Financial Women's Association Celebrates International Women's Day With Mentee Leadership Program on the Priority of ESG in the Financial Markets
Ninety One’s Deirdre Cooper, Portfolio Manager, and Katherine Tweedie, Country Head of Canada, led a Virtual Program with Student Mentees
NEW YORK and TORONTO, March 8, 2021 /3BL Media/ – Ninety One, a global investment manager, joined the Financial Women’s Association of New York in celebrating International Women’s Day with a keynote program: The Priority of ESG in the Financial Markets. This program offered an opportunity for FWA’s student mentees and members to engage with senior women from Ninety One in a discussion about the growing interest and resulting career opportunities in the Environment, Social and Governance space. The session also devoted time to offer advice on developing one’s career and share lessons learned.
The FWA participants included high school and undergraduate student mentees, as well as young professionals in the FWA’s Pacesetter’s program.
The featured keynote speakers, Deirdre Cooper, Ninety One’s Portfolio Manager and Decarbonization expert along with Katherine Tweedie, Ninety One’s Country Head of Canada, led the virtual discussion on the accelerated focus on ESG and how they navigated their careers to become leaders in their fields. They also shared learnings from working with clients during times of significant change and disruption. Cynthia Holahan, Ninety One’s Head of Marketing for North America, welcomed the FWA members and mentees and kicked off the session.
The FWA has transitioned its formerly in-person events to online offerings during the pandemic. FWA Education Programs Manager Michael Taylor engages with students by structuring a series of programs designed to spotlight the achievements of women in finance and to mentor and educate the next generation of female leaders in the financial industry.
For over 35 years, the FWA has served more than 6,000 high school and undergraduate student scholars from underrepresented backgrounds in the New York City area through mentoring and scholarships. “On International Women’s Day, and throughout the year, we recognize the significant contributions made by women in the financial industry and help prepare the next generation of female leaders. March is also Women’s History Month and provides a special time to celebrate key milestones and ensure we are fully engaging our next generation so that they can keep focused on their professional journey,” stated FWA's Executive Director, Ria Davis.
“At Ninety One, we are committed to hiring and retaining a diverse team, which includes encouraging talented young women to pursue career ambitions in financial services,” Ms. Holahan stated. "Our partnership with the FWA is one meaningful way to do that.”
“We’re delighted to host the FWA and their bright young professional women, especially during this challenging time for us all, so that we can offer guidance and continue to cultivate interest in our industry,” Ms. Tweedie explained. “When we work together toward a more diverse workforce in this industry, we all benefit.”
In addition to sharing career experiences, Ms. Tweedie and Ms. Cooper provided updates on growing client demand for clear and consistent ESG investing opportunities, especially in the arena of investing for decarbonization.
Ms. Cooper added, “It’s a privilege to share my personal learnings with the next generation. At Ninety One, we recognize the long term impact that Decarbonization has on the investing world as well as on the world we live in, and we’re so pleased to have opportunities to engage with these impressive and interested FWA mentees in such a crucial effort.”
“With the support of our partner firms, we are able to include programming that highlights the markets, finance and leadership throughout these challenging times. The FWA provides our members and the financial community with a vital platform to learn and grow, gaining insights from accomplished leaders in the industry,” explained FWA President Simone Vinocour. “While there is more to do, our partner firms continue to recognize the benefits of diverse leadership and are making proactive changes to ensure inclusive approaches remain a priority.”
Along with the FWA ESG mentee program, Ninety One hosted events around the world, including a global event for employees led by the Ninety One women’s network, Inspire, which featured a global fireside discussion with Alana Stott, Founder of Scott Consultancy Inc (SCI), and Roberta Annan, Founder and Managing Partner of Annan Capital Partners (ACP). Ninety One Chief Commercial Officer John Green kicked off the internal event and introduced these keynote speakers.
In addition, Ninety One’s Inspire hosted a virtual networking event for women across the Asia-Pacific region.
About Financial Women's Association (FWA)
Founded in 1956, the Financial Women's Association of New York, Inc. works collaboratively with leading firms to help accelerate mutual goals of advancing the leadership of women. With nearly 800 Members – both women and men – the FWA presents key thought leadership events, builds performance skills and promotes valuable business connections through networking opportunities for its members. It produces annual international conferences facilitating exposure to global business and economic opportunities. In addition, the FWA gives back to the community and is helping to develop a diverse pipeline of talent by providing scholarships and mentoring to young professionals and to students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to continue their educations, reaching more than 6,000 individuals over the past 35 years. Members and student mentees have access to members-only programs, including professional development workshops and Member2Member mentoring.
The FWA launched its Back2Business™ Initiative, a dynamic re-entry program with four financial services companies, in 2016. In addition, the FWA created a program for members actively seeking employment by sharing its Member Resume Book and its Undergraduate Scholar Resume Book with recruiters at participating President's Circle corporate sponsor firms.
The FWA of a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. For more information, please visit the FWA's website.
About Ninety One
Ninety One is an independent, active global asset manager dedicated to delivering compelling outcomes for its clients, managing more than $150 billion in assets as of September 30, 2020. In the Americas, Ninety One offers a full range of investment strategies and solutions spanning equity, fixed income, multi-asset, sustainable and alternatives led by specialist teams that invest across global, emerging and frontier markets. For more than a decade, the firm has been committed to clients in the US, Canada and Latin America, developing trusted partnerships by delivering local expertise with a global platform.
Established in South Africa in 1991, as Investec Asset Management, the firm started with domestic investments in an emerging market. In 2020, almost three decades of organic growth later, the firm demerged from Investec Group and became Ninety One. Today the firm offers distinctive active strategies to institutions, advisors and individual investors around the world.
On Stewardship & Sustainability: Ninety One believes that by investing sustainably the firm can make a positive impact to people and the planet while delivering long-term investment returns. Ninety One has a robust and comprehensive integration of sustainability analysis and research into its investment processes that serve clients, shareholders, employees and communities. Within our heritage, we know that well-directed investment can transform lives for the better. For over a decade, we have been investing in economic development in Africa, mobilizing finance to bring health and prosperity to some of the continent’s least served communities. In the Americas, we support initiatives in Conservation & Environment, Diversity & Equality and Education & Children.
Media Contact:
Kimberly Weinrick; kimberly.weinrick@ninetyone.com
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