ISSUE 3 May 2022
British Summertime has begun!
We're almost halfway through the year and the Women in Asset Servicing (WiAS) network agenda has been a busy one, with three events so far!
2022 is the year of the tiger, so “Finding your Brave” is our mantra for the year and has been central to everything we’ve been working on. As we emerge from our COVID cocoons, we need to recalibrate and set ourselves up for success, however we define it.
Let us know how you have been #findingyourbrave – we would like to publish individual acts of bravery, in whatever form they take.
A busy event schedule
Our two virtual events – “Finding your next role” and “The Perfect CV” – were sister events enabling our members to consider their options for their futures. Studies show that women often don’t apply for a new position until they feel that they can tick every box. Paul Chapman and Terri Van Praagh talked to the value of emotional intelligence and team work, whilst Giulia Iannucci from KnowThyBrand talked to the importance of understanding what you want to stand for and purposefully defining your brand. Taking your career into your own hands is definitely an act of bravery.
You can find a link to the resources from 'Finding your next role' below.
Finding their voices by channeling their inner tiger!
In April, I was delighted to host our first in-person event of the year. “Finding your Voice” was a collaboration between WiAS and Informa, the team behind IMPower FundForum, Europe’s biggest Asset & Wealth Management conference. Across the WiAS membership and beyond, I see so much vibrancy and talent, so we’re on a mission to see more of that on stage at conferences, representing our firms and industry. Thank you to Redington and LGBT Great for supporting the initiative.
Chimmy Ngoma (Calastone), Harriet Shepherd (St James’s Place), Nicole Toselli (Redington), Ellie Stephenson (Nikko Asset Management), Noemie Kieffer (T. Rowe Price) and Anju Kirankumar (Northern Trust) spent three hours with public speaking expert and coach, Alison Campbell, before presenting their “pitches” to over 50 WiAS network members. They were fantastic! Brave, funny, inspiring and all drawing on their own unique perspectives and style. The audience were so supportive, and the whole evening showcases what WiAS does best – help us grow and support each other.
If that wasn’t brave enough, some of the group then attended the IMPower FundForum conference in Monaco and took to the stage! Their panel, held on the talent stage, discussed their perspectives as the next generation of CEOs. It was well attended with great feedback on their insights and calls to action for the industry.
This definitely won’t be the last we see of these rising stars and I look forward to seeing them, and all those who attended the event, continue to push beyond their comfort zones
Kate Webber, Founder of WiAS, striking a pose for #IWD #BreakTheBias
Breaking the Bias for International Women's Day
In Q1 we also celebrated International Women’s Day. Jackie Leiper, CEO of The Embark Group and Kate Webber joined Roger Hearing in a podcast to discuss why women are so poorly serviced by our Financial Services industry, in spite of the fact that in just three years’ time, 60% of Britain’s wealth will be owned by women.
Jackie is an expert on the gap in advice and pension provision for women, resulting in many facing poverty in older age, despite working throughout their lives. Kate focused on what the industry needs to do to support women attain levels of seniority and meaning in our industry to be truly representative of these women and to close the gap in the future.
A link to the podcast can be found below and the material from Finding your next role and Finding your voice can all be found here.
Summer
networking event
We are delighted to announce our long awaited in-person networking event on 15 June, with registration from 5.30pm, the main event is 6-8pm. The event is a perfect opportunity for us to celebrate our successes during Covid lockdown and our support from The Embark Group which has considerably extended our reach and created our wonderfully vibrant website.
Jackie Leiper, CEO of The Embark Group, will be joining us at the event as will many other women from our network. We are also delighted to be joined by some of the successful young women who took part in FundForum in May.
We would be delighted if you could join us, share a drink, and create lots of smiles and laughter. We cannot wait to see as many of you as we can to celebrate in the lovely room at Schroders.
Future plans
We will continue to run both in-person and virtual events going forward, to enable all of our members around the globe to participate as often as possible. And if those living in Dublin, New York or Hong Kong wish to set up an in person WiAS networking event of their own, we would be happy to help. Just get in touch via email.
We love hearing that WiAS membership is making a difference to individuals and we continue to build and share content on our website and LinkedIn group, where members can connect and learn. We would encourage you to find your voice and share your thoughts with us. We will happily talk to you about showcasing your content to our members.
Coming soon...speed mentoring
Demand, and need, for mentoring has never been higher. After the summer break, we are keen to host a speed mentoring event and Bravura have stepped forward to offer to host. We are also looking to hold a joint event with Women in Platforms, a group that many of our members also participate in.
The purpose of the event is for as many members to benefit from new ideas and hard-won experience. Mentoring is often a long drawn out process, but actually 10 minute conversations can also be just as career changing. This will be an in-person event and could be very hectic and a lot of fun.
Keep an eye on the website for further details.
Growing for Gold!
- Our Linkedin group has grown again and is now up to
613 members since our last newsletter, that's a 17% increase – our target is to grow to 1000 by the end of the year, so please spread the word and invite your friends and colleagues.
- The number of visitors to our website has increased exponentially since we launched it last year and don't forget we are adding new content to it regularly, so make sure you check back to see what's new.
I hope you find this newsletter useful and please feel free to message me with your feedback about it or if you have anything else you want to get in touch about.
Kind regards
Laura Bampfylde
WiAS Advisory Board
WiAS is a professional networking group, empowering women to achieve success by facilitating relationships and discussing topics that improve career opportunities for its members with an aim to optimise the gender balance across the industry. The group was founded by Kate Webber, who has worked in the asset servicing sector for over 25 years.
