Episode summary
Sachee Trivedi and Kristine Beese discuss how engineering shaped their paths into investing and fintech.
Key takeaways
- Engineering backgrounds can lead to careers in finance.
- Analytical thinking can be useful in investing.
- Curiosity supports exploration across finance and fintech.
About this episode
In this episode of Rocking Finance, RTSWS CEO Ashley Leftwich moderates a discussion with Sachee Trivedi, Founder & CEO of Trident Capital Investments, and Kristine Beese, Founder & CEO of Untangle Money. Both share how their engineering backgrounds shaped their investing careers, proving that analytical thinking and curiosity are powerful tools in finance and fintech.
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Disclaimer: All financial and investment information contained in this podcast is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this podcast, you do so at your own risk.
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Transcript
Transcript supplied by Riverside; it may contain transcription errors.
speaker-0: Welcome to Rocking Finance, the Rock the Street Wall Street Podcast. Real stories, real access, real path into finance. Join us for candid high-impact conversations with industry leaders sharing the insights, experiences, career pivots, and journeys that can help young women advance through the financial industry with great confidence. Rock the Street Wall Street equips high school and university students, especially young women, by bringing the ⁓ and STEM to life through financial and investment fundamentals. We provide direct industry access and guidance supporting students and young professionals on their journeys from classrooms to careers while expanding participation in the capital markets. Through cohort-based learning, mentorship, and individual career connection, we help students build confidence, capabilities, and networks that open doors. Our goal is clear: expand participation in the capital markets and strengthen the future of finance one cohort at a time. Today I'm your host, Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street Wall Street. Now let's rock finance. Welcome everyone. I'm delighted to be here with two impressive investors, Christine and Sachi, both trained as engineers who have made their way into finance. Our session is called STEM Career Paths, Engineering to Equities and More, because we all know how powerful analytical skills are when applied to investing. Let's jump in. Would you share a moment about your role today?
speaker-2: and CIO of Trian Capital Investments. It's a long-only public equities India fund. So we are basically creating the Berkshire Hathaway of India by applying the Warren Buffett's timeless principles into the Indian stock market.
speaker-1: I'm Christine and I'm the founder and CEO of Untangle Money. It's an online platform that helps everyday women give them a place to get started with their money. So it really helps them with personalized financial literacy and financial planning so that they have the confidence to then invest their money in the financial markets. It's the thing that I wish I had when I graduated engineering.
speaker-0: Thank both for those wonderful introductions and already so impressive. So I'm excited for our conversation today. Now how did engineering first shape your way of thinking and how do you think that led into investing?
speaker-2: I think I've been a curious kid from the very beginning. Those unknowing kids who are always asking questions. How does this work? And why is this the way it is? Well, that was me. So engineering is a great option for kids of this type. And I have two degrees in engineering. So I did my undergrad in engineering, electrical engineering, and then I did my master's in electrical engineering as well. But over time, I figured out that my curiosity was not just about things and gadgets, it was about Bigger things. It was about business. It was frankly about how the world works. So for me, it was applied that engineering mindset and the toolkit being able to analyze data, problem solving, just ability to work with that low signal-to-noise ratio. And I just took that same engineer engineer toolkit and applied it into analyzing businesses. So investing was kind of a natural segue for me from engineering.
speaker-1: I totally agree with Satch on that one and I echo it. I I think for me it was I had designed a pump and I thought it was the perfect pump for the application and I presented it and my boss looked at me and said, Go back. Find out what what pumps they're using on site and then find that that book and what's available and pick the one that's closest to what we need. And at that moment What I learned later in that same conversation was he said they're not gonna train operators on a new piece of equipment. They're not gonna stock more spare parts on a new piece of equipment. They're gonna go with what they know. And so you have to make do with what's available. And it's at that point that I realized that engineering, while incredible, is a tool that they use to do other things. And there are other considerations. And once I figured that out, I really became curious all over again. And I went to the bank and I didn't know what to do and I didn't get a great answer from the person I spoke with. And so again, that underlying how do I do this? How does this work? Why? I think that's what really led me to investing. Cause I wanted to figure out what to do with my money.
speaker-0: analytical nature because it's so much so transfers into finance and different areas of finance. One of the things we talk about with our students is that careers are rarely linear. So what are some points? We kind of started talking about these, but what are some key points that was pivotal for you to realize finance was actually your calling out of that?
speaker-2: I'm definitely an example of exhibit A, careers are not linear. From as I'm a retired engineer. So from being an engineer to being a management consultant to ultimately doing investing. And I think that's that is my career now. It's absolutely not a linear path. And listen, I embraced investing as my sort of lifelong pursuit only once I discovered Warren Buffett. And Hel allow me to explain this. People are driven by different things, right? Some people seek money, some people seek power. But I think I've always been sort of driven by a sense of purpose. So I had a huge hesitation about finance or investing. And I just did not see myself as someone who is chasing money. I discovered Warren Buffett around the time I was toying with the idea of an MBA. And I read the book, The Making of an American Capitalist. And I just totally resonated with it. The fact that he is one of the richest people in the world is a mere footnote in his list of accomplishments. He has lived a life of simplicity and absolute intellectual curiosity, but he has helped shape the culture of corporate America like no other. In that process, he has secured the financial future of thousands of his investors. And he will be given more, be giving away more than a hundred billion dollars to charity. So for me, this was a life that is worth living. It disentangled the greed part of it of finance or of investing and kind of gave a sense of purpose. So for me, investing is taking away for my investors that biggest worry that they have about their financial security. So that's how I came into investing.
speaker-1: And Sachi, I echo so much of what you said. If I jump back into the story when I went to the bank, after I met with that and that bank advisor and it was unsatisfying, I started reading everything I could. Berkshire Hackathoway has free letters to shareholders and especially the early ones, they really walk you through his investment thesis and his mindset, and they're accessible in in the sense that I didn't need to be a financial expert to understand what he was telling me. ⁓ but that's a great it's the same place I started. It's a great place to start. I was more attracted to the money. I wanted to make a lot of money. I wanted to be independent. I wanted to have optionality. And so I was looking for a career that would be satisfying financially. And I was numerically literate. There's a lot of charting in engineering and I I really quickly could understand charts because we see a lot of them when we are learning and working. And so some of the key pivots in my career came from. Go similarly, engineering to MBA to trading floor. one of I did a rotational program there. So I spent my first four rotations on the trading floor. I ended up landing in something called equity research, which I'm basically a stock analyst. That really mirrored some of the work that I was doing in engineering. It's very analytical, it's very much in front of a computer. I wanted a little more. interaction with people and so I ended up becoming a professional investor working with really high net wealth individuals. And it was later I now become a mom. I have three children and this is when my mind went from I think partially you satisfy some of your financial needs and requirements on the journey. And now this when I've ch my mind has really shifted to impact. And I really want to help the women who like me don't have a place to get started and and aren't necessarily high networks Pretty big threshold to be an accredited investor in in a lot of places. And so I wanted to help people that didn't weren't able to access that part of the system. And that's when I became an entrepreneur. I used a lot of my own investments that gave me the option to do this sort of work and actually invested it in this company. So it's a totally different ball game. And the career art kind of makes sense when you put it all together, but I can tell you there were nights when I sat up really late at night having trouble sleeping, thinking, Like, should I have stayed in engineering or should I have stayed in the finance community or should I stayed investing money for wealthy, wealthy people? so it is a jo it's not always easy and it kind of makes sense backwards. But I think you listen to your gut and and engineering's such a great tool cu 'cause it gives you so much opportunity. There's so many things that you're able to do with that degree.
speaker-0: Yeah, I love who. referring to like the hindsight portion of it being like, ⁓ yes, there could have been a line drawn here. But at the moment, probably for both of you did not necessarily see that next step that was coming. And Sashi, I love that you mentioned that you did not see yourself as someone that was chasing money. Like your self-identity kind of was part of what was playing into your next piece and really redefining what that looks like as far as finance. And and Christine, you also mentioned the part of you wanting to be independent and and satisfying those different pieces. And I feel like what I heard between both of you was that you both ended up having this piece of giving back in different ways or like looking at things that help others in different ways, which I think is really incredible.
speaker-2: I will I I I will say something here. And I think Christine, I'm very curious to hear if you if this is similar to your experience as well. So I I have children. Okay. And when I had my daughter, I think that was a time of deep introspection for me because having children is absolutely one of the most blessed things that can happen to you. And that does for women is it increases their opportunity cost. For coming ⁓ for being in the workforce. So if I have something incredibly beautiful and joyous in my life, you have to give me a really compelling reason to leave this little thing, your bundle of joy behind, and go back to the office. And it is in those moments when you really dive deep into yourself to see what is it that is that will give you comparable joy or maybe more joy. than what you have here. So I found myself incapable of just doing a job, just doing something that I was not passionate about. So those qu those answers, what is your relationship with money? What is it that you are seeking from your life? Those questions start becoming far more important at that stage.
speaker-1: Yeah, and if I can add, I think two things can be true at the same time and and absolutely I think having children was for me one of the best things I've had the opportunity to experience. And also I had children late and I really mourned the person I was before and I really felt impacted at my corporation because I had now become a mum and I felt like career paths that were once open to me. I was identified as a high performer, high potential employee. And so I was on this certain trajectory. And then when I came back from my first Matt leave, that was no longer there. And so I really felt that sometimes I feel like sometimes they don't brand maternity leave really well because I think there were some superpowers I received during that phase of my life. One I want to I want to just point out that I did mourn and it was there was there was some discomfort about losing this life that I'd spent a lot of effort and invested in and and I felt was no longer there. And that was a process to get through and I'm I'm got through it. But it isn't easy. And so I was able to really see the emotional needs of the people I worked with. And two, I actually and I think Sachi, you're sort of talking about this in a way, but I became extraordinarily efficient with my time because to your point, if it was gonna be something I wanted to get done. I really need if I was at home, it had to be done in a very truncated manner. So you became very good at great at prioritizing and being efficient with your time. And then if I was gonna stay later or for some reason, I want to make sure that happened as little as possible because I really was wanting to get back home. And so I don't and I I couldn't play the FaceTime game anymore, but I don't think it it if I don't think it impacted my output. And I wish we branded that a bit better and talked about the s superpowers and strengths that you get when you go on maternity leave and when you have a child in your life. I I really do think there's tons of skills that I had not gotten previously that I was able to get. So yeah. And I do think as my kids got older, I no longer was satisfied with some of the things that I was able to do through my career and wanted that impact could only come through entrepreneurship. So I totally agree with that. Thank you for bringing that up.
speaker-0: Thank you. There's so much within that that's just following that passion. And to your point or both of your points really, the opportunity costs you have to weigh. And so that means that it's even more important that you see the value and your identity within what you're doing to a certain extent, right? With your everyday, whether it's at work or not. So thank you for bringing that up. All right. As far as with your technical backgrounds, I am also someone that really appreciates data. So how do you approach analyzing an investment or designing a financial solution differently than somebody who might have a traditional finance background?
speaker-1: Yeah, so I think there are there's a lot of math in finance, which as an engineer or someone from a science background, a math background, you're very comfortable with. So that was that was sort of the no-brainer of it all. But I also think that when you do an application of theory, right? There's a lot of theory in theoretical finance, there's a lot of theory in finance, but having worked in an application of theory, you really get this idea that there's a range in which that that theory works really well. And then there are conditions where that theory breaks down. And I think I think that being an engineer, one, because you understand how things work, it helps you, it gives you an edge compared to other investors who may not be mechanically inclined, who may not understand how the sausage gets made and therefore may have rose color colored glasses on or may not understand some of the implications of the management decisions. So and so it is kind of like a if if you're in stock analysis. in a technical field, it really is a great BS detector. And so I think that really was my my unfair advantage because I could look at a plan and because I had that experience, I thought I could say, this is really ambitious. And if and so I could press the management, what are you doing to ensure that you're able to have this expedited process? And if they didn't have a great answer, I knew that was a gonna be a big risk and that was something that we could watch and that was something there I could add value. for the investment community who may not have that technical background. So a little bit of I f again a superpower. I felt like I could see through some of the smoke and mirrors sometimes.
speaker-2: Absolutely. I would totally sort of echo everything that Christina's just mentioned on the technical aspect. And I think as an engineer, you do have an advantage for sure. No doubt about it. So I guess I would add on to what Christine said about technical skills, but I would add on to it then maybe the softer side of things. And that is also very, very important. The behavioral side, which is very important. The first one that comes to mind is intellectual honesty. So, Engineer, I think. I would be very uncomfortable not really understanding something. And I will keep saying, I don't know, I don't get it, I don't understand till I get it. And I think that's not your standard protocol in finance. You kind of like swing it and wing it, kind of a thing. And and I think it's it's one of the superpowers to say, no, no, I don't get it. So you so that intellectual honesty is, I think, very important. ⁓ another thing is I think your approach to risk management. So as an engineer, and I'm not a structural engineer, but
speaker-0: And you
speaker-2: You're building a bridge, you will assume that there will be people who will want to jump off it. And you will make those enclosures to prevent that from happening at the very onset. In the world of finance, risk management is done by other people, by another department. It's an add-on, it's an afterthought. And I think as an investor, you have to really, I mean, I lead with thinking about risk. Before I start thinking about what Christine said about looking at things with tinted glasses, I would lead with risk. And I think finally, it's ⁓ investing is a very lonely job. Money oftentimes is made when you are a contrarian. And I think as an engineer, I mean I'm I'm I'm double nerd, right? I'm an engineer and an investor. So being alone is like who I am, like that's my comfort zone. So So I'm totally chill, sort of, you know, not walking in the hood, like as part of the hood again. And you can pick up any bubbles that have happened in the financial markets, they have been as part of the herd mentality. So I think there's behavioral benefits of being an engineer.
speaker-0: I think it's also willing to think about things differently and share that, right? We all probably have some pieces that are different as far as the way that we think and approach things. And sometimes we're really shy not to share that or act on it. And I think that both of your points are just so valuable for our students. We within our program we have our coffee chats and mentorships. So students often ask us about finding guidance and how to go about that and what that really looks like. I know I personally had a mentor that didn't even know that they were my mentor for years. But can you tell us about a mentor and how you went about building that relationship and how it influenced your career?
speaker-1: Yeah, so I actually struggled with mentors throughout my career and didn't know how to go about it actually in the beginning. So and it was a coach that I had, a a business coach that I had that I had been speaking about this woman who I heard talk and how I had never heard an executive speak that way on this issue and how I thought it was really different and and brave and empowering and and she said, Yep, I want to task you with reaching out and asking her to be your mentor. And and I didn't want I'm a people pleaser. And I didn't want to disappoint my coach, but I ended up getting an incredible mentorship opportunity out of it. And one of the things that my mentor said to me is she said she's a very prominent person in the in our in the finance commo community. She said she was actually surprised at how few people ever reached out. And so I wanted to thank both my coach for ⁓ giving me the bravery and not doing it on a lark. There was a few meetings about how, because she was so esteemed, ⁓ how I was gonna approach it. And we talked a lot about how I would ultimately deal with the rejection 'cause that we we thought was certain to come, but that it was important to to communicate what I what I admired about her, why I thought her answers were brilliant, and that was part of the exercise. It ended up working out really well. So then my mentor later shared with me that she's surprised, specifically women. She w she really wants to Have an impact on the next generation. That is why she's been a bit more forthright with some of her answers. And she was surprised that people hadn't reached out. So I'd say swing for the fences, a few things. We did manage a lot of the expectations ahead of time about if she couldn't, she's a busy person. You get through some of the gatekeepers, people that are keeping her focused on her work. Sometimes sometimes I'm just I'm just flat to the wall, busy with. something that we're trying to get done and other times of the year, I'm really not busy either. We have slow periods. And so I think reaching out, also offering that you're it's someone that you would like to meet badly enough that you're willing to wait for a slow season and that that you will take on that outreach when it comes if they say, Hey, now's not a great time, but what June is really quiet, that you calendarize that and reach out again in June. I I think one Take the risk. You you'll you can't get if you don't ask. And then two, also go in prepared, right? Why do you want to meet them?
speaker-2: Had a rather sort of different experience. I don't have like one mentor, I have kind of like many. And it's basically people over the course of the career who I found interesting or insightful. And I've just like walked up to them after a meeting or after a networking session or whatever that might be, and had that conversation. And I would actually encourage a lot of like all young people to do that because as Christine mentioned, You'd think they are they'd be bombarded with people seeking their advice. And actually that's probably not the case because everyone is so reticent and so shy about it. And yes, you have to be respectful of the time, but if you're seeking advice, just go and do it. I have personally found institutional programs to be less useful. I think they are far more formal and structured. So I think it just it's it's and it just there's a lot of expectations that are that get built into it. So I find that a bit unnerving. I have found ⁓ I've usually reached out to people where I thought there was a personal chemistry, there was a connection, and I did that. But to to Ashley's point, you know, earlier that there are mentors who don't even know they are my mentors, I have I have those. And and I tell you, they are my I call them my remote mentors. And the remote mentors are basically me reading books. So Warren Buffett's shareholder letters, I mean, I mean he is my biggest mentor. He has no idea he's my he's such a big mentor. But just reading those books, reading the newsletters, I mean, these days people are very generous with their time on podcasts as well. I think that also is a great way to learn about people. I say this very thoughtfully because I think if you catch me on a day-to-day basis and you ask me some very Deep question, I might have a very uninspiring answer to that. But the day I sit down to write my book, I would bring a lot of my life's insights to answering some of those kind of questions. So I think you'd be better off reading my book than talking ⁓ to me, grabbing me at any given point. So so I think those mentors who are ⁓ who have written the biographies, those are do not do not discount those. ⁓
speaker-0: So not a scripted question, so it's okay if we don't answer this, but what are some things you mentioned, the books, newsletters, podcasts, what are some things that both of you regularly read or listen to that might be interesting for our students?
speaker-2: I think you would learn a lot if you if you do read newspapers. And ⁓ newspapers are hugely and heavily biased. So I would actually read both sides of the newspapers. So I would read the Global Times in China, and I would read in the Hong Kong Post, and I would read Telegram, ⁓ Telegraph and Guardian. So I would actually read both sides of the newspaper just to get a get an insight into some of the current topics. But I think that's more. short-term reading because the the longevity of those kind of things is like a few hours or one day at best, particularly these days of you know global geopolitical uncertainty. But I think newsletters is a great way to get into the minds of some of the top investors. And books are phenomenal. I mean I cannot emphasize enough. You should be reading biographies, you should be reading books on certain topics, whatever topic interests you. I am a huge fan of financial history books. Just pick up, start wherever. I it's just, I think history does rhyme. It does not repeat, but it certainly does rhyme. Everything that we are seeing today has happened before. And ⁓ it's shocking to me when I read some of these books and I'm like, ⁓ my God, this could be from today's newspaper. So definitely do that. Some of the podcasts, I'm not a podcast person, but some of the ones that I have found very interesting are Lex Friedman's podcasts. ⁓ when you'll stand it with like Elon, with Mark Zuckerberg, with Mark Andresen, with Prime Minister Modi. I think some of those are very thoughtful podcasts. There is a podcast that Columbia Business School does. I think it's called Value Investing with Legends or something of that sort. Again, if you're driving, you've got nothing to do. That's another of a good podcast just listened to. But yeah, I can go on and on. I think you have to read, read, read. Pristine, over to you.
speaker-1: Yeah, no, I love everything you said. And then I actually want to add on to the newspaper thing. While those stories are short and they only the l impact is very it it is tomorrow's waste paste b paper basket liner, but there's a through line and so maintaining the story and and sort of and reading things from both sides, it's so that you see the spin and so that you and then you follow the story along and there's a lot of things that sort of a lot of stories that intertwine and I think when you do it. regularly you're able to glean that in a way that is different. I actually have gone back I've I've ordered the newspaper, which I didn't do for a long time, and it is helping with my anxiety around the news because I think the newspaper has a bit more of a thoughtful take on it than sometimes people that are trying to catch the attention of an algorithm. And so I think that that is really healthy for me. And then I also find that it that I can put it down as well. It's not a tw it doesn't feel as twenty four hours. It feels very much and and I like how they've they've taken efforts to sort of bring some of these storylines together. So we've and I d I know a lot of people have been left out of traditional media and I also know a lot of people are no longer able to afford being in traditional media. So Substack is where a lot of these authors are going. I have not done as great a job as finding following journalists to s the Substacks. I've I've I think during different periods of my life I've had different focuses. And so when I was investing and when I was leading up to that career in investing, I did read a lot of technical Black Swan and a lot of more even more technical ones, very heavy finance, very much ⁓ some of the some of the disasters that it happened and some of the Nobel Prize winning disasters that have happened, right? Like there's fascinating stories and soul barras within there. It's it's it can really get to you. But as I journeyed into untangle money and I was really getting asked why women, why women, which is more of just a personal thing for me. I started exploring some female economic writers. So one wonderful one, Katrine Marcall, she wrote Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? And she argues that string and fabric was actually an industrial revolution that's been ignored by finan or by history because it was largely women tr led. She talks about how Adam Smith and like the foundation of economics, he lived with his mom He worried about what was in it for the baker, the butcher, the hardware or the laborer, but he never asked what was in it for his mom. Like why does his mom care for him all his life? And I think that really led to this notion that women's unpaid labor is not is not seen as economically important, which I think we're seeing some of the ramifications of now as women are going into the workforce and our unpaid labor isn't being covered and that's causing all sorts of dislocations that that we've we've built on top of this notion that there's free labor for certain care work and things like that. If you're looking to start with personal finance, Shannon Lee Simmons was also a professional in the wealth management space. She has probably the best personal finance book I've ever seen for everyday people. So it's called Worry Free Money. I recommend everything she's read, she or written she has debt free living as well. Invisible Women was really a lot of the jumping point. Like I can I can draw a straight line from Caroline Correct of Preset Perez's invisible women to starting on Tango Money. She talked about how, and this resonated as an engineer deeply. She talked about how the data we collect informs the designs we make. And if we under survey women and if we ignore their their she she looks at data sets that have been disaggregated by gender, and she says then you get two distinctive peaks. But we don't, we don't Survey enough women, we don't collect enough women's data, so we end up really inadvertently designing around men. And then she talks about all the unintended consequences of that. So that was incredible. There's an amazing book by Chantal Chapman called The Trauma of Money that just came out. She talks about things that I think in finance we don't think about, like the money stories that live with us, the generational harms that we might bring around money, scarcity and abundance and things like that. So be and then Back to traditional finance, I just saw my note. I really liked Ray Dalio's work. And then I did f I used to follow a lot of investors. So if you are in the investment space, I totally agree. There were some I I I don't know why they're escaping me, but I a lot of investors do have newsletters and they sh and and they can be I find a lot of investors are deep thinkers, especially if they're placing large beds and they're really looking at structural things and You may not get their insights at the moment because they may not they want to place their bets first. So that's another thing to be aware of is the time delay and has that has that moment passed and are you jumping on a bag w bandwagon as that moment is closing? But but the the teachings that they can share and the wisdom and the ability to maybe see the next one or something they're not paying attention to or something that's too small for them to capitalize on because they have they have larger capital allocations. But I I do think just overall in general, it's an industry that attracts a lot of people who love reading. So to Satchi's point, I'm a voracious reader. I sounds like you are as well. And I think that is a through line that is is very common in this space because there are so many moving parts and because there are so many incredible people who have written incredible books and I'm trying to get my kids into reading. So if you want to expand your mind, you can go anywhere in a book and It's just where what's the right time and place for for you and what you want to read. I apologize if that was too dark. It's just I just thought it was poignant. I've that that yeah, it is real, right? Like and dissidents and a lot of them have books and it's
speaker-0: Our programming is both at the high school level and university into young professional. And one of the things that we mentioned is understanding opinion articles and like how that impacts different things, right?
speaker-1: It's important to understand the motivation. Why are they saying that? Especially in anything that has to do with money. So pump and dump schemes, right? Learn about them. What are boiler rooms? A random walk down Wall Street is an excellent, slightly not beginner book. Like if you're ready to go a little further. I like that one because it kind of it broke my heart. Sachi, I don't know if you read it, but it talks about how val I I love value investing. It's my favorite style of investing. But it really talks about how it's a style of investing that works at a particular time in a cycle and and really doesn't doesn't it may feel better, but it may not outperform just a random bouquet of stocks. So broke my heart.
speaker-0: Well, there's certainly so many areas to grab inspiration from. And with both of you as leaders, how do you champion women in investing in FinTech today?
speaker-1: I think it's really important to champion women. I really think that it's a career that is fulfilling. It can be very financially rewarding. And it also has real world implications. One of the things we saw was social responsible investing has really taken off. And a lot of that is people so it that is not doing good with your money. That's doing less harm with your money. Impact investing is doing good with your money. So in that space, if you want to invest your money in a way that benefits the world. Impact investing is better, but socially responsible investing is a n is a way to do less harm. And that the the emergence of that and the explosion of that is really largely attributed to women. And so what I really wanted to do is showcase that women are in finance, that women are making these decisions, that women are having an impact. So we do highlight a lot of female professionals on our blog. Whenever I can, I want to make connections for women. I think it's it's a small world of finance. As you go up, the world gets smaller. So opening doors and facilitating introductions, very, very important. Referring people to women. I try to list more women thought leaders. So I think in the books that I that I mention or that I talk about because I think that that they can be overlooked, specifically women of Color, women with intersectionality. ⁓ I think it's just really important to to use our voices and specifically my voice to showcase some of the women who I admire and also to enable people to realize they aren't alone at wanting to learn about money. They aren't, it isn't the purview of men. It isn't just for the boys. This isn't something you talk about, you have to talk about on the golf course. You can I I ⁓ My goal is or my dream is one day there's a bunch of women at the nail salon just chit chatting about money and investing and and how they're being clever with their resources. So
speaker-2: ⁓ well, well, well said. I guess in my case, someone once said to me, you can't be what you can't see. Yeah. And I think that's a very powerful, pithy way of saying that we need women role models in finance and particularly investing. And just to put things in context, there's around, I think, $90 trillion of efforts that are managed in the US alone. And of that, 98.4% is managed by white males. And I have nothing against white males. They're great human beings. Most of my friends are white males, so but in that 1.6%, there is African Americans, there's Asians, there's LGBTQ, there's people who identify themselves as whatever they identify themselves as women. In 1.4%. I mean that is a shockingly depressingly low number. ⁓ I mean I am as an engineer, I am all 110% about meritocracy. But when I see numbers, I can tell which number is not an appropriate number. And I think this is an inappropriate number for the industry. So so I do take my role very, very seriously that if I can stand up in front of a group of students and just normalize. female investors, then I would do that. So I do go to a large number of quite a few colleges in the US and UK and in Europe just to normalize that there are female investors. So I definitely do that. I am a judge, stock picking contests and those kind of things, just to kind of be more visible. And then again, as a CIO of Parton Capital, I think that's a very important role that I play because the three analysts that I have in the fund, they are all women. So I have to then walk the talk on everything that I believe we as an industry have to do to support women through their life phases to be an investor, to be into in investing. So that's again a role that I take very seriously. From time to time, we take interns. Many of them are female interns and just giving them exposure to investing, thinking. And as Christine said, it's a great career for women. I don't actually know why women are not there. It's such an exciting career. Like FaceTime does nothing for investing. Nothing. I mean, this is a this is a career which can be as flexible as you want it to be. It's I mean, I can go on and on, but let me pause here because I think I'll keep voicing these opinions in any forum that I can to make a difference to our industry.
speaker-0: Well, Sachi, I'm gonna start with you this time and I'm gonna wrap up to the last question. So to help our students as they actually let me rephrase my question. To close, we're looking at helping our students build confidence and credibility in finance. So what advice would you give?
speaker-2: Finance is just like any other career. Like if you're going into medical, if you're going into being a pilot, like it's it's it's just one of those same careers. So the skill set would be just be prepared, be ready, bring a great attitude, behave well and be fearless. Be fearless. Because learning happens when we are fearless, when we are not sort of bogged down by fear or greed or pressures or anything else. Don't don't try to follow someone else's dream. Don't go into a career into an usher that for reasons that are not your own. And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. And I think this is attributed to this lady called Ana Yes Neen. So the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud. was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. And I think those are the kind of that's what you should be doing. That's what following your passion is. That when you are not afraid of failing, and in fact you should fail, keep failing. You know, failing is great. Failing is there's nothing, there's no issue. So find your passion, even within finance, find your passion and pursue it.
speaker-1: It's amazing. ⁓ to add to that, data actually shows or the research shows that and I I'm not saying this to disparage men, but rather to push back against the notion that women are bad with money. Women make better investors than men at both the retail, so that's everyday people, and at the professional level. We see an outperformance of over one percentage point, which in the In the finance world, 100 basis points is how we talk about it. That's how important all those little increments are. That is a career-making delta. That's a difference that's massive. And if it was really a meritocracy, we would see these things making having more of an impact. So women are really great at investing. We are really great long-term thinkers. There's reasons why we think that could be the case. We we don't actually quite know, but we don't. I don't want women to change the way they're investing, right? I don't want to invest more like men. They're we're already outperforming them, but we need to invest. So we need to sell less cash. We need to get our money invested. And a and it doesn't have to be boring or dull. There are incredible women type companies out there. And and I actually think maybe the th there's less of bias towards gender stereotypes maybe in this audience, but Just find a company or product that you like and that you use and read a lot of books or figure out how to analyze it. Everybody who's an engineer has an analytical toolkit and mindset and then and get your hands dirty and and try to analyze what you think is happening. There are lots of fake trading accounts, like practice accounts that you can get on lots of different platforms. So you can try it out with it with fake money. You can also try it out with A little bit of real money. It is it it is such an interesting task. And I think it's women are naturally gifted at planting seeds and watching flowers blossom. I call them financial bouquets, your investment portfolios, your financial bouquet. And I think that women are really great at having a diverse bouquet and having a point of view. And we're excellent learners and listeners and we're really great at s building on what's come before us. So be curious, be confident and I love that expression. It's time for you to blossom.
speaker-0: Thank you both. This conversation shows that skills from STEM, such as problem solving, data, and curiosity, translate very powerfully into finance. And to our students, take that first step, stay curious, and know this industry can benefit from your insights. for joining the conversation. Visit RockhastreeWall Street.com to learn more. Make sure to follow and join us for the next episode. Until next time, let's keep rocking finally.
