Conference Dailys TRADETech FX Daily 2019: Wrap-up | Page 13

THETRADETECHFX DA I LY
in-depth
Diversity of
thought is the
key to better
performance,
says buy-side
SPEAKERS AT TRADETECH FX EUROPE
HIGHLIGHT A SHIFT TO TEAM-BASED PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT AND THE DEMYSTIFICATION OF
THE INDUSTRY AS KEY DIVERSITY DRIVERS.
O
ne of the key drivers to increase
diversity and inclusion is fostering
a culture of “diversity of thought”,
according to buy-side speakers at this year’s
TradeTech FX Europe conference.
The panel agreed that an environment
in which a greater variety of thought and
opinions are brought to the investment or
portfolio management process will lead to
improved performance and can be a compet-
itive edge for firms.
Amanda Pullinger, CEO of 100 Women in
Finance, said that numerous studies have
shown that greater diversity will lead to
better investment and trading results, but
despite this, the industry still has much work
to do in making tangible change happen.
“The challenge is that unless you have lived
a world where you have actually experienced
the benefits of diversity, sometimes those
studies don’t make a difference,” she com-
mented. “One thing that is critical for the
industry is that we encourage, particularly in
men, to talk about their positive experiences
of working with diversity. It is about diver-
sity of thought; if you are building a team,
that means the people in that team challenge
what you say and think differently from you.
That’s the piece that is the challenge.”
Andy Maack, head of FX trading at Van-
guard, highlighted a shift in the industry
away from the “individual star portfolio
manager” towards a team-based approach,
which had been proven to result in better
outcome and thinking processes, a point
picked up by Stefanie Holtze-Jen, chief cur-
rency strategist at DWS Group.
“We are an industry that still likes to have
its heroes, its individuals that stick out, this
is how marketing is done,” she said. “But we
need to come to the understand that only
a winning team can succeed and enabling
everybody in this team to participate is the
next step, so this comes down to a culture
change because it’s not inherent in the finan-
cial services DNA.”
The panel highlighted some of the initia-
tives that their firms and the industry on a
wider scale are undertaking to increase the
level of diversity and inclusion, such as going
out to schools to teach young people about
the industry, and to increase the access to
the financial services internship positions
that had not previously been available as
widely.
However, Pullinger touched on two major
challenges that still remain for the indus-
try to address: increasing the visibility of
minority groups within the industry and
demystifying the way in which the financial
services industry actually operates by high-
lighting how the buy-side can operate on a
positive social level.
The official newspaper of TradeTech FX Europe 2019
TheTradeNews.com
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