Stepping outside the expected

Like the intrepid traveller she is, O’Hea stepped outside her usual routine and approached a senior colleague, Ingrid Macintosh, a managing director with TDAM. Macintosh gave O’Hea the push she needed to explore the brokerage side of the business.

For O’Hea, it was a turning point. “It was thanks to that mentorship and guidance that I found a career I am truly passionate about,” says O’Hea, now 33 and vice president of institutional equities trading with RBC Capital Markets, a division of Toronto-based RBC Dominion Securities Inc., where she trades equities on behalf of institutional and corporate clients.

O’Hea also realized that this kind of help from other women in her industry could be an ongoing source of support for her. When she moved over to RBC Capital Markets in 2008, O’Hea raised the topic with several senior female executives there; the response was immediate, and the concept of “R’Women” was born. The group, which formally came into existence in late 2009, is a networking platform within RBC Capital Markets that is dedicated to retaining, recruiting and promoting female talent.

R’Women has grown from a local initiative of 100 women into a global group of more than 500, with chapters across Canada and in New York City. There are plans to establish a chapter in Britain within the next year. “Women go through quite a few struggles in their careers,” O’Hea says. “And it helps to have a mentor to guide you with direction and to help you get through those issues.”

Research shows that women network differently from men, says Martha Fell, CEO of WCM. Women’s informal networking systems are often not as strong as men’s and, as a result, formal networks can work well for women. The formality of a network also helps to tie together a group that is still spread out fairly thinly. (In fact, according to Investment Executive’s 2011 Brokerage Report Card, which surveyed 629 advisors at brokerages, women occupied only 18% of the positions in this sector.)

“Often, a woman will be the only female in her department,” says Fell, “and a formal network is the only way for her to access other female employees [in the same role]. What Joanne did is create a bridge for networking where it didn’t exist before.”

For Fell, the WCM Rising Star Award helps give credit where credit is due, as many of the women who are bringing change to the capital markets in Canada are still in the early stages of their careers. Says Fell: “They put a lot of time and effort into inspiring women to work in capital markets, but don’t always get the attention because they don’t have the profile that often comes with a senior title.”

It’s no surprise that O’Hea has been involved with improving the social dynamics within her corporate environment. As a child, she and her family would often volunteer at a local soup kitchen. “We were always volunteering as a family,” O’Hea says. “It was something I was brought up with.”

O’Hea also participates in mentorship programs within RBC Capital Markets, where she is paired with female interns and helps them navigate the pressure cooker that is the trading floor. “It’s important,” says O’Hea, “for these young women to have a mentor close to their age to relate to.”

If O’Hea could have her way, every woman in high school or university would have the opportunity to learn about the choices available in the capital markets subsector. She speaks often at WCM educational events hosted by high schools and universities across Ontario. In particular, O’Hea wants young women to know that there are careers beyond wealth management or banking, the more common areas for women in the financial services industry. Says O’Hea: “I think more women would explore a career in capital markets if they were aware of all the opportunities that were out there.”

If mentorship has helped boost O’Hea’s success, so has her adventurous spirit. From the way she chose where to go to university to diving into her trading career, O’Hea has no reservations when it comes to learning something new and heading into unchartered waters.

Having grown up in Sudbury, Ont., O’Hea decided she wanted to attend university outside her familiar community. She pursued a degree in administrative and commercial studies at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. While still a student, she put out feelers in the financial planning community and was hired part-time by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc., as an assistant for a group of financial planners in southwestern Ontario; she moved into a full-time position there after graduating.

A year later, O’Hea moved into a sales role with TD Waterhouse in Toronto, at which she stayed until moving into sales with TDAM. While in that role, O’Hea began volunteering for fundraising events put on by WCM. That connection is what introduced her to the idea that working in capital markets might be for her.

“Prior to [fundraising for WCM], I didn’t know much about the ‘sell’ side of the business,” says O’Hea “and WCM introduced me to a window of networking opportunities. The more I learned about capital markets, the more intrigued I was.”

Within a year, O’Hea was on the trading floor at RBC Capital Markets.

Now, needing to look at seven trading screens daily to ensure she makes the best trades, O’Hea always keeps the bigger picture in mind. To stay balanced, she unwinds by practising yoga regularly and spending weekends in northern Ontario with her family. She’s also still a regular at Palolem Beach.  IE