Fast forward to 2013 and one woman sitting in Manhattan now presides over the largest prime brokerage in the United States: Teresa Heitsenrether, Global Head of J.P. Morgan’s prime brokerage. She is one of more than thirty new names in this year’s survey, and J.P. Morgan is among many firms in the industry that devotes special effort towards devising human resources policies that help to retain women.
Women continue to be well represented across all professions and functions: as lawyers, accountants, prime brokers, portfolio managers, traders, researchers, analysts, consultants, chief investment officers, chief operating officers, and in sales, marketing, investor relations, capital introductions, and business development roles. The MBA degree is probably the most often seen qualification, particularly in the USA, but elsewhere the survey includes those who have studied philosophy or linguistics, before moving into finance.
Alongside regular survey constituents Elena Ambrosiadou and Leda Braga, a new name appears this year from the world of quantitative investment namely Jennifer L. Ancker Whelan, who is managing director of $7.5 billion CTA, Graham Capital Management.
The growing presence of women in the upper echelons of marketing hedge funds is noticeable. At CQS both the head of European marketing, Soraya Chabarek, and the head of Americas marketing, Karyn Geringer, are women as is Louise Zarrilli who heads up Tudor’s investor relations function as well as sitting on the firm’s Operating Committee.