Service Providers

I’m 44 yrs of age and started in this industry when I was 23. I’m Irish and from Dublin and have a business degree from the University of West Glamorgan in Wales. I currently hold two roles at State Street: Global Client COO for one of our largest EMEA-based clients and Head of Innovation for EMEA.

I have two distinct and separate roles at the moment:

• Global Client COO: I’m responsible for the overall service delivery, governance and future operational strategies for a global client across all business lines.

• Head of Innovation EMEA: This is about creating a sustainable innovation agenda for the business and our clients by exploring new and innovative technologies to solve business challenges or create new business models.

I have been in the funds admin/custody business for 21 years. Most of my career has been with State Street and I spent 4 years with HSBC. I’ve had a lot of different experiences in those 21 years spanning most of the core operational areas, including accounting, custody, TA, new business take-on department, Client Relationship Management, Project management, Product Development, General Management, Head of Operations and the position of CEO.

I really enjoy the variety of my work, meeting new people and the ability to influence and create change. I always need to be moving forward in my career.

The set-up of our offshore operational hub in Poland. I was the general manager and head of operation there for about 3 years, so starting with a few folks to about 800 when I left in 2010.

More recently was the completion of Ireland’s FinTech Strategy Paper, an industry effort which I led. This was a cross sector effort including the entire financial services and government agencies. The paper was used as part of Ireland’s strategy for FinTech.

To maturing and expanding our innovation agenda.

I’m excited to see how the innovation role plays out; it’s completely new to the business. There are no tried and tested routes - you’re dealing with new technologies and new ideas. It’s not your usual stuff and requires a lot of self-belief and motivation to keep it driving forward.

When I started in 1997 I had no idea of what I was getting into. I knew I was interested in the stock market and a job in the fund industry came up, and that’s how I began. No special thought went into it at that stage!

I started out in the early days in an operational area - Accounting & Custody. I moved through a number of different roles and functions during my time at the bank. I put a lot of myself into every role and I think every 2-3 years is when I needed to make a change and move on.

I came to a point when I was 34 where I decided to take 8 months off and travel the world with my wife. It was the best career decision I’ve ever made! I came back invigorated and took up a role to set up the operations in Poland which meant I had to move there with my wife. It was a great experience and it gave me a huge amount of autonomy and really allowed me to make a mark on this new venture. After this I felt I needed something bigger and left the bank and took up employment as Head of Operations for another bank. This was a great experience also, with lots of change and big challenges. Looking for a complete change and challenge, I returned to State Street to take up a Head of Innovation role. It was a new area - unproved, untested and in a lot of respects, virgin territory. This is what I enjoy the most.

Be the best you can at what you do and opportunities will find you!

It’s a very dynamic global industry, where the skill-set you build is universal and transferable, plus you get to travel and meet lots of interesting folks.

I would say there are two schools of thought here. The first is that he industry has a track record of reacting quickly to change, where change is being imposed or it’s just a matter of having to do something (e.g. regulation and market changes). On the other hand, with the advent of FinTech we need to be better positioned to take advantage of the new and emerging technologies. This means having to think differently and collaborate differently. Some of the technologies require greater market collaboration to really optimise their benefits such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) for instance. We are learning to do this but we need to keep pushing this agenda.

FinTech is a very topical item at the moment, with new and emerging technologies looking to provide new opportunities to create value.

With integrity and trust. This sounds cliché but that’s the reality. Our clients want to be able to trust that we’ll do as we say. This can of course be challenging within large functionalised and globally disbursed organisations.

Interesting, Challenging, Rewarding

An engineer – designing and building stuff!

I am ACA Qualified and have +20 years direct experience in the Funds Industry.

The main focus of my role is to ensure desired levels of service are delivered to clients in a consistent manner. I am the point of escalation for certain key clients. In addition I have Head of location responsibilities for BNP Paribas in Galway.

I joined BNP Paribas in June 2015 just as the acquisition of Credit Suisse’s Fund Services business had concluded. Initially I focused on rolling out BNP Paribas products services and applications to transitioned clients. Over time I assumed a Relationship Manager role for key clients. Recently I have assumed a Management oversight role within our Client Delivery teams.

My role is challenging and fast changing as technology, regulation, client demands, trading strategies and staff needs constantly evolve.

The expansion of our Galway office over the past 18 months which has enabled BNP Paribas to attract experienced Financial Services staff to the Galway region.

Achieving our objective of improving client service delivery through process automation.

Initially within the Funds Industry I worked on the audit side (PWC) and gained invaluable experience regarding controls testing and balance sheet validation. Since 2001 I have held Management, Client Relationship and Operational Oversight roles within various Fund Administration Companies (including 3 years offshore). Prior to joining BNP Paribas in 2015 I had worked at Citco Fund Services for 5 years and Deutsche Bank Fund Services for 6+ years.

Just as in life, honesty is always the best course of action when issues arise.

The Industry is vibrant, challenging and rewarding. There are many different roles available to people as their careers progress.

At BNP Paribas we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Over the last few years we have held a diversity and inclusion week in Ireland and across the globe and we have a committee dedicated to this in Ireland also. Last year our diversity and inclusion week included speakers from the 30% club and we also had a talk on mental health. This coming year we are celebrating international Women’s Day on 8th March by hosting an internal panel discussion with some of our female and male leaders discussing their careers, the challenges they have faced and offering career advice to employees who attend.

Clients continue to move away from in-house administration of Investment Funds and service providers have continued to consolidate with a drive to enhanced Technology as the key to longevity.

The key is to prioritize, keep calm and explore all choices available to seek optimal solutions.

In general, the staff in Galway experience shorter commute times meaning more time is available for involvement with family and interests outside work.

Interactive, rewarding and challenging.

Less travelled.

My name is Zhuriqa Jalil and I have been with Brown Brothers Harriman Fund Administration Ireland Limited for a little over 10 years.

Originally from Sarawak, Malaysia, I moved to Ireland in 2005 with the intention of completing a degree in accounting and finance. 13 years down the road, I am still in Ireland and I am now ACCA qualified and I recently completed a Professional Diploma in Applied Alternative Investments. With the financial support of the BBH scholarship programme as well as support from my direct manager, I was able to juggle study and being a working mother.

My career with BBH started in the Financial Reporting department, I transitioned over to the Client Service Group around 4 years ago and at the moment I am a Team Leader. Career mobility within BBH is not uncommon, definitely worth keeping in mind if you’re considering a career within the fund industry.

In my current role, I am very much client facing and I find it satisfying to be able to match clients’ needs with the services we offer. This means that I have to challenge myself by keeping up to date with regulations and industry developments.

The fund industry landscape is always changing with new regulations and evolving technology. I make sure I am prepared for these developments through the support and training I receive in-house and by keeping myself up to date with information from Irish Funds and other publications.

In short, I would say the learning never stops!

In BBH, it is not all about work. We have a number of networking groups (or BANC network as we call them) to support employees in their chosen activities or cause. In Dublin some of the groups include the Asia Link Network, Pride Network, Parenting Network and the Young Professional Network. We even have an in-house toastmasters club!

If I were not working at BBH I think I would bake and sell kek lapis, a layered cake very popular in Sarawak!

I studied History (BA) in Lithuania followed by BS in history with teacher certification and later a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in the USA. All programs were a great preparation to work in any industry.

Apart from writing my graduate paper on regulation in Hedge Funds, I did not have any experience in the funds industry.

Bringing the best services to our clients.

I worked in several Citco offices; I started in a trade processing team in Rye Brook, NY and Jersey City. I transferred from Jersey City to our Dublin office where I had an opportunity to work in the Enhanced Middle Office team. From there I moved into the Client Integration team in Dublin.

The ever-changing environment that challenges me every day!

Through an internal leadership development program I participated in within Citco we created an initiative known as the Innovation Hub. The aim of which is to share innovative ideas with the company that will ultimately lead to business improvements.

Participating in a Project Management training course and become PM certified!

To always be open to challenges and opportunities.

I’m an active member of the Citco CSR Ireland committee and the area I’m most involved in is the ‘Business in the Community’ mentoring program in Ireland. This rewarding program involves mentoring a 16 year-old school student; discussing their career ambitions and helping to impact their engagement with education.

I have 25 years experience working in financial services progressing through various roles in Ireland and internationally. I started working with BNY Mellon through a joint venture with AIB back in 2001 and joined BNY Mellon as Head of AIS Client Services - Hedge Funds in 2007 where I was responsible for $100 billion in assets under management.

I am the Global Head of Service Directors, for client experience. As champions for our clients, Service Directors have an opportunity every day to enhance the client experience—to promote consistent, effective engagement with clients and advocacy across the company.

The people and building relationships both with the extraordinarily talented people I work with and the fantastic clients we serve every day.

I am most proud of being a Mum to a lovely seven year old little boy, he is definitely my best achievement by far!

Professionally, I am very proud of the time I spent working in New York. It was a steep learning curve but it was a great experience and taught me a lot.

I am in the middle of a Masters in Business at the IMI (UCC) which will conclude at the end of 2018. It has been a three year process, and hugely impactful to me personally. I have learnt a lot and I am looking forward to finishing it!

At the moment, I am working on making a little more time for myself and getting the balance right on work, play and rest.

Be curious, don’t take it personally and remember you learn with every move. Linear moves in the funds industry really help you learn the business.

I am one of the founders of the 30% Club in Ireland, and currently lead the chapter for Ireland. The 30% Club Ireland formally launched in January 2015, is part of an International Organization – founded in the UK in 2010. Our aim is to develop a diverse pool of talent for all businesses through the efforts of our Chair and CEO members who are committed to better gender balance at all levels of their organisations.

Business leadership is key to our mission, taking the issue beyond a specialist diversity effort and into mainstream talent management. We believe that gender balance on boards not only encourages better leadership and governance, but diversity further contributes to better all-round board performance, and ultimately increased corporate performance for both companies and their shareholders. We now have almost 200 confirmed supporters in Ireland and our focus is on gaining visible and practical support for gender balance at all levels from business leaders in private, public, State, local and multinational organisations.

One of the 30% Club’s core beliefs is that women in management today are the pipeline for business leaders of the future. With this front of mind, we initiated research in 2015 to provide annual data as a baseline to assess ongoing improvement. In the research conducted for our recent ‘Women In Management: The Leadership Pipeline Report’ (2017) – which was conducted in partnership with Ibec and Dublin City University- we highlighted that the participation rates of women at all levels in the management hierarchy have increased since 2016, however there continues to be a drop in female representation at higher levels of management which shows that gender inequality remains a challenge. There also continues to be significant sectoral variation in female representation. This year the % of women holding CEO positions stands at 19%, a slight increase from 17% in 2016, and 14% in 2015.

The 30% Club launched as a campaign in the UK in 2010 with a goal of achieving a minimum of 30% women on FTSE-100 boards - currently the figure stand at 27.9% up from 12.5%. In the FTSE 33 companies have already reached 30%. Board level participation in Ireland is at 13%.

Exciting, challenging and partnership.

A rugby player!

SMT Fund Services have provided me with opportunities I never dreamed possible when I started out in the funds industry. I have been incredibly lucky. I have been with the company for over 10 years and in that time I have worked in a number of different departments which I have really enjoyed. I started out as a junior in the pricing/trades department, worked my way up over the years and eventually became a supervisor in Net asset value (NAV) with an extraordinary opportunity to move to Japan to open a finance department in our Tokyo Head Office.

Due to the experience I gained both from my time in Japan and working in different departments through the years, once back from Tokyo I was offered a Business Analyst position to help develop our operations systems which is an area I had never considered working in. I found myself working very closely with operations managers from all levels and IT developers on coding trying to streamline the new systems and I even surprised myself with how much I enjoyed seeing the industry from a technical side. Before that my IT problem solving skills amounted to switch the computer off and on again.

Supervising day-to-day operations in order to produce NAVs for our clients in a timely manner.

Working with my amazing team, it’s the number one reason I look forward to work most days. I enjoy the challenges that the industry throws up too - the funds industry is always changing and strategies that were once popular become obsolete and new financial products pop up all the time so you have to keep up. It can be very interesting.

Being chosen to open the office in Japan will always be the highlight of my career. When I left college I wasn't sure if funds was the right place for me, but one day as I made my daily commute through Tokyo on the way to work I remember thinking, ‘you made the right choice’.

Not knowing what's next or where your path will take you. This industry is international, and finance is the same no matter where you go. Who knows where it will take me next.

To keep developing my career as much as possible. I'm always open to new opportunities and this industry has tons of it.

I originally wanted to be a history teacher but this career kind of found me instead. I started out thinking I'll just see how it goes for a while and then 10 years later I feel I'm still going strong. From day one I could tell that this was the path that would help me progress the best. I still love history but I've never doubted that I made the right choice.

To be open-minded, flexible, willing to learn and I believe most importantly to be a team player. If you have those qualities there is very little you can’t achieve in this industry.

This won't resonate with everyone but I know from experience that some people can be intimidated by a career in finance and I would like to tell those people that they shouldn't be. There are some that believe you need to be a shark or a maths wizard to excel and that is not the case at all. If you have good communication skills, if you can work well in a team, if you like a challenge then I promise you can do really well in this industry.

Fun, exciting, challenging.

A travel writer.

I studied Finance at Queen’s University Belfast, graduating with a first class honours. I gained as much experience as I could through internships across many areas of finance including Morgan Stanley, the Financial Times, and of course – Citco.

I had a 15 month industrial placement in the Citco Risk & Valuation team during my 3rd year of university. I enjoyed and learnt so much I was very keen to come back. My manager was excellent at keeping in contact and offered me the opportunity to return after graduation.

It’s a very comfortable and friendly working environment; flexible working hours, paid overtime, free drinks/breakfast, lounge area.

I love the encouragement and free reign to pursue projects that I believe will be of benefit to the team, such as; masterclasses, lunch & learns and R&D. I’ve a lot of control over what I want to learn, and this allows me to take responsibility for my own work and career development.

Never to just click buttons, always ask what is going on behind them. Dig into things you don’t understand and don’t be afraid to propose new solutions.

For the team I work in, a finance background serves as a great foundation to develop more quantitative skills. Bloomberg seminars are encouraged, CFA study is supported, and I’m constantly developing programming skills on a daily basis. Citco is great in that the direction of your personal development is very much up to you.

I have 20+ years of Financial Services industry experience and spent the first 10 years in roles in Dublin and Luxembourg. I joined BNY Mellon (AIB/BNY as it was at the time) when we opened our Cork office in 2006 and have held various roles here during this time, predominantly in Fund Accounting Services.

I am responsible for Global CSD Fund Accounting services for a key franchise client with a team in Cork, Ireland and overseas. I also co-head BNY Mellon’s Cork site which is an interesting and diverse role.

The people – I have a great team and fantastic colleagues who are committed and passionate about what they do. I also love learning which is an opportunity I am afforded every day – the industry is fast paced and there is always something new on the horizon.

My two children – healthy and (almost always) happy! In work, my greatest achievement is really where I am today. I have worked hard to progress my career and have grasped all opportunities along the way

We have some complex, fast-paced projects on the go and I am looking forward to seeing them through to a successful conclusion.

Professionally my role continues to evolve and I’m looking forward to getting involved in new learning and career opportunities.

Actively seek out new opportunities. Every project or initiative you involve yourself in can aid your own development and career progression.

Don’t be put off by the ‘finance’ aspect - it is not all about numbers. Financial Services can offer you a varied and interesting career beyond managing shareholder deals or calculating a NAV.

Like other BNY Mellon offices, Cork has an active Community Partnership Committee. Each and every one of us who have been involved in volunteering and CP events have gained so much on a personal level. BNY Mellon very much encourages us to participate through company matching donations and paid volunteer time.

I do believe that the balance is yours to make and whilst it is often difficult to do so, you get back what you put in. My job is a busy one and my family is, too, so I find the little things really help – exercise before work; calendar and meal preparation on Sunday evenings, etc.

Varied, Evolving and a bit Crazy at times!

Maybe a teacher, although I’m not sure how good or patient I would be. My mum tried to encourage me down this road when I was younger.

I am a Senior Manager for Financial Reporting within the Investor & Treasury Services Division of Royal Bank of Canada. The role has a number of aspects but primarily my team are responsible for delivering financial reporting to our fund clients. This encompasses audit management, financial statements preparation and review; and more recently the delivery of regulatory reporting.

I was always interested in finance. I graduated from Maynooth University with a B.A. (Joint Honours) in Economics and Finance. I started my career as a junior fund accountant with a fund administration company working my way up to account manager. During my tenure I started my Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) studies.

When I joined RBC as a supervisor, it was a rapid learning curve. The support I received from colleagues though was incredible. As my level of knowledge developed, I was promoted through the ranks with many opportunities to continue my development along the way. With an expanding team supporting a growing client base, resulting in increasing volumes and complex funds, our team continues to go from strength to strength.

During my time with RBC, I have experienced different financial statement systems, helped implement an outsourced model, and taken on new regulatory reporting. So it has been varied, challenging, exciting and rewarding.

The wide variety of tasks coupled with the interaction with a broad number of people. For example, I can be at an external board meeting, come back to review a set of financial statements, attend a potential client presentation, look after people management tasks and catch up on emails - all in the one day. No two days are the same although overall there is always our set objectives within the annual audit cycles to meet the reporting needs of our clients.

Five years ago, I went to Malaysia for a few months to set up a new financial reporting team. This was a huge undertaking as the team consisted of new employees who needed to be trained in the audit process in a short timeframe. The days were long but rewarding and I always made sure I started each with a swim in an outdoor pool. Given the average January temperature in Kuala Lumpur is 25 degrees Celsius, it was one of the perks of the trip.

I will be part of an internal Securities Financing Transactions Regulations (SFTR) project team which, although in its early stages, will result in learning new skills, increase my regulatory knowledge as well as broadening my RBC network of colleagues.

If you work hard, collaborate and always act with integrity you will be recognised for your commitment, and career progression opportunities will arise.

There have been so many changes in recent years – change is a constant! Regulation has been a key conduit which has helped further protect underlying investors. The implementation of regulatory standards, though, has taken a significant amount of resource over the past few years and as a result the funds industry is behind in the ongoing evolution of technology. While other industries have already seen significant advancements (especially in the retail space), our industry has been behind the curve. But we are an industry that works through collaboration and we’re already seeing examples of this collectiveness through active participation in industry forums, discussing how disruptor technology can help the industry evolve - e.g. how can Blockchain, robotics, AI, etc. help solve the challenges of tomorrow and improve the underlying client experience while maintaining strong compliance. The funds industry needs to keep sight of the next generation of investors and the expectations they will have in how they expect to interact with our industry.

Busy, challenging, rewarding

My name is Karen Campbell and I currently work as a Vice President in the Change Management department within State Street Ireland.

I manage change projects for key State Street clients. This can range from launching new products within their fund range to managing technology builds.

I have worked in the funds industry for nearly 20 years in a number of roles – starting as a Fund Accountant and eventually managing the New Business Integration unit within State Street. I took 2 years out after having my children and came back to State Street in a Change Management role on a work from home basis in a bid to gain a better work life balance. I have been working in this way for over 2 years now and it has proved to be successful.

I enjoy the variety of projects – I am working with key State Street clients who are always at the forefront of new industry initiatives so I get to work on really interesting projects.

Last year I worked on the onboarding of a significant client in terms of the number of funds and breadth of the product range. The project involved teams from multiple locations and had a significant amount of senior focus. At times it was challenging but it was ultimately rewarding to see the project complete successfully.

Working with my manager and the Change team to continue to develop and improve our offering both internally and to our clients.

Become a better networker.

I started my career in Financial Services straight from college as a Fund Accountant. I was then promoted to Team Leader within the Fund Accounting department and enjoyed managing a team for a specific client for a number of years – overseeing net asset value (NAV) production, client service and monthly reporting. I then decided that I wanted to try something new and applied to work in the New Business Integration (NBI) unit – managing the onboarding of new clients to State Street Ireland. The role was varied – I was able to work across the various functional areas and get a good understanding of how they fit together. I eventually ended up managing the NBI team. The role was interesting – working with clients as they brought new products to market and I enjoyed managing my team and helping them to develop their own careers.

To always keep learning – the industry is constantly changing and it is important to keep up to date with new developments.

I would definitely encourage people to consider a career in financial services. There are a lot of opportunities. The roles on offer are diverse and the industry in Ireland is dynamic so it’s definitely an industry where you can develop in the long term.

I think I’ve achieved a really good work-life balance with the help of State Street. I have been able to move closer to my family which has provided a significant support for me to continue with my career. I get to drop my kids to school in the mornings and then start working in a job that is challenging and interesting. I relish the fact that I am able to do something that I enjoy – that uses the skills I have built up over the years. I travel to the Dublin office once or twice a month and I enjoy catching up for coffee with the people I am working with on a daily basis. The technology that allows me to work from home is fantastic – and in the most part it is not visible to the clients that I work with, where I am located to do my job. I have been able to take on relatively significant projects and execute these well while working from home. I work with people from many different State Street offices – so not being at a desk in Dublin has not impacted on my ability. My manager is very supportive of my working arrangement and I have never felt that I have been restricted in what I can do because I am a work-from-home employee.

Interesting, Challenging, Varied.

I did my degree in economics – so something like an Economic Researcher would also be an interesting role.

In the last 12 years, I have been working in Talent Management – more specifically in Learning & Development – for a management consultancy, for Diageo, and then for Northern Trust.

Given that I have been keen to further expand my career within Talent Management for some time, I was delighted that I was given the opportunity to work in a new team called Organizational Effectiveness & Design a year ago. In this role, we partner with HR to identify areas to make NT a more effective organization, from a global perspective.

Our team is new (one could consider it a start-up) and one of my key contributions last year focused on developing the team’s maturity by developing governance, approaches, tools and frameworks, reflecting best practices in Organizational Effectiveness & Design. As the scope of my role is global, the tools and frameworks we create can be applied in all regions.

I also focus on specific business projects. For example, given NT has recently acquired the fund administration business of UBS Luxembourg and Basel, I worked for the HR Consulting function to develop a strategy and project plan to help integrate our new partners into NT culture. We are currently executing on this plan.

Every day is different, and that’s what I like. One of my core values is variety, and I feel that is aligned with my role. There is always a start and a clear end with anything I work on - once a project or a piece of work is completed, I look forward to starting the next, which I know will be different again.

Variety is not only reflected in the work I do, but also in the people I work with. Given my role is global, I work closely with my colleagues in Asia and North America. I appreciate difference and diversity. Diversity is also a key focus for NT on a corporate level.

Continuing to build our team, and working on high impact, corporate wide projects.

To keep immersing myself into the new world of Organizational Effectiveness.

After I graduated, I started working for a global management consultancy in Munich. This role was part of Learning & Development Operations and I ensured smooth delivery of our global leadership programmes. Those programmes were rather comprehensive, lasting for one to two weeks, and taking place in various countries across the globe. Given the amount of travel and the exposure I got, it was an exciting first role.

After some time, I realised that I was particularly interested in shaping the content, and in facilitating learning programmes. So I pursued a new opportunity, within the same company, but in its London office. This role allowed me to focus on content development and programme facilitation. After some time, I was promoted to another role focusing on performance management.

Keen to further expand on my experiences, I decided to leave the company to take on a role in Ireland with Diageo, a global drinks supplier. Diageo was closing three of their production sites, and I was hired to prepare employees for their future careers beyond Diageo. This was a challenging, yet a rewarding experience.

Since 2015, I have been working with Northern Trust, where, as mentioned above, I spent my first three years in Learning & Development, before moving into a role in Organizational Effectiveness & Design.

I have recently volunteered for Junior Achievement – a charity aimed at ‘inspiring and motivating young people to realise their potential by valuing education and understanding how to succeed in the world of work’. I delivered a business-related curriculum over a 5-week period to a group of 10-year-old students, once per week. I thought it was very rewarding to see all the children so engaged in the topic, and hopefully motivating them to do well in life. Their wit and fresh ideas were impressive.

Here in NT, Diversity & Inclusion is a significant topic, both locally and corporate wide. There are a number of ‘Business Resource Councils’ in Ireland, one of which, the D&I Multi-Cultural Business Resource Council, I am a member of.

Since I have returned from maternity leave, I have reduced my hours to 80%. This gives me the opportunity to still pursue my career, whilst being able to spend an extra day with my son. I very much value NT being flexible in this regard.

Furthermore, I work from home two days per week. From a personality perspective, this arrangement works well for me. I tend to focus on thinking/project work on my working from home days, and among others, ensure to schedule enough time for in person meetings and connecting with colleagues during my office days.

Ever-changing, evolving, fulfilling.

Go back to university to study, most likely a PhD in a related field or an MBA.