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Leda Braga

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56
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2021-09-09
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2021-09-09
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  1. “And there's probably some truth in that because if you are responsible for investments, markets don't stop. You can't just say, oh, I'll do this work at 10 p.m. when I'm done with my problems or whatever flexibility I need. The markets don't wait for you. A bias against mathematics, a perceived and perhaps somewhat real lack of flexibility in the job. And then thirdly, I think a perception that investment management jobs are about risk taking. A female colleague of mine once said, it'd be much better if our jobs were described as capital commitment as opposed to risk-taking because risk taking has some negative connotation to it. Do you want to take risks for a living? It's like, not really. I just wanted to...”

    2021-09-09 · Capital Allocators · Leda Braga – Systematica Investments (Manager Meetings, EP.10) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “JP Morgan had more women than my previous life. And as I say, my experience is positive. I know that you're probably going to ask why don't we find more women in finance, right? And I reflected on that a lot as well because, of course, we run an organization, we employ over 100 people here, very few women on the investment side. Many women in finance, in investment management, to quote one sector. I think three factors there. One is there is a bias against mathematics for some reason. So women don't tend to go for mathematics quite so much. Then I think there is a perception that working the markets, you work in financial markets, that is a less flexible job proposition.”

    2021-09-09 · Capital Allocators · Leda Braga – Systematica Investments (Manager Meetings, EP.10) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “I cannot say that I personally feel like I suffered with prejudice or I had opportunities denied or taken away from me. I'm a pretty determined person and I seem to wake up in the morning, deliver good day's work. And so some of my friends say to me later the minority effect and the prejudice was always there. It's just that you never saw it. I've reflected on that statement over the years. Perhaps they're right. Perhaps the way to deal with these things is to just be obstinate enough that nobody's going to stop me. Let me get on with it, you know. And so my experience was by and large very positive. And it wasn't unique to finance. It came from being an engineering and being in mathematics and then in academia, in an engineering department. And so, if anything,”

    2021-09-09 · Capital Allocators · Leda Braga – Systematica Investments (Manager Meetings, EP.10) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “It was no change from what I had experienced all my life in the sense that in my year in the mechanical engineering department where I was, I was probably the only woman anyway. And then at Imperial College where I was a lecturer for just over three years, I was the only female lecturer, female lecturing position. I was the only female member of academic staff. And so from Hiro College, I went to JP Morgan. That was my first job. It was 1993. And as I say, I was a derivative squant then. It wasn't until 2000, as you point out, that I moved to the investment side, but I was an investment banker in JPMorgan for a long time. There were more women in JPMorgan than what I had experienced in my academic life. And so that was refreshing. Now, how did that get reflected in my experience?”

    2021-09-09 · Capital Allocators · Leda Braga – Systematica Investments (Manager Meetings, EP.10) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “And numerical methods. And then I found myself completing a PhD and starting an academic career in London where the derivatives world was sort of exploding the whole London in the 90s was a big center for derivatives development. And of course then derivatives required a bit more modeling and more coding and more mathematical expertise. And so I guess it was the engineer in me when I looked to do something other than an academic career, which you know it was great. And I was very, very grateful for the opportunities I was offered. I was actually a lecturer at Imperial College for a few years. But, you know, in seeking to do something more commercial, if you were in London at that time and your thing was mathematics and coding, you could not ignore the call from the financial Side. That's how the finance came into it.”

    2021-09-09 · Capital Allocators · Leda Braga – Systematica Investments (Manager Meetings, EP.10) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Oh my goodness, finance and leadership. Oh my goodness. I think the answer is no on both counts. I grew up in Brazil and I did my first degree in Brazil, in engineering. And then I came to the UK to do a postgraduate in engineering to do a PhD. My passion and my talent was very much towards science and mathematics and engineering. And finance was really If you think about what engineers do, engineers are the guys who want to solve the problems that people have, right? And so they often look around in a university kind of sense that difference, they are pure mathematicians, they're physicists. And then the engineers are the guys who really want to apply what they know and their energy. And so I think my originally, my passion was for science and mathematics.”

    2021-09-09 · Capital Allocators · Leda Braga – Systematica Investments (Manager Meetings, EP.10) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source