Description: Interview featuring Emma Wall, Head of Investment Analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, and Suzanne Hutchins, fund manager at Newton Investment Management. Emma and Suzanne face the camera as they both speak on a video call.
Suzanne Hutchins:
Hi Emma, how are you?
Emma Wall:
I'm very well thanks. How are you?
Suzanne Hutchins:
Good.
Emma Wall:
So I thought we'd start with how you got into the world of investing. What was it about the city that first appealed?
Suzanne Hutchins:
Well, I came into the city in quite a strange route, actually. I did a degree in Fine Art in London, and at the time of doing the degree I was also working to support my grant and worked in the city at a health club. There I met a lot of people who were doing all sorts of jobs based on the investment side - the banking side, in the markets, etc. and it was really through those introductions that I started to become invested, or started, rather, to become interested in finance and what it meant to be working in the city and making money, with people’s pension funds.
Emma Wall:
And certainly, in the time that I've been in financial services, there's been quite a change. I'm no longer the only run woman in the room, although it does still happen. During the time that you've been investing, how much have you seen - has it become much more gender diverse and balanced in that way?
Suzanne Hutchins:
Yeah, I mean that's a very good question. So, I joined the city in 1991, so it was quite a long time ago and, I was employee #61 in the business – of which there were probably only about 10 females in the organization. And I was just very fortunate, because I had somebody – my boss – who was really very interested in bringing young graduates through the organization.
But what I would say about my experience is that I believe that Newton has always been more balanced in terms of women and men in the workplace anyway and that's illustrated by the fact that we've had Helena Morrissey as a CEO and we've had Hanneke Smits as a CEO and I believe that I've made very strong strides in my career and actually at times, being a woman has been a benefit.
Maybe I'm just a bit thick skinned, but I certainly didn't feel my progress was dented at all [by being a woman]. It actually made me work harder. Because I really wanted to achieve and try and prove myself.
So that was my experience. And obviously nowadays there's much more focus on diversity, gender diversity, and well we can talk later about that, but all I was going to say was, I truly believe that you need to earn the position that you're in and it doesn't really matter what gender you are, but I do think that a mix of both male and female is very important.
Emma Wall:
You’ve touched there on the fact that you have had female bosses, I mean some absolute Trail Blazers and amazing women, and how much of a contribution to your career do you think that was having a female boss? I mean, we talked before about “if you can see it, you can be it”.
Suzanne Hutchins:
Yeah, I certainly think that having a female boss in that position allowed for diversity to come through in the organization naturally. But that was through their leadership, particularly obviously Helena with the 30% club.
I worked for Stewart Newton for goodness knows how long and he was very open minded about these sorts of things, but I definitely feel as though, particularly my case, not necessarily that people looked out for me, but they certainly opened doors for me. And for that, I'm really grateful with the organization, but I wouldn't say that every organization is like that. I've just been, I think, quite lucky in my career.
Emma Wall:
Taking a step, then away from kind of the city and looking more broadly at investing, we do know that there is a pension gap between men and women. We know that there's an investment gap between men and women. What do you think all women should know in order to take control of their financial future?
Suzanne Hutchins:
Well, I think everybody, whether you're male or female, should you know, take responsibility for your investments, and obviously we're all living longer, and the average age of the population is growing and you haven't got the same sort of security in terms of your long-term savings as you perhaps historically have had.
So you've got to be on top of your investments. You've got to understand the risks that you're taking. One of the things that I learned from a very early age and it was partly because my father did a lot of his own investing. Was you know you want to save from an early age. Don't leave it too late.
I regularly contributed into my pension scheme from the very start of my career. And you know, the value of those investments now are significance to my total wealth and they've grown and compounded because of the types of investments that I've put money towards, so one of the key messages I would provide for anybody, male or female, is don't leave it too late. Just start saving now because you're going to need it in the future.
And there’s lots of advice that you can get, but just be sensible about it.
I think with women, this perhaps may come onto one of your questions, but I think we're, you know, we're pretty pragmatic – we've got a good sense and sensibility. And understanding what you own and why you own it is so key to investing, and I think that women do bring that flair with them and having that approach to your own investments and where you can be successful.
Emma Wall:
You're quite right. That does lead me to my next question and there are some myths around sort of the difference between male and female investors. One is that women tend to be more cautious. I don't think that's fair to say of everyone. We are obviously a heterogeneous group of people, just as men are, but are there certain qualities that you do think that women bring to the role, either as a private investor or like yourself as a professional investor?
Suzanne Hutchins:
Gosh yes, I do actually. Now I work in a team and um, in my real return team there are two females myself and one other and nine people altogether. And I really value the male input as well as the female input.
With regards to my experience, I'm a very good team player. I wouldn't say that I'm best everything – I'd like to be best at everything but I'm not – so I draw on the strength of others and where I value myself particularly is in the team management and the ‘EQ’ (emotional intelligence), which helps you then with your ‘IQ’ in making investment decisions.
I think that probably most women tend to be slightly more cautious. I'm not entirely sure why that would be, or maybe more thoughtful, or maybe they don't necessarily speak up immediately but will think first. I guess that bit of hesitation, or that gradualness or that serendipity about how you think about your investments, I think is very good.
I was always told that you know investing is a marathon, not a sprint, and so taking your time to deliberate and chew things over and I think one of the most important things is to talk to lots of people that you respect to add to the mosaic of information. I think that's been really key. And to keep your feet on the ground.
I do enjoy my work, but it is important to have a work life balance because your life experiences really play a significant role in terms of your work experiences and the decisions you make.
And above all, in this type of role, you've got to have a healthy mind. And I mean you've got to have a healthy body to stay fit, but you really need a healthy mind as well and you need to work on that as much as anything.
Emma Wall:
Suzanne, thank you very much.
Suzanne Hutchins:
Thank you.
The views and topics in this video are not personal recommendations or advice. If you need help choosing investments, please speak to a financial adviser.
Remember if you do choose to invest, the value of investments can fall as well as rise so you could get back less than you put in.
