Women’s Leadership Forum 2019

Alyssa Irving
Insurance fixed income portfolio manager, Wellington Management Co., USM“ entors show up
Min various forms. Be
open to anyone you
can learn from”

y words of advice to young
women building a career ininsurance are first, mentors
matter; second, take risks; and third,“work/life balance” is a misnomer.
I’ve had many mentors and bosses
who have given me a chance and often
taken a risk themselves by giving me
stretch assignments. Every time, I
was thankful for the opportunity andworked hard to prove they could counton me. Mentors show up in various
forms. Be open to anyone you canlearn from.
The professional risks I’ve taken
have included changing companies,
switching jobs within companies,
giving difficult feedback, asking forlong-term assignments. The risks
that worked out well helped me build
confidence and realise I could keep
progressing. The risks that didn’t workout so well helped me to become more

resilient and determined.
One of the reasons I joined
Wellington was the women I met
while interviewing here. There wereso many senior women here balancing
careers and family lives. But over time
I have found that life is never really“balanced.” Something is always offbalance, and that’s OK.
My first boss at Wellington, a woman,
had wise advice when I had my firstson. She told me, “You’ll never getan ‘A’ in everything, every day. Somedays you’ll get an ‘A’ with your kids,
some days you’ll get an ‘A’ at work, andsome days you’ll get an ‘A’ with yourpartner. Aim to never get less than a‘C’ with your kids.” I take her advice
to heart nearly every day and am
fortunate to work at a company that
understands balancing the personal
and the professional means something
different for everyone.

Elizabeth Kleinerman

Insurance fixed income portfolio manager, Wellington Management Co., USW

alking into a boardroom,
aware of my differences asa young female, I often felt
pressured to prove myself or go aboveand beyond to garner the respect andsupport that my older male colleagues
seemed to enjoy without effort. But
as a portfolio manager, I am expectedto be confident and be a leader, andfortunately those traits come to me
naturally.
A presentation training I attended
early in my career emphasised“bringing yourself to the table” – thatis, don’t try to do things exactly likeyour colleagues. By allowing mypersonality and passion for what
I do shine through, I’ve been able
to gain the trust and respect of myclients. That has sustained me, giving
me more confidence throughout mycareer.
I have definitely noticed differences
over the last few years, bothwithin and outside of Wellington.
Wellington has been very focusedon diversity and inclusion, whichis showing up in noticeable ways.

First, people here are more open todifferent communications styles.
Second, senior management isgetting involved with mentoring andsupporting women and people ofcolour.
That is having a cascade effectthroughout the organisation. And
finally, I feel like people at all levels
are comfortable bringing theirauthentic self to work and are
becoming more productive as a result.
Wellington is not just talking about
diversity and inclusion; we are doing
something about it.
Outside of Wellington, I havestarted to notice more women on
the boards of my clients and atsenior management levels. Throughnetworks like the Insurance Women’sInvestment Network (IWIN),
many are benefiting from making
connections with other women at
firms all over the world. By sharing
each other’s experiences and views
from inside insurance and asset
management firms, I believe that weare moving the industry forward.

February 2019“ presentationAtraining I attended
early in my careeremphasised‘bringing yourself
to the table’ – thatis, don’t try to dothings exactly likeyour colleagues”