Rising Star Award winner, Tania Bachmann, Vice President, Asset Allocation, PIMCO
How are you seeing diversity impact the industry?
Firms across the industry are embracing diversity initiatives more and more, and I have seen progress in the seven years I have been in finance. But, for me, the main impact has been to broaden diversity of thought, which is crucial for asset managers in particular.
In our work at PIMCO we brainstorm what our outlook should be, as well as the tail risks and threats to that view – we need to think about many potential scenarios. Different perspectives can really help to challenge conventional views, introduce original ideas, and create the right mix for us to produce our best work. It is not only about adding female voices to the mix, but diversity of all backgrounds and views.
While the benefits from diversity of thought are obvious in every industry, for asset managers like PIMCO I think it matters even more.
What does this award mean for you?
This type of award supports, and is validation for, the work we do. Everyone needs recognition and recognition from the sector as a whole also feels special, as I work with so many people outside PIMCO. It is a nice way to reward my work of the past few years and it will drive me to continue working hard in the way I have since joining the industry.
What would you like to do, to support positive change in the industry?
Communication is key. We need to make finance jobs more accessible or, at least, make them sound less inaccessible. People have strong views about the finance sector that they might have gained from movies or the media, or even from speaking to people already in the industry, but they can easily get the wrong impression. So we need to explain what our jobs actually entail and to make it clear that anyone can work in finance.
In short, we need professionals to communicate better about their jobs, to avoid making them sound ‘non-accessible’. Why is trading, for example, more complicated than consulting? When we explain our work to people, we can use jargon and make the job sound very complicated, or we can explain it in more simple terms – and inspire people. We can do a better job of effecting change through communication about our work.
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