Generally, these career roles apply to both the public and private sector where one’s professional growth is determined by several key factors like knowledge, skills and experience.
You work hard, you get the promotion, you become the boss at the top.
You falter, you stay at the bottom and take whatever the boss gives you.
The Dominant Women
But there’s one more key factor that’s often overlooked but still hold weight to this context. And it’s called gender.
Wait, gender?
As much as we hate to admit it, gender preference is and always will be – the elephant in the room that no one wants to address.
We’ve met several successful women in our previous articles to know that gender somehow played a part in how (hard) they reach the top.
Criminal lawyer, Nurain Kamarden in her early days had to endure a lack of trust from not only her boss but also her clients – the Malaysian public. She now runs her own criminal law firm – Nurain, Nadia & Co.
Ying the Engineer was told to switch her major because they said it would be tough for a girl. She’s now Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s Protection Engineer aiming to take over 100% of West Malaysia’s over current earth fault relay.
We find that these stories of struggles may have helped us shed some light on the challenges to succeed professionally if you’re born a woman. However, there is one particular industry that caught our attention.
Investment Banking.
Who’s Calling the Shots Now?
Fact – Globally, 96% of senior leadership roles at 257 global financial firms are occupied by men.
Now let’s pick some countries – the United States, South Korea, India and Malaysia to see the percentage of female CEOs at investment banks.
That means only 4% of the shot-callers are women. And guess which country has more than that figure?
Yes, in a 2018 Bloomberg report, Malaysia has 27% female CEOs in the investment scene, more than India and obviously more than the United State, which has zero. From the report, we found out that there are 11 homegrown investment banks in the country and 3 of those are led by females.
Dato’ Kong Sooi Lin is the CEO of CIMB Investment Bank. Maimoonah Hussain is Group Managing Director for Affin Hwang Capitaland and Lee Jim Leng is Hong Leong Investment’s CEO.
With a combined experience over 90 years – Kong, Maimoonah and Lee are following the footsteps of trailblazers in the past, especially one Yang Shu-Yin – who became Malaysia’s first female investment bank CEO in 1994.
So what’s with the investment industry? Why are we not lauding this dark horse sector that’s been glorifying women under the radar for so many years?
Follow the Petals
If the figures earlier caught your eyes, then you’ll be pleased to know that Malaysia’s leading investment bank, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad has 52% of women representation in its workforce and check this out – 40% women in leadership roles.
As a comparison, women account to only 21.9% in leadership roles for financial services companies globally.
Meeting Maheswari and Cynthia back in February, we were told that in Kenanga, every person matters. The bank even practices diversity inclusion, equal opportunity for everyone and promotes self-confidence for its workforce to make a change and to decide.
Of course, the fact that the bank’s founder and core move and shaker is a woman herself, YM Tan Sri Dato’ Paduka Tengku Noor Zakiah Tengku Ismail couldn’t have been a better foundation.
She has always been an inspirational figure for notable names in Malaysia’s political, financial and social scene such as Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Tony Fernandes, Tan Sri Azman Hashim (AmBank Group) and even Lord Douglas-Home (The Earl of Home).
But of course, carving your name in any industry, investment included, would be tough for women for reasons that naturally befall upon them – children and home.
To Maid, or Not to Maid
Maimoonah and Kong admitted that they’re lucky to be in Malaysia where domestic help is easy to come by. Either a maid or support from family members, home-help eases a woman’s focus for work, makes them stay working.
The peace of mind knowing that your home and your children are taken care off gives a woman a sense of assurance that the goal in front should be the career.
But not many would have the luxury to even afford domestic help. Not many would have access to the family for assistance, especially those who are working hundreds of kilometres away from families.
Cynthia Woon told us a few weeks ago that one of the reasons why it’s tough for women to climb the career ladder is family commitment, especially those who are starting a family.
The Head of Group Treasury in Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad responded to a 2019 study by TalentCorp where women are sidelined when it comes to promotions and even job offers due to the assumption that they’re more committed to family than work.
Speaking from experience, quality and affordable childcare are few and far between, making it tough for young rookies to make it.
The Road to Redemption
Is it hard to bounce back from being tied down to your personal commitment? Is it even possible to chase both dreams of having a high flying career and also a loving family?
Dato’ Kong believes that companies need to adapt to retain their female force. CIMB, for example, went to the extent of allocating every floor with a nursing room while each building allocates a nursery for children. Even the maternity leave is extended to six months with NO loss of seniority.
When we spoke to Maheswari Kanniah about the plight of women in the industry, she reminded us that it’s also up to each and one of us to decide on our goals and work for it.
Recalling how things were a lot tougher back in the days, the Group Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer from Kenanga told us that she had to sacrifice on a lot of things to make it out alive, and proud.
A personal advice she carries – set your dream and make an effort to pursue it. Things are not going to be easy but if you don’t chase your dreams, you’ll grow old and our of it, regretting life when you could’ve done it.
Ladies and Gents, the Journey Has Just Begun
While things are improving for Malaysian ladies, we still have a long way to go before we have equal representation in the workforce. Basically, we’re getting there but not as fast as we should.
But should change be imminent and immediate?
Depending on some key aspects, yes and no.
Salary, for example, is a resounding yes.
For the same work and statistically from a more academically-enlightened gender, women tend to get paid cheaper.
Studies have found that there is still a need to address the gender wage gap and ensure that both men and women can receive appropriate payment for the jobs they perform. According to the Department of Statistics, the estimated income earned for a woman is around RM35,508 compared to RM38,088 for men. In other words, for every RM100 earned by a man, a woman would receive only RM93.20.
But all is not lost.
That said, Malaysia has made strong progress when it comes to women in the workforce. In 2004, the government committed to ensure that 30% of decision-making roles in the public sector would be held by women – a task that was achieved in 2010. While the private sector hasn’t quite matched this number yet, results are encouraging. “Out of 851 seats, 252 or 26.9% are filled by women directors — an increase from 19.2% in 2017. In absolute terms, Malaysia is only 25 women directors short of reaching 30% gender diversity for this top category of companies.
Investment banking is not made for many but we can be sure it’s made for women.
If your end goal is to chase career dreams in investing, perhaps the best inspiration amongst others would be Tan Sri Noor Zakiah and the institution she created, Kenanga.
For an entity that’s been headlining the industry and shown solid growth over a few decades, the independent investment bank is something Malaysians could be proud of. Not just for the fact that it carries a national vibe but also because it carries women on its shoulders, where they should be.
