Youran Wu, Trader, Virtu Financial, won Rising Star at Markets Media Group’s 2022 Women in Finance (U.S.) Awards.
What was your reaction to winning the award?
I felt extremely humble and thrilled to win the award. There have been a lot of people guiding and helping me in and out of Virtu. Without them, I wouldn’t have had any achievements so far. I felt tremendously grateful for Tyler Drake, the head trader of Austin office to nominate me for the award and also take care of the traders in Austin, for the ETF and Crossborder team where we help each other with trading and share life-long friendships, and for the whole trader community in Virtu to have been always collaborative and supportive.
What keeps you motivated?
I think what keeps me motivated has always been a desire to learn new things, and a little bit of OCD in my personality. I really want and like to keep myself challenged intellectually. In work, I am lucky to be able to continuously learn new products, features and rules of different financial markets. I especially like new trading products where I can learn details and tie out every number for pricing the products. Outside of work, I like to take online courses, such as on Coursera and edX, and read books on a range of topics to keep my mind sharp and skills up-to-dated. I’m recently reading the History of Philosophy by A.C.Grayling, recommended by one of my favorite developers at Virtu, Adam Cimpeanu. It’s a really good book.
What do you like least about the world of finance?
What I like the least about the world of finance is that it’s sometimes hard to realize the social benefits it offers. It’s easy to feel that we are making money, but we are not creating social values compared to some other occupations like doctors. Personally quite a few friends of mine left this industry for this specific reason. However, the finance industry helps keep monetary resources to the most efficient usage and that is how this industry helps with the society in a slightly indirect way. But it is not too obvious to realize that.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
If I could have a superpower, I wish I could own Doraemon’s memorization bread. With the fast-changing pace especially in the financial and technological fields, it’s increasingly critical to be able to filter useful information and memorize important one from various sources for re-organization and analysis in a timely manner. With Doraemon’s memorization bread, it would be easy to keep the important pieces of information in memory without having to worry about forgetting.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years, I still see myself in the finance industry. There is so much to learn, and the market environment is constantly changing. This is fascinating. I hope in five years I would be more knowledgeable about this industry, have more experience and understanding to share with others, keep learning new skills and perspectives, and help the world to be a better place in my own way.
What’s your advice to the next generation of women in finance?
My advice to the next generation of women in finance would be to always be curious and eager to learn, not be afraid to ask questions, pay attention to details while having the big picture in mind. Not too long after I joined Virtu, one of my still favorite women coworkers, Carmela Lao, told me to always try to keep updated and make the best and full use of the time at work. She has always been extremely helpful and inspiring. And I would like to take this chance and pass her word on to encourage more women in finance.
