Here are the two Mentor of the Year Award recipients for Traders Magazine’s inaugural "Wall Street Women: A Celebration of Excellence." An independent advisory committee of women chose the winners from nominations by the industry.
The 16 awards will be presented on Nov. 10 at the New York Academy of Sciences.
The Mentor of the Year Award is given to women who have shown dedication to the cause of mentoring other women in financial services.
Other winners will be announced later today and tomorrow.
To See A Slideshow of All Winners: http://bit.ly/tFKh0G
Deborah Freer
Firm: RBC Capital Markets
Years in Industry: 30
Previous Firms: Citigroup, Merrill Lynch
Status: COO, RBC Capital Markets, CEO, US Broker Dealer, RBCCM, LLC
After about two decades in the securities industry, Deborah Freer understands the contradictions of a woman achieving success in a competitive, male-dominated trading culture.
Succeeding in the trading industry requires considerable learning and tenaciousness, Freer believes. "I would tell women that this industry is a big commitment," she said.
And that also means not letting people take advantage of what some perceive as a weakness, owing to a lack of experience or because women supposedly lack strength-challenges she faced. To succeed, one can’t "be a wallflower," Freer said.
Indeed, early in Freer’s career she established that was she was ready to compete. Yet that tenaciousness, so vital to surviving in a competitive culture, must be tempered, she notes.
"One of the biggest challenges women have is figuring out the right level of assertiveness and acting on it," Freer said. While she says that early in her career, she faced confrontational situations, she emphasizes that one must be careful how and when to fight these battles.
In making difficult decisions, Freer says, women face another contradictory situation. Upcoming female professionals can be helped, as Freer was, by women mentors. But women mentors are in short supply, she notes. Yet a mentor was important in her success.
Freer credits Diane Schueneman, Merrill Lynch’s global head of operations systems and technology, with helping her. Schueneman, Freer notes, never favored any group, but always dispassionately selected the right person for the right job.
"She chose the right person for the job, which reflected on a much broader and much more diverse pool of people," Freer said. "She did not tell you what you wanted to hear, but rather the cold hard facts and the realistic alternatives to a problem."
Freer said that to this day she sometimes asks herself, "What would Diane do in this situation?"
Sylvia Rocco
Firm: Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Years in Industry: 40
Previous Firms: Merrill Lynch
Status: Managing Director, Senior Sales Trader
Nurturing relationships-with her clients, her position traders and her other colleagues-is the best part of Sylvia Rocco’s job. And that is what makes her a successful mentor at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Rocco, a sales trader who has been covering accounts for 40 years at the firm, credits her mentors for her longevity and success.
"To make a successful trader, it really takes a village," she said. "I feel like I had a whole bunch of mentors who helped me."
The year was 1970. Trading desks resembled men’s locker rooms, and very few, if any, women were on them, let alone working on Wall Street. Rocco found herself sitting on the institutional sales desk next to her first mentor, salesman Peter Broms. Though Rocco, as a newbie, made some mistakes on the desk, Broms was there to push her to carry on and excel.
"What Peter did was push me to get my Series 7," she recalled. After passing the exam, Rocco was encouraged by Broms to interact with clients and hone her skills. He also helped her find her current home. "When he found out a position opened on the trading desk, he recommended me."
And now, it is Rocco who is mentoring the firm’s younger traders. Many of them are seated right next to her. Like Broms before her, she guides them and helps them acclimate to their new surroundings.
"I don’t think you go to class and learn how to be a good sales trader," she said. "You can learn the mechanics of trading, but being a sales trader means developing relationships, and learning these methods is essential. They can’t be taught in a classroom."
Her position as a sales trader has been a constant learning experience during her career, as the job has changed dramatically.
"You have to sit next to someone to get it," she said. "I tell the younger traders to reach out and learn from as many people as you can. That’s the secret to a successful career."
