Women in Investments looks to change the face of an industry
For many, the investment management industry conjures images of men in suits with briefcases, hustling to get to work by opening bell. Sadly, this image has historically rung true, the industry challenged by a lack of diversity in its workforce. Although women make up more than half the population, they are woefully underrepresented in the asset management industry at all levels.
Marquette University’s Applied Investment Management program wants to see that change. To better prepare and support its female students for success in an industry that has been traditionally dominated by men, AIM Program Coordinator Jessica Hoerres worked to launch the Women in Investments gathering, now in its fourth straight year.
“These are exceptional students who, unlike their male counterparts, were about to start careers in an industry where they would be the minority,” Hoerres says. “We needed to find a way to support and encourage them in the pursuit of their career goals.”
In early November, more than 50 female finance students and female investment professionals attended a dinner meeting and had the opportunity to interact and discuss relevant issues related to gender diversity in the workforce. Following the dinner, there was a panel discussion and presentations that focused on developing a greater pipeline of talented women to work at all levels of the investment industry.
Mentoring is foundational to the event’s success, and so the AIM students are paired with highly regarded female investment professionals to provide the students with the opportunity to develop a network of support for their careers, as well as allow them to see themselves in successful investment management positions.
This semester, Hoerres and R.W. Baird’s Mary Hodes, an AIM alumna, worked together to bring seven female financial professional to campus, including other professionals from Baird: Margaret Savage, Anne Mongoven, Cassandra Meyers, Jaclyn Godwin, Meredith Harrington and Kotryna Smith.
Dr. Joseph Daniels, acting Keyes Dean of Business Administration, was also in attendance.
“I was very encouraged by the Women in Investments event sponsored by the AIM program. The enthusiasm exhibited by the students and Baird investment professionals was encouraging and inspiring,” Daniels says. “Clearly, we support greater gender diversity, not only in finance, but across all business disciplines. I’m also well aware of the academic research that has supported the improved investment performance of teams that have greater diversity. This was a wonderful event and I look forward to next semester’s event.”
Someone who will always be notably absent from these events is Dr. David Krause, director of the AIM program since its inception in 2004. Through his tireless dedication and service to Marquette and his students over that last 16 years, Krause has built a program whose reputation reaches far beyond the walls of the classroom in Milwaukee, and reverberates in the streets of New York City’s financial district.
Smiling, Hoerres says that Krause has made it a point to not attend the event, “but our students always know that is intentional on his part.”
According to Krause, “The goal is simple — it is to help prepare young women to succeed in the investment industry. Women in Investments, which has been championed by Jessica Hoerres, brings together female finance students and investment professionals. It has been designed to help educate, promote, encourage and support women in finance, specifically in the investment industry.”
The AIM program is poised to build on this great work. The program this fall welcomed its largest ever incoming female class.
