NEW ORLEANS – A report from Deloitte says that women investors control nearly 40 percent of U.S. wealth and make decisions on about $11 trillion in assets but make up less than 20 percent of the nation’s professional wealth managers. Global financial services firm Morningstar, meanwhile, reports that women exclusively manage only 2% of the total assets in the mutual fund universe. Those numbers aren’t likely to change any time soon because few young women are choosing to enter the industry.
This is something that Suzanne Mestayer, the managing principal for ThirtyNorth Investments, hopes will change.
Mestayer, one of the few women owners of an investment firm in New Orleans, will moderate a panel titled “Women and Money – How We Succeed in the World of Finance, and How You can Too!” on March 24 at Loyola University’s Danna Center.
“I’ve often heard that young women don’t see themselves working in this field, and don’t see how finance relates to helping people,” said Mestayer. “But the truth is that it can be a purposeful career which makes a powerful impact on people’s lives.”
Mestayer has brought together several successful women in finance to be on the panel. The list includes:
- Vanessa Brown Claiborne, president and CEO of Chaffe & Associates, Inc., which provides specialized investment banking services to financial and business interests
- Lisa Nestor Baudot, senior vice president of investments atPan American Life Insurance Group; she is responsible for global investment portfolio management and oversees the investment and investment analytics teams
- Deatriz “DeDe” Riggins, a municipal advisor at Government Consultants Inc, a MSRB-Registered municipal advisory firm that specializes in serving the financing needs of local governments and economic development clients
- Sarah E. Bomhoff, financial analyst for ThirtyNorth Investments; she leads the analytical process for the wealth management and retirement plan businesses of the firm.
The panel is sponsored by Loyola College of Business, hosted by the Women’s Resource Center and is open to the public. A buffet lunch will be provided from Noon to 12:30 p.m. To register, email Patricia Boyett, director of the Women’s Resource Center, at pbboyett@loyno.edu.
