Q: As the managing director of Abbot Downing, what’s your mission?

A: We protect and manage family’s financial assets and plans so that families may focus on their greatest assets: the family bond, their shared interests and achieving their shared goals

You’ve spent the better part of your career working with and advising families on how to create purpose with their wealth. What’s your power or superpower?

I believe I possess an invisible Lasso of Truth: to engage families to discover and explore their intentions and wishes for their families and of themselves.

You’ve been a private wealth manager for nearly 20 years, advising entrepreneurs, executives and others on their families’ private wealth management. What has surprised you most about how people, particularly women, manage their fortunes?

When a family member becomes accountable for the direct decision making of managing their family’s wealth, they will rise to the responsibility. For women, specifically, they fully engage the role of managing their family’s wealth by preparing, learning and asking questions to make informed decisions. 

Despite years of progress towards gender equality in the workplace, finance is notorious for resisting change. What are the myths about gender inequality in the field that need to be exposed?

We are beyond talking about encouraging and adopting a diversity and inclusion policy. We need to adopt an objective measurement for diversity and inclusion practice. For example, companies can form a new committee solely to search and identify women for opened positions or to develop for specific roles. The success of this committee is evaluated on the number of women talents recruited and developed.   

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Twenty-five years from now, what conversation do you think we will be having about women’s progress?

The milestone contributions by women will be used interchangeably as a word to describe something grander. I’m looking forward to when the name of the first company to have an all-women executive management is also used as a word to describe an exceptional team of talent.Â