How climbing the investment bank ladder has changed for women

When I started in investment banking in the 1990s, it was a substantially different landscape in the financial services industry.

There were clearly fewer women on boards and fewer women in senior client-facing roles. Investment banking was a much smaller industry, which generally drew its talent from legal and accounting firms.

I remember an early client who was a company chair likening me to his granddaughter. That isn’t good when you are trying to give him strategic advice.

Today I see an industry which has seen incredible growth, and at Macquarie, in terms of talent, we are focused on diversity of thought – and that includes gender.

New generations of bankers have clear sight of so many inspiring women at the executive and board level across the industry.

Overall, our graduate and intern applicants are typically 35 per cent female, but we still recruit equal numbers of males and females from those applicants.

About half of our new hires have a STEM background and one of the things that’s really struck me over recent years is the maturity and the exceptional talent we are seeing.

Investment banking has been known for its demanding roles, and one of the things which I think has had a genuinely positive impact on women remaining in investment banking is the flexibility these careers now offer. I can, for example, offer female executives the ability and the support to move in and out of transactional roles at different times in their careers as well as offering part-time work.

I have found that the ability to build a network of supporters has been key to my career, and that includes family, friends and colleagues, including my global peers at Macquarie who have been instrumental in what I have been able to achieve for my clients.

This network has also enabled me to juggle family and work, which is equally true for men and women in the industry.

It’s been great to see the increase at Macquarie of both men and women taking parental leave and career breaks and the support available to ease them back into the workplace with flexibility.

For my career, the task has been to simply focus on the work at hand, and I have been fortunate to be part of an organisation where gender has never been a barrier.

Macquarie’s culture of being empowered to take opportunities as they arise has resonated with me. I’ve been able to take small adjacent risks and learn from my mistakes, supported by my colleagues.

Working alongside the richest possible combination of genders, ages, cultural and racial backgrounds, diversity of sexual orientation and socio-economic backgrounds and experiences, within a genuinely global organisation simply produces better results.

It also allows us to challenge each other’s perspectives in forming better collective decisions, improves understanding of regional and sectoral differences and gives us greater empathy in serving a much broader client and community base. Frankly, it also makes for a much more interesting workplace.

Ariuka Altangerel

Analyst in the power, utilities and infrastructure team within the advisory team, Citi

After studying accounting and finance at the University of Western Australia, I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go with my career. I took an interest in advisory after having some exposure to the type of work it involves during my time in a big four M&A team.

I decided to make the move after landing a role at Citi during an off-cycle hire into the graduate program, where I started as an analyst.

I was drawn in by the opportunities the M&A space provides to work on a diverse range of significant transactions across several sectors.

I am currently working in Citi’s advisory business in the power, utilities and infrastructure team and have enjoyed working on landmark deals, particularly in the energy transition space.

In addition to the appeal of the day-to-day work involved in financial services, the potential to travel has also been a key part of the appeal for me. One of the highlights of my work experience to date is that I was fortunate enough to spend time in New York as part of my analyst training last year.

Citi has a prominent global presence and promotes mobility across different markets throughout your career. For me, this flexibility and potential to work across different locations and sectors is really appealing. There’s always going to be a new learning experience.

As a female starting my career in financial services, the general and overwhelming feedback going into the industry is that historically, it has been male dominated.

However, I think a lot has changed and is continuing to change – especially at the junior level. For example, at Citi, my graduate cohort has a 50-50 gender split. It’s also great to be at a company where there are several senior female leaders who are extremely approachable and supportive in all aspects of your career. They provide invaluable insights from their own experiences in navigating their career.

My advice for women thinking about entering the industry who may be concerned about representation is to put themselves out there and network prior to joining.

Attend industry events, listen to panel discussions, and approach other professionals and ask them about their experiences.

Once you hear real-life stories about day-to-day work and the career pathways available, it’s much easier to get an understanding of what your own experience might be like and remove some fear of the unknown.