Anne Clark Wolfe said she owed her 34-year career in banking to a “chance.”
She first started working as a consultant for a bank, which was “heavily influenced by econometrics,” which she studied as an undergraduate. It wasn't until she enrolled in her MBA program at Northwestern University that she began to understand what a career in finance would be like for her. “I didn't grow up in that community, so I had no idea what investment banking and sales and trading was. I thought it was all about being a private stockbroker,” she said. .
After earning his MBA, Wolff used the interview process to discover the variety of opportunities that a career in banking and finance could offer. She was immediately attracted to the investment bankers at Salomon Brothers. She said, “What I liked about the people from Solomon was that they were all very smart. But they were all different. And they were great at what excellence looked like. It gave me perspective.”
“And my career choice was exactly what I call the 'beer test.' You get to interview 30 people and have a beer with them all. That's saying something.”
Wolffe joined Salomon Brothers in 1989 and spent nine years working his way up to the position of managing director. In 1998, Salomon Brothers was acquired by Citigroup, and Wolff worked in debt capital markets and then as head of national corporate banking. “I've had three or four really different and great positions through Citigroup. Both mergers that created Citigroup, I was in a phenomenal position, but it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “It was,” she said.
Her feelings towards the City changed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. She said: “When she looked at the team that came in to lead City at that point; [CEO] with Vikram Pandit [CFO] John Havens, I think they had a very different view of what the City was and what it could be. So I used that as an opportunity to leave rather than watch them dismantle what I thought was unique about City. ”
She joined JPMorgan in the summer of 2009 and said CEO Jamie Dimon gave her the opportunity to learn from one of two very different areas of the industry: wealth management and transaction banking. “I knew from Citi that transaction banking is where banks really make money, so I thought it was a great opportunity to learn that part of the industry.”
Over the next two years, Wolf said, he helped rebuild JPMorgan's entire government bond sales function. Then Bank of America called and offered Mr. Wolfe the opportunity to return to a broader customer-facing role. “They gave me the opportunity to restructure all of their global corporate banking, and it was at a relatively early stage in their international growth and expansion, so it was a fun opportunity.” she remembered.
Mr. Wolf ran an $8 billion global division at the time with teams in 45 cities in 30 countries. She also ran Bank of America's leasing division, holding key positions in aircraft leasing, renewable energy and equipment financing.
leave bulge bracket
Approximately eight and a half years later, in 2020, Mr. Wolff was promoted to Chairman of Global Corporate and Investment Banking. She remained in the role for just under a year. Over the years, she had become increasingly disillusioned with the big banks, especially their lack of diversity on various fronts.
“I tried to change the industry from within the Big Three banks and failed. I might be allowed to be an advocate for women. How we cover our customers in different ways. But that's all you can do. If you think there might still be a better way to do things, go out and do something different. That's the point where you realize you have to try it,” Wolff said.
“Most people who leave Wall Street don't leave because of the jobs, but because of the constraints of politics and big business,” she continued. And for women, she says, the reasons for leaving are more complex than just dissatisfaction with office politics. “I have spent 33 years counseling women in three different companies. Women often feel that they are not being treated fairly, either through lack of opportunity, lack of appreciation, or pay disparity. And it's lonely too, I think for a lot of people.'' And while it may be convenient to think that men break up because of that when it comes to child-rearing, it's women who… I think you are just forcing the question on the person. Why should I leave my family, pay for child care and suffer misery? ”
Wolff founded Independence Point Advisors, an investment banking advisory firm, in 2021. “We saw this huge gap where it felt like the opportunity and momentum was declining, at least in the advisory business of the big banks,” she said.
She believes the company's structure is similar to what attracted her to Salomon Brothers: talented people with diverse professional backgrounds, diverse ideas and experiences, a culture of transparency, and people who genuinely enjoy working with clients. I was hoping it would be.
A new type of investment banking advisory firm
IPA works with large companies like Ford and Walmart, as well as companies in the early stages of the sustainable energy space. The firm's advisory services focus on impact and his ESG, with 25 employees currently working with over 60 of his clients, many of whom use his services multiple times in the capital markets. doing. Among its current customers is a plastics recycling company founded by a woman, and IPA is raising money to scale it. A company that is a key partner for some of the world's largest data center companies that need to scale their backup generation. The company is based in Israel and provides energy storage solutions.
What Wolff is particularly proud of, and what she believes will help bring much-needed diversity to Wall Street, is the firm's internship program. The program, which enters its third year this summer, recruits and trains underrepresented students from across the country who may not have a chance to work on Wall Street. “We are finding ways to get to the root of change on Wall Street by developing the next generation of talent and focusing on students who are underrepresented across the country,” she said. Told. The overall demographics of the IPA Intern Program are 58% female, 22% Black, 19% Hispanic, and 19% first-generation college students.
IPA runs three different cohorts throughout the year. Each cohort has approximately 10 students and spends 10 weeks working on a variety of problems such as financial statement analysis, presentation techniques, and interview preparation. The winter/spring program is typically an opportunity for a few high achievers to gain additional experience during their academic year. Students can spend an additional 1-6 months with the company, during which time some students will work for her IPA partner companies or banks. “Banks hire interns to support themselves. We hire interns because we want to push them out into the world,” she said.
Wolff said the company was “even profitable in the first two years, which is unprecedented in our industry.” Looking to the future, she wants to build a scalable investment banking advisory model that incorporates the talent of younger generations who must address issues around climate change and the needs of the energy transition. “How do we approach clients who want something different? Who will understand that they are part of the solution? Show companies that their good intentions have real economic impact If we can do that, I think they'll be as excited and committed as we are, and this model will not only be successful, but take off.”
