Rising Star
Recognizing todays and tomorrows leaders, the Rising Star Award is intended for high-impact professionals who will continue to lead the industry for years to come.
Jennica Ross, director of strategic relationships, WallachBeth Capital
To fully understand the business of trading, one must be able to see the whole picture clearly, else risk missing something.
Its very easy in trading to get highly specialized, niche-oriented and absorbed in market microstructure, and to lose sight of what the trading industrys goal is, said Jennica Ross, director of strategic relationships at WallachBeth Capital. Thats why she chooses to view things from a client-centric, holistic approach.
We tend to be very critical on what our immediate function is-get down into the weeds-but sometimes we forget to step back and look at the industry as a whole, Ross said. Weve got to challenge ourselves to see what we do on a day-to-day and how it affects our clients and what trends it gives way to.
A self-described big-picture person, Ross is always moving ahead, learning new concepts and implementing fresh ideas that keep her and WallachBeth Capital ahead of the curve. She credits her ethos in part to her liberal arts background-she is a graduate of Princeton University-and to her parents, one a former principal and the other a former teacher.
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Personally, I take on new challenges, and responsibilities not only in business but also in terms of people, she said. Ive always been interested in the interactions of people and how they adapt to their situations.
Ross found her way to Wall Street by chance, stumbling across an accelerated management training program offered by UBS Wealth Management in 2003. Not one to shy away from a challenge, she entered the two-year program that sent her to business school boot camp. Boot camp helped her acquire the licenses she needed and enabled her to rotate throughout the firms divisions. She spent time in UBSs fixed-income, structured finance, research and credit groups, getting a complete and thorough exposure to business. She seized the opportunities at each business area and made connections along the way.
I joined the training program not just for the sales trading exposure, but also because it was a very holistic program. Thats what is very important to me, Ross said.
After completing the program and remaining with UBS until 2010, Ross moved to the buyside and Guggenheim Investments. She was charged with helping build the firms clientele and joined as its director of strategic relationships. She stayed for two years and left in 2011.
Again ready for a new challenge, she started 2012 at WallachBeth Capital. She told Traders Magazine the firm was looking for someone who had a deep understanding but a broad view of the industry.
My secret to success here (at WallachBeth) is looking at things from a client-centric point of view, Ross said. I think when people look at the trading industry, theyve got to know its a lot bigger than being an individual trader. We need to make sure as a business and industry were looking at what value we are delivering clients from larger perspective.
