The panel (left to right): Michela Verardo, Deborah Fuhr, Viviane Masseline, Joy Yang, and Lida Eslami.
On the 31st January 2019, the Department of Finance held its third annual 'Women in Finance' event which had a particular focus on ‘Women in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)’.
LSE’s Professor Christopher Polk and Dr Michela Verardo gave a warm welcome to the panel, which included four extremely successful women whose careers in finance have led them to the world of Exchange Traded Funds.
Students heard from Joy Yang who is a Product Specialist currently working at marketβeta and one of the founders of Women in ETFs; Deborah Fuhr who is also a founder of Women in ETFs, and a managing partner and co-founder of ETFGI; Lida Eslami who works at the London Stock Exchange as the Head of Business Development; Viviane Masselin who works at Brown Brothers Harriman as Vice President in sales and relationship management.
The panel discussion began with an introduction to ETFs and how the field has grown tremendously in a short space of time. Each panellist discussed how their own career has progressed and attributed their success to their own drive and ambition. All panellists emphasised the importance of being sincere, going the extra mile, and never settling.
Prior to working in ETFs, the panellists came from a variety of financial backgrounds including portfolio management, investment strategy, relationship management and equity and trading. As founders of Women in ETFs, two of the panellists discussed their mission to connect women and men within the ETFs field. The panellists also gave insightful advice to students on how to prepare for interviews by thoroughly researching the company and understanding the importance of listening. They commented on how beneficial mentorships are for those who make the most of them and know exactly what they want from them.
After the discussion, students took the lead by asking questions which ranged from graduate employability to reading recommendations. The panellists gave clear responses to the students and advised them to not lose sight of the big picture in any job. Once the question and answer portion of the evening ended, conversations continued during the networking reception that followed.
LSE staff and faculty in the audience (left to right): Associate Director, Morag Brocklehurst; Associate Director, Janet Bacastow; Dr Michela Verardo; Professor Christopher Polk, Department Head; Dr Dong Lou.