Building success in the ever-changing landscape

In an era of progress and inclusion, the wealth and investment management industry stands at a crucial crossroad, recognising the paramount significance of female leadership. The rise of female leadership around the world not only brings about gender parity, but also fosters innovation, cultivates empathy, and drives superior financial outcomes.

By embracing and empowering women in leadership positions, the industry not only dismantles barriers but also embraces a future where equality and prosperity go hand in hand.

Stefanie Drews was promoted to President of Nikko Asset Management in April 2022 and been making waves within the company since 2014. She joined us ahead of her sessions at IMpower 2023 to share her leadership insights, how sustainability should be addressed at a company level and how we can encourage broader participation of women in finance.

As a foreign woman in Japan, leading one of Asia’s leading financial institutions globally, what has been the single most insightful leadership learning from living in Japan?

There are still less foreigners in the financial industry in Japan than you may find in other large financial centres.  This means that there is still a management style that is somewhat specific to Japan, rather than a blended style as is the case in more multi-national employee populations.

One of the biggest differentiators here in Japan is that much broader buy-in is required from across the business when changes are made, or direction is set.  This may mean a longer run-up to finalising decisions, but it also means very carefully thought through decision-making, and much more entrenched support for the direction once it is agreed upon.  This can lead to very powerful positive outcomes.

What leadership insights do you think you bring to the global CEO/President role that is valued most by the company and employees?

It is very important to reduce the distance between decision making at the top, and functional expertise within the organisation, so flattening the management construct is critical.

This leads to much better decision-making, and also ensures employees feel empowered, as they are part of the direction-setting at the firm.

I also strongly believe that a company should not feel limited by how others define it, or even how it has defined itself in the past.  No company is a “typical” company, and therefore dreaming big, or wanting to do something others have not done, or that is not expected by the industry, is motivating and empowering, and ensures ongoing relevance.

Ultimately, staying true to your values but constantly upgrading and reinventing will mean being able to future-proof the business.

At a company level how should sustainability be addressed?

Sustainability should be embedded in all we do. In our case, we work on constantly entrenching our corporate sustainability efforts in the day-to-day and make sustainability part of the fabric of who we are.

For example, when our employees book travel, the travel request form asks for the carbon footprint to be entered, so that there is an awareness of the environmental impact, and this leads to a much more focused (and therefore more effective) travel schedule.

When we interview, we strive to interview as many women as men, where possible, and also focus on bringing women into leadership positions.

And we apply similar focus via our Abilities, Racial Equality, Philanthropy and other Working Groups (a total of 11) that we run across the firm.

It is also important for us to realise that we will need to constantly upgrade our efforts, every year the hurdle needs to be higher, because there is a long way to go in many respects.

On the Investment side, we have a Global Sustainable Investment Team that supports research & integration, stewardship, data & reporting, and ESG regulation.  This allows us to take a holistic approach which we then support all investment teams with.  Our target is to bring all our strategies, where possible, to SFDR Article 8 or 9.

How do we encourage broader participation of women in finance, for a more diverse and balanced industry?

We need to be a go-to place for women, which means we must address the issues that are directly blocking interest at entry-level and mid-career in particular.

For entry level, we need to ensure we provide a diverse environment that is not heavily biased towards one segment, which requires making entry criteria much broader.  This may mean engaging with girls who are in school, or female students at university, and early on spark an interest in our industry. And then of course we need to offer rewarding career paths.

For mid-career, should women want to leave and return, we need to ease that path back.  This means they need to know they can go back to either their original role, or even a more senior role so that they stay with their cohort which would have moved on while they were on leave.

We need to change the requirements we make when we bring women back (e.g. insisting on an unbroken track record is clearly not helpful), and then offer the right support when they are back in the workforce.

What has been your most rewarding non-work-related experience since living in Japan?

My children and I are very committed to the environment and also human and animal rights.

We are currently building a sanctuary for animals who are victims of animal agriculture in Yamanashi, a beautiful rural area about 2 hours from Tokyo. We will use the sanctuary to highlight the environmental, animal rights and healthcare impact of animal agriculture, and use it as a teaching platform for the importance of sustainable agriculture, and want to welcome children from local schools and elsewhere.

This is an important project for my family, and it has been wonderful getting local support for this.

Under the spotlight: Stefanie Drews

Stefanie Drews was promoted to President in April 2022. She cooperates with the Executive Chairman in the oversight and execution of the entire company.

Drews joined the firm in August 2014 as Global Head of Institutional Marketing and Proposition. She was appointed Joint Global Head of Product & Marketing in 2016, and in 2018 took on additional responsibility as Global Head of Marketing and Head of Corporate Sustainability. In May 2019, she was named Senior Corporate Managing Director*, as well as Global Head of Products & Solutions, Global Head of International Sales & Strategy and Global Head of Sales Support. As a result, she was simultaneously responsible for all domestic and international product development and management, marketing, communications, and sales support, as well as leading the international business and all corporate sustainability efforts.

Drews was previously the Global Head of Key Clients and Family Offices at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management in London. Prior to Barclays, she was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management in London, where she spent 13 years.

Drews graduated from Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy & Economics, and earned her MBA at Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.

Stefanie Drews is a part of our incredible speaking faculty at IMpower 2023. Don't miss out on both her sessions on the 27th of June, 2023.

Find out more about IMpower 2023 here>>