Q1. What or who inspired you to work in investing?

Actually nothing…! I didn’t want to work in investing, Coming from a military family, I didn’t know anything about finance or investing. I was studying international relations and languages at university, I didn’t get into the Foreign Office, which was my goal, and so I applied to any other graduate programs that emphasised an “international” outlook….. I chose to join Capital, where I have worked my entire career, because it offered a program for a few undergraduates like me, that was broad and flexible, and I could ‘try out’ this business and they could ‘try out’ me – an arrangement which was very appealing at the time – and I got to move to LA! 

As soon as I joined though, and slowly began to understand the investment world and realised the role that the allocation of capital plays around the world, and especially in the evolving world of emerging markets, I was hooked. Now, what inspires me is that same thing: helping to aid economic development by allocating the savings of the developed world to the borrowers of the emerging world. It’s not a straight line, but when it works, it’s very rewarding and I like being part of that process.

Q2. What do you think the future looks like for women in investing? What would you like to see?

It should be very bright! Changes were underway anyway but a sharper focus in recent years on DE&I has highlighted the benefits of diversity in investment teams – and women are a natural part of that process. There is no one right way to invest and it’s proved that more diverse teams get better outcomes. Investing is as much art as it is science and there are many ways to look at something, so the more we have diversity of thought in the process, the better. It helps too that the pandemic has accelerated needed evolution around flexible working. This helps everyone in the long run, but it’s a real boost to attracting women to the sector. The long hours and office-based nature of the role traditionally has been a well-known hurdle to coming into the sector in the first place and then being able to retain women through their careers. The more women who are already here, the easier it becomes to attract more to come in – so it will become a virtuous cycle.

Q3. What is your attitude to investment risk?

I think the main thing to understand is that you cannot, and will not, know everything or have absolute certainty. So, you need to understand where the risks are, mitigate those you can’t control, or don’t feel you have an edge on and then focus on taking active risk where you do have extra insight or knowledge. Knowing when you know enough to take action, rather than trying to know everything; and knowing where you could be wrong, so being alert to that, is key.

Again, investment risk is art as well as science – you can get a sense of the scale or nature using models and data, and that can be very helpful, but ultimately, it’s just part of the mosaic of understanding what investment risk you are taking; its not a panacea. There are multiple inputs to investment risk: know which ones you are good at, which ones you are less good at and construct portfolios accordingly!

Q4. If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I wish I had known right from the start that being yourself and focusing on your strengths is the best thing that you can do – and therefore a superpower! – and that will likely look very different from someone else’s version of success. Having the confidence to do that takes time and resilience – and being fearless! You can only do a job like this, alongside often raising families, managing relationships etc, by being authentic. It would be too exhausting to try to be something else all the time – so that is the key.

Q5. Tell us your motto or if you don’t live by one, why not?

I am not sure I live by a motto, but a couple of principles work well for me. I love the concept of focusing on ‘true north’ particularly in a work context when times are tricky. It’s something that I learnt from Capital Group’s culture, where it is an ingrained concept. Stripping everything back to focus on what we are trying to do – steward our investors’ savings to the best of our ability – almost always helps with clarity to get to a better decision. 

Personally, I like the notion of karma – good karma especially! I feel that if you put in a lot to all aspects of life – work, play, family, friends, charity – you’ll get a lot out. Being aware of karma can sometimes help you check your behaviour too, if needed, and, in general, it seems to make life more rewarding!