Crystal Ladder
For women who began in an entry-level job in a financial firm and climbed steadily through the ranks to reach senior management.
Jamie Bogen, senior account management, strategic long-only accounts, Bloomberg Tradebook
Being a jack-of-all-trades and master of chance-thats how one successfully climbs the trading ladder.
Its that philosophy that has served Jamie Bogen so well for 30 years on Wall Street. Knowing about myriad disciplines within the trading sphere, from order execution to algorithm mechanics to market structure, and from the perspective of both the buyside and sellside, has helped her survive and thrive.
When I first started working on the Street, I started as an institutional sales assistant at Dominion Securities, the predecessor of RBC. I was a jack-of-all-trades, Bogen said of her three years at the sellside firm. I then moved to Columbus Circle Investors on the buyside, and there I again did a little bit of everything.
Gaining familiarity on both sides of the desk and in multiple disciplines was crucial for Bogen, as it helped her land a job at the Holy Grail of firms during the late 80 and 1990s: powerhouse Bear Stearns. She would stay in Bear Stearns asset management division from 1988, growing its equity assets under management from $100 million, until the firms implosion in 2008, when its AUM was $50 billion. As a testament to her professionalism and skill, she stayed until the very end, overseeing client transition to J.P. Morgan, who bought the firm for $2 a share.
[See All The 2013 Wall Street Women Winners]
While at Bear Stearns, Bogen began her career building out a global equity and equity derivatives desk, sitting on the desk first as a trader and then as global head of trading. She sat at all the top management meetings and committees, from best execution to marketing representation-all the things her male counterparts in other divisions did. And this was back when Wall Street, and Bear Stearns in particular, was mostly men.
This was not an insignificant thing for a woman to do back then, Bogen said.
When the financial crisis came, Bogen, the face of BSAM, remained committed to her clients and firm and spent the final nine months of the firms existence supporting the transition of Bear Stearns customers over to J.P. Morgan or externally to other money managers.
When a buyside firm goes under, the clients dont get fired, so we needed to support them in either transitioning or unwinding their positions, Bogen said. While J.P. Morgan worked with us, we had to make sure our fiduciary obligation was completely fulfilled.
The task lasted from April 2008 to December of 2008. She left the firm on Dec. 31, 2008, and transitioned to Bloomberg Tradebook a few weeks later.
I guess a theme in my life has been managing transition-in either business or personal life-and managing it well, Bogen said.
Moving to Tradebook was smooth for her, as BSAM had been a Tradebook client back when it was still an ECN trying to expand its client reach and business model. Bogens ability to represent her clients needs from a buyside perspective was appealing to Bloomberg. She started as an application specialist, moving on to become an expert on algorithms and direct market access. She would eventually liaise among all levels at Bloomberg Tradebook and help chief executive Ray Tierney focus on strategic client management.
My role was to make sure clients were first in our minds and the tools we built were what they wanted, not what we thought they wanted, Bogen said. My role is to be a manager and champion of the client.
As a senior manager, Bogen also relishes her opportunities to assist and mentor others within the firm and outside. Having survived three decades in the trading business has given her plenty to share from her humble beginnings. But perhaps the most important thing she teaches younger talent is that the client is most important.
Whether youre on the buyside or sellside, you have to do well by your clients, she said.
