law is not about greedy lawsuits. It’s about helping people who need help.” Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold enjoy working with clients from all communities, and offer effective legal services in Spanish, Russian, Italian, and Korean, owing to the linguistic talents of their team. Their attorneys relentlessly pursue settlements for victims and their families in claims involving car, truck and motorcycle accidents, product liability, animal attacks, and fatal accidents. The firm works on a contingency fee basis. This means that there are no attorneys’ fees until they recover money for their clients, by way of 23
Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Investment Firm COO - New York
When I first joined the company, I accepted a position as a ‘wire operator’, which entailed completing data entry for the firm; at the time, I was the only employee in the department. In the years since, I have transitioned from that position through many different leadership roles, now serving as both the firm’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. Throughout my tenure at the firm, I have been responsible for developing and implementing the growth of many different departments within the company, and have played a significant role in assisting the firm to expand. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm, which includes the firm’s human resources, training, accounting, marketing and IT departments. I am accountable for assuring adherence to the many regulatory compliance requirements of the financial investment industry. I am also directly responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies and procedures with the firm’s back office operations. My goal is to ensure that each and every one of our clients receives an outstanding operational processing service. Prior to joining M. Griffith, I had more than 12 years of experience as the Advertising Manager of an in-house advertising agency for Tehan’s Catalog Showrooms. I was also the Director of Operations for Tracker Referral Network, Inc, where I developed and implemented corporate operations. In both cases, I was responsible for the day-to-day duties of the department and company. I like to show through these past experiences that with hard work and determination, an entry level position can eventually lead to a lifelong leadership role. I believe that my unique history of advancement demonstrates the endless career possibilities for all women, in any workforce, including the financial industry.
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160024
Company: M. Griffith Investment Services, Inc. Name: Cathy A. Cucharale, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer Address: 555 French Road, Building 2, New Hartford, NY 13413 Email Address: ccucharale@mgriffithinc.com Telephone: 315-738-4562 Web Address: www.mgriffithinc.com
M. Griffith Investment Services, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is a dually registered broker/ dealer and RIA financial investment firm that specializes in financial planning, investment management and retirement planning services. The firm offers a full spectrum of financial planning and investment services, from brokerage, insurance and retirement planning, to investment management, corporate retirement plans, and much more. Cathy Cucharale has now been with the firm for over 18 years, and has contributed significantly to their success in this time. We spoke to Cathy to find out more about her approach. The financial industry, as well as other industries, has been primarily led by men in the past. One of the things that intrigued me most when I first joined M. Griffith was that it was initially run by Margaret Griffith; a woman who was the head of the corporation, at a time when women did not head corporations. Although I was not fortunate enough to have worked with Margaret, her legacy is very much present within our firm today.
my industry, so together, we can advance. Outside of my firm, I work through my role as the Treasurer for the Chamber of Commerce, to help women in various organizations and industries. Looking to the future, I would like to continue expanding my knowledge and to become a resource for others in our industry. I would also relish the opportunity to continue to work with other peer firms, to solve issues and create best practices, as well as advocating for peer firms with our regulators in the industry. As I enjoy giving back, I will continue to work with my community, to help women of all ages and industries reach their goals.
Very few women hold the position of Chief Operating Officer in the finance industry, which means I work hard, to not only succeed amongst my peers, but to represent the other women in my industry. I am determined to take part in various programs and speaking engagements to exhibit my knowledge and expertise. In my experience, I have found that a lot of women in this industry take on a support role; they are too intimated to speak their mind, so they limit their success. I strive to empower women who have the will power to succeed. Women need to be able to feel empowered to participate and express their thoughts and ideas, and to not become discouraged if one opportunity does not work out, as another will present itself if they are determined.
M. Griffith is currently growing and looking to expand. With the regulatory changes that our industry is facing, many smaller companies are finding it difficult to move forward or to stay in business. M. Griffith is looking to partner with these businesses to show them the benefits of an employee owned company. Our service model is a bit different than other firms in our industry and as such, when coupled with our current support structure, makes us ready to move forward with expansion.
I strongly believe that we need more professional women mentors, to help women who have the courage to grow to their true potential; I act as a mentor for women, as I feel so strongly about this. By providing a support system and encouragement, I work to help women in my industry, and others, grow to work to the best of their ability. I never shy away from a task and never ask a person to do something that I have not done myself. Within the wider industry, I take part in many different regulatory programs, which provides the opportunity to not only grow myself, but to share my knowledge and experiences with others in
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016 WW160019 Company: Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty Name: Bonnie Seaton Email: Bonnie.Seaton@SothebysRealty.com Web address: www.BonnieSeaton.com Address: 8310 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa, Ca. 91942
Most Client Focused Realtor - San Diego County
Founded in 1976, Sotheby’s International Realty brand is a unique, luxury network of brokerage agencies, offering a wide collection of luxury homes, estates and properties for sale throughout the world. Bonnie Seaton has been with the company since September 2013, and has committed herself to delivering continuous excellence throughout her career. Bonnie’s career in Real Estate began in 1996, when she joined RE/MAX Associates. Since this time, she has happily worked with a range of home buyers and sellers, including first time buyers, move-up buyers, investors and veterans; she is dedicated to helping people find the perfect home for their needs and preferences.
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She is based at the firm’s La Mesa office, which serves the surrounding communities with properties from the smallest cottages to the luxury homes of Del Cerro, and the large and sprawling estate properties of Blossom Valley in the eastern foothills. This allows Bonnie to cover an incredibly large area, including Alpine, El Cajon, Jamul, La Mesa, Lakeside, Mt. Helix, Santee and surrounding areas.
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Bonnie feels very honored to have been awarded the ‘Five Star Professional Award’ every year since 2012, which recognizes that she has been achieving excellence in outstanding customer service, an award which is solely based on consumer satisfaction surveys. She is known as hard-working, energetic, honest, detail-oriented, and recognizes that good communication is fundamental in every successful transaction.
“She was my eyes and ears on the ground as I was in Alabama for most of the experience.” “We highly recommend her services as a top-notch, no-nonsense Realtor.” “All of our business was cordial, friendly and it mattered not whether we were face to face or 2,400 miles away.” “We’ve never dealt with a more professional realtor. That’s why we have worked with Bonnie on 4 real estate transactions.” “Bonnie knows how to close a sale. I couldn’t have been more pleased. We got more than asking price and closed the deal in a very short time.” “Thanks for a wonderful sales experience and you now have a customer for life!”
Bonnie does not rest on her laurels when it comes to continuous growth and education in order to maintain her high standards; she has earned, and maintains current industry designations such as Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES), Graduate Realtor Institute (GRS), and Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE). When asked about her life outside of work, Bonnie told us about how much she enjoys volunteering for good causes.
“I have found that the number one complaint people have about their realtors is that they do not communicate effectively. I have always gone the extra mile to communicate with my clients, as it is such a key area of my business. If you don’t communicate well with your clients, you are bound to have problems. They must always know what is going on, whether good or bad, so that they feel included in the process and are not getting confused. My clients know that if they have any questions, I do not want them to sit and stress about it alone, I want them to call me and let me take care of it for them.
“I volunteer at various events throughout the year, ranging from working with children, and preparing backpacks for them, to working a weekend event for homeless veterans. This yearly event sees homeless veterans and their families invited for a weekend where they can receive medical help and necessities, as well as being able to have fun with their families. This year has been the first year I have volunteered at this event, but I found it so rewarding that I will definitely be returning in the future.”
“A key factor in my success has been the fact that I am very hands on. No matter how busy I am, my clients get the full service package from me at all times, and I want them to feel like they are number one; because to me they are, each and every one of them. I respect them and all of their needs, and understand that the process of buying and selling property can be a very stressful experience.”
Looking to the future in a professional sense, Bonnie is excited to have the opportunity to continue improving every day. “I want to be able to help as many people as possible, and grow my business as best as I can. I am going to continue working hard, to be there for my clients, and to keep my clients number one.” One thing is certain for the future; Bonnie will continue delivering excellence to the clients that choose to work with her.
It is easy to see from customer testimonials just how much Bonnie’s clients value the level of service they receive from her:
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Tailored solutions Providing bespoke solutions to meet our clients’ individual requirements
Saffery Champness has been advising clients for over 160 years, providing fiduciary services in Guernsey for 40 years. We are one of the largest independent providers of fiduciary services on the island, and have offices in Geneva and Zurich. We manage and work with a number of private offices for international families, and our offering ranges from looking after financial affairs to providing concierge-style services, together with fiduciary and corporate structuring. We have particular expertise in managing trusts, private trust companies, family office services and dealing with specialist assets. Not only do we have an established and proven track record of providing trust and company administration services to Family Offices, but we go beyond that role to become a trusted adviser with a seat around the family table. It’s not just about processing. We are thought-led and proactive, adding value by offering strategic input to the decision-making process and overall position of the client.
Lisa Vizia T: +44 (0)1481 721374 E: lisa.vizia@saffery.gg
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Business Leader in Marketing 2016
Today, Standish provides expert investment counsel to defined benefit plans, insurance companies, central banks and investors who need sophisticated fixed income solutions. The investment strategies offered by Standish span the wide range of fixed income disciplines and are complemented by a demonstrated ability to design innovative and effective solutions to satisfy their clients’ needs. As Director of Marketing, Diane is responsible for, developing and implementing marketing plans that support business development and client service efforts. “In addition to those responsibilities, I have the ongoing challenge of product positioning, content the communication and support of our investment strategies within the marketplace. “I have been with Standish for over 12 years, and have held a number of positions during my tenure here. I started as a Portfolio Accountant, and after less than a year I was asked to move to a client servicing role where I had direct contact with our clients. Prior to assuming the role of Director of Marketing, I was a Product Specialist for our U.S. Municipal team, which currently manages over $28 billion in assets. In that role, I was charged with communicating the team’s value proposition to prospective clients and strengthening client relationships.” We asked Diane whether she felt that she had encountered any challenges due to being a woman in this industry, but she believes that the challenges she has faced have less to do with being a woman and more to do with being involved in the finance industry on the whole. “A nine to five, 40-hour work week is not typical for someone who has aspirations to build a career in this industry. It is quite common for me to be found in my home office late into the night and on the weekends.
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Company: Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC Name: Diane Vieira Email: dvieira@standish.com Web Address: www.standish.com Address: Boston, MA
Headquartered in Boston, Standish is a leading investment management firm, dedicated to serving sophisticated fixed income investors. The roots of this company can be traced back to 1933, when Standish began managing fixed income portfolios for US financial institutions, banks and insurance companies. Diane Vieira, Director of Marketing, discussed her role within the company and her aspirations for the future with us. Even when I am not in an office, I am regularly checking my email, something that has become a source of great amusement to my friends and family!
leadership, enhanced visibility and greater connectivity with other employees and clients.” Diane details how Standish’s investment team is varied, and includes credit analysts, economists, and specialists who cover ever sector and region of the world.
“My advice to someone looking to succeed in the finance industry would be the same as for any other industry; never let someone take an opportunity away from you that you have worked hard for. Many times people struggle with uncertainty, centring around whether they deserve a promotion or if their work adds value. Confidence is an attribute that can either hinder a person’s growth or help them succeed; finding the right balance is key.
“Our analyst teams and portfolio managers meet daily to share ideas, combining macroeconomic views with multiple bottom-up perspectives. This constructive and inclusive debate enables us to develop wellinformed strategies that have consistently delivered strong performance results in various investment environments.
“A growing body of research shows that gender-diverse teams lead to improved corporate performance and better investor outcomes. Although the business case for gender diversity is well established, women are still underrepresented in the investment profession globally. Whilst evidence supports the need for gender diversity, many younger women are unaware that the investment management industry can be an interesting, fulfilling and lucrative career. They need to be convinced that they can be successful and happy in what is today a maledominated industry.
“We attribute Standish’s success, in part, to our ability to customize strategies that fit the specific needs of our clients. We do not subscribe to a one-size-fits-all mentality. We deliver customized solutions to ensure that our clients are getting the most out of their investment portfolios. At Standish, we are constantly analysing the investment landscape to ensure we are well positioned to compete with other investment managers in the market. We analyse trends that may have an impact on our short-to-medium-term success as well as trends that will have a long-term effect on investment management as a whole.
“As a subsidiary of BNY Mellon, we actively support the growth of women across our firm and the industry. The Woman’s Initiative Network (WIN) seeks to advance and empower women at BNY Mellon while developing talented professionals with the potential to drive our business success and improve our bottom line. As a catalyst for change, WIN supports the advancement of women at BNY Mellon through various channels and opportunities for professional development,
“As I look towards the future personally, one constant when it comes to my career goals is to always commit 110% to the job at hand. I made a decision early in my career that I wouldn’t look too far ahead, instead I would focus all of my attention on adding as much value as possible in the role that I had been hired to do; this way of thinking served me well through my seven promotions at Standish.”
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Woman-Owned Employee Benefits Law Firm - USA
Marcia started The Wagner Law Group by herself and has managed its substantial growth since its foundation. Now, with 25 attorneys, and offices in Boston, Palm Beach Gardens, St. Louis, San Francisco and Tampa, the group boasts clients across the United States and in several foreign countries. The firm’s clients include publicly-traded multistate and multinational businesses, sole proprietors, for-profit clients, professional service organizations, non-profit entities, trade and professional associations and government instrumentalities. The Wagner Law Group’s attorneys combine prior experience from law firms, insurance companies, consulting firms, financial firms, and an in-house counsel, which lend to a depth of expertise and variety of perspectives which enables them to handle the most complex and sophisticated legal issues in their areas of practice. Five of the firm’s senior attorneys - Russ Gaudreau, Roberta Casper Watson, Barry Salkin, Bruce McNeil and Marcia - are Fellows of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, an invitation-only organization of nationally recognized employee benefits lawyers with 20 or more years of experience. Six of the firm’s attorneys - Russ Gaudreau, Diane Goulder Cohen, Stuart Klein, Roberta Casper Watson, Bruce McNeil and herself - are AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell as having a very high to preeminent legal abilities and ethical standards. Marcia notes that when she joined the legal profession, it was a very male dominant sector. “At the start, I was looked at by many of my male counterparts and superiors as an intruder. This drove me to work harder and prove that gender does not define one’s abilities. I was motivated to show the world that I could be the best in my field, and gave maximum effort in order to achieve just that.
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Company: The Wagner Law Group Name: Marcia S. Wagner, Esq. Email: marcia@wagnerlawgoroup.com Web Address: www.wagnerlawgroup.com Address: 99 Summer Street, 13th Floor, Boston, MA 02110 Telephone: (617) 357-5200
The Wagner Law Group Founded in 1996, The Wagner Law Group provides a practical approach to the law and sophisticated legal solutions, while offering the personalized attention of a boutique law firm. The firm’s practice areas include: ERISA law, employment law, labor and human resources, employee benefits, welfare benefits, privacy and security, corporate law, tax, estate planning and administration, real estate and litigation. Marcia S. Wagner, Esq founded the firm in 1996 and remains the firm’s Managing Partner today, and was eager to tell us more about her firm and her experience in the industry. “I believe my profession now is certainly more receptive to women than ever before, but challenges do still exist. While issues such as maternity leave and child care still present challenges for women, and are still the cause of discrimination in hiring and throughout the course of employment, laws protecting women’s rights continue to further the cause and allow women to gain an equal foothold in my profession and many others. I think that continuing the establishment of new laws protecting women’s rights and vigilance in the enforcement of existing laws, combined with sensitivity training will continue to advance the ability of women to be treated equally.
am widely recognized as an expert in a variety of employee benefits issues and executive compensation matters, including qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, all forms of deferred compensation, and welfare benefit arrangements. “For the past five years I have been listed by 401k Wire as one of its 100 Most Influential Persons in the 401(k) industry, and I have received the Top Women of Law Award in Massachusetts, and am listed among the Top 50 Women Lawyers in New England. I have written hundreds of articles and 15 books, and I am widely quoted in business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Pension & Investments, InvestmentNews and more, as well as being a frequent guest on FOX, CNN, Bloomberg, NBC and other televised media outlets.
“Amongst multiple efforts to help advance other women in my profession, I take great pride in the fact that I proudly employ many female attorneys and I also am ardent supporter of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, an organization that is committed to achieving the full and equal participation of women in the legal profession and in a just society.”
“My goals for my career are to continue to be recognized as the nation’s top expert in my area of expertise and to continue to steadily grow my law firm with other recognized experts in the field. I also endeavour, as the firm grows, to continue providing our existing clients with the personalized and expert legal advice, that has become the hallmark of our firm, and to gain new clients in need of those unique services by further solidifying our position as the country’s finest ERISA and employee benefits law firm.”
The Wagner Law Group has grown healthily over the past 12 months, as it has since Marcia founded it 20 years ago. Marcia attributes her success, first and foremost, to hard work and diligence - both her own and that of her colleagues. “I also attribute my success to the unending desire to be the foremost recognised expert in the field, and with surrounding myself with other attorneys who are also recognized as such. I am a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University, and a graduate of Harvard Law School and have practiced law for over 28 years. I was appointed to the IRS Tax Exempt & Government Entities Advisory Committee, and ended my three-year term as the Chair of its Employee Plans subcommittee, and received the IRS’ Commissioner’s Award. I
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Women in Wealth Awards 2016
Best Female in Probate Leadership 2016 - UK
The firm continues to do well in achieving its annual milestones as part of its five-year strategy; in 2015/2016, revenues went up by 11.9%, with profits up by 21%. Thomson Snell & Passmore’s private client department continues to be one of three main drivers of their growth, and this was recognised by The Law Society, who awarded them with Excellence in Private Client Practice 2016. The private wealth practice covers Tax, Trusts and Probate which includes: Wills, powers of attorney, tax planning, family investment companies and structures; the creation, restructuring, and management of trusts, tax returns; and domestic and multi-jurisdictional estate administration. Thomson Snell & Passmore service a multitude of clients, with a particular focus on high net worth individuals ranging from professionals, such as barristers, solicitors and accountants, alongside entrepreneurs, those in the music industry, business owners, farmers and landed estates. They also help their client’s families, providing advice to the next generation and supporting elderly members of the family. Helen feels privileged to be one of the owners and custodians of the firm. She joined the firm over 15 years ago, as an associate, having practiced in Kent for two other firms. At these firms Helen gained invaluable experience, with exposure to good quality and interesting work, which ranged from will drafting, powers of attorney, probate and also family law. Helen was able to take responsibility for running private client services, which gave her focus on business skills and developed her interpersonal skills, which in turn enabled her to build her career at Thomson Snell & Passmore, undertaking and specializing in estate administration work, including post death tax planning. Helen’s background and experience in family law has stood her in good stead when dealing with the more complex family structures requiring careful and moderated handling.
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www.wealthandfinance-intl.com WW160021 Company: Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP Name: Helen Stewart Email: helen.stewart@ts-p.co.uk Web Address: www.ts-p.co.uk Address: 3 Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1NX Telephone: 01892 701398
Thomson Snell & Passmore Thomson Snell & Passmore is one of the preeminent law firms in the South East, providing peace of mind to generations of families and businesses since 1570. Their heritage underpins their longevity, quality, commitment and reassurance. The private wealth practice has a reputation for providing high quality, intelligent advice and the very best service to their clients. Helen Stewart has been with the firm for over 15 years, and is proud to be an owner and a custodian of the firm. We spoke to her about the performance of the firm and her advice to those looking to break into the industry. Helen’s main and established role at Thomson Snell & Passmore is as head of the probate team, which she has carried out for a number of years, leading a team of six lawyers. Helen is also the departments trainee supervisor and has been for many years, providing support, guidance and encouragement to trainees embarking on their career in law. Helen sits on various committees from time to time, and supports initiatives across the firm. Business development plays an important part of her role, both in terms of existing clients, new clients, referrer relationships and cross selling private wealth services across the firm. In terms of her own career, her role is to lead the team, contribute towards the success of the private wealth services, adapt as necessary in relation to technology and structure, and encourage and mentor the current and next generation of lawyers. Helen aims to inspire others to fulfil their potential, so that they can achieve job satisfaction and, in turn, receive excellent client feedback on all that they do.
will place great value on decisive advice. Experience is key, and that can only be gained over a number of years of exposure to client work. Life skills also play an important aspect in the private client work, and should not be under estimated when dealing with complicated family structures. At Thomson Snell & Passmore, they have an ongoing programme of training for all lawyers, covering know-how business and personal skills. Training, development and encouragement for individuals are the key to success for that individual and the firm as a whole. In terms of equal opportunities, Thomson Snell & Passmore have an equality and diversity policy which can be seen at http://www.ts-p.co.uk/ about-us/equality-and-diversity. In terms of opportunities and career progression all lawyers, whether male or female, are judged on their own merits and performance, not by gender.
In respect of challenges over the years, particularly for probate services, has been the price sensitivity in the market place. This has led to a programme of analysis and thought which focusses on providing a menu of services for clients, which has enabled them to select, by choice, what level of services they want to buy; ranging from fixed fee services for obtaining a grant of representation and executor support through to full estate administration. Providing clarity and certainty on pricing at the outset has been key for the firm, and their client listening programme supports the mechanisms that have put in place to ensure they consistently deliver and meet clients’ expectations. When asked what advice Helen would give to anyone wanting to succeed in the private client practice area of the law, Helen would stress the importance on keeping focussed on the clients’ need, and caring about doing a great job for them, providing clear, astute and uncomplicated advice. Very often, clients want practical solutions, and
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