GlobalTrading, a Markets Media Group publication, presents
the 5th annual Women in Finance Asia Awards.
Thursday, May 18, Raffles Hotel Singapore.
The inaugural WIFAA program, held at Four Seasons Hong Kong in 2019, was a great success with 150 top executives and 14 winners representing many of the top traders, technologists and senior capital markets executives in Asia.
The event pivoted to a virtual format in 2020-2022 and expanded to more than 20 awards with winners from BlackRock, Credit Suisse, HSBC Asset Management and other large, influential global financial firms. The three virtual programs were successful and well-received by winners, supporters, and sponsoring firms alike.
Last year’s WIFAA winners included some of the most dynamic and accomplished professional women who have made their names in the financial centers of Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney.
Winners included Cindy Lai of JP Morgan Asset Management for Excellence in Asset Management; Mariko Ishikawa of Credit Suisse for Trailblazer; Laura Atherley of Citi for Excellence in Leadership; and Rachel Lord of BlackRock for Lifetime Achievement.
We all look forward to returning to the energy, spirit and fun that only in-person events can provide.
As with other Markets Media awards programs, the WIFAA program recognizes the most talented and accomplished women in multiple categories across the business of finance: buy-side and sell-side trading desks, institutional investors, wealth managers, securities exchanges, technology providers, corporate finance, venture capital firms, and fintech start-ups.
Nominees are put forth by readers of GlobalTrading and MarketsMedia, and shortlists and winners are determined by the editorial staffs of the two platforms, in conjunction with the WIFAA Advisory Board.
Our methodology in selecting nominees and then winners for Women in Finance is simple yet thorough, and keeps the focus on the important opinions: those of market participants, not ours.
Please join us in at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore on May 18 as we recognize and celebrate the best of the best women in Asian financial markets!
2023 SPONSORS
ADVISORY BOARD
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AZILA ABDUL AZIZ
Ms Azila Abdul Aziz, is Chief Executive Officer / Executive Director & Head of Listed Derivatives at Kenanga Futures Sdn Bhd, a Listed Derivatives Brokerage Company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Azila has been with company for more than 18 years and from the year 2012, she serves as the CEO. An accomplished Executive equipped with leadership, management and entrepreneurship & intraprenuership capabilities.
Azila currently leads the overall running of the Listed Derivatives Broking Company that includes both in-bound & out-bound businesses overseeing the entire Front Office Sales to Back Office Operations.
She sits on the Board of Kenanga Futures Sdn Bhd as an Executive Director, an appointed member of Senior Management Team for the Group Executive Committee and a member of several other committees within the Kenanga Group.
Prior to joining Kenanga Futures Sdn Bhd, Azila held the position of Institutional Sales at RHB Securities Sdn Bhd from 1996 – 2000.
She was involved in sales role for both regional equities and futures markets with clientele base includes international institutions, banks, global hedge funds, domestic institutions, state funds and various asset management companies.
Azila holds a Bachelor’s Degree (Hons) in Finance and a Diploma in Investment Analysis from Malaysia’s MARA University of Technology (UiTM).
In addition to her present role in the company, Azila has diverse industrial participation where she has been appointed for various roles: President of Malaysia Futures Brokers’ Association (MFBA), Member on the FTSE Russell Bursa Malaysia Index Advisory Committee, Member of the Market Participants Committee (MPC), Principal Representative of the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Advisory Group, Committee member of the task force for Professional Certificate Investment and Finance (PCIF) program developed by PNB Investment Institute Sdn Bhd (PNBI/I) and an Associate Member of Palm Oil Refiners’ Association of Malaysia (PORAM).
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PUJA BHARWANI
Puja Bharwani is a Senior trader at Fidelity International, where she is focused on trading Hong Kong and China equities, she joined Fidelity in 2018. Prior to joining Fidelity, she worked on the trading desk at Blackrock where she gained exposure to both fundamental and systematic trading across multiple markets.
Puja also has experience from the sell side at HSBC where she worked in program trading. With a total of 10 years of trading experience across buy side, sell side and operations, Puja has the built up the knowledge across the various execution channels from Low touch to working with sell side partners in sourcing block liquidity.
Puja holds a Bachelors of Arts in Economics and a Minor in Business from Boston University, Boston, MA.
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SUZAN CHAN
Managing Director, Head of iShares, Asia Pacific.
Susan Chan, Managing Director, is the Head of iShares and Index Investing Asia Pacific. She is a member of the BlackRock Asia-Pacific Executive Committee and the BlackRock Global Operating Committee.Ms. Chan joined BlackRock in July 2013 as head of Asia Pacific iShares Capital Markets and Products.
Prior to joining BlackRock, she was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank AG, Hong Kong where she was Head of Equity Structuring, Strategic Equity Transactions and DBx Asia Pacific. Before Deutsche Bank, she was Managing Director at Barclays Capital Asia Limited where she held various positions in equity derivatives with the most recent as Head of Equity and Funds Structured, Asia Pacific.
She was also a member of the Global EFS Executive Committee, the Asia Pacific Structuring Executive Committee, Founder and Executive Sponsor for the Women’s Internal Network, Asia Pacific and a Board Member of Barclays Capital Hong Kong Limited.
Ms Chan is a graduate of Boston University, Boston, MA.
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CARRIE CHEUNG
Carrie Cheung joined Principle Partners Hong Kong to lead their expansion in the Greater China region and Japan.
She has extensive experience in electronic and systematic trading and has worked at global financial institutions including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and BNP Paribas.
Prior to joining Principle Partners, Carrie was COO for APAC systematic trading at Citadel Securities and before that, was Head of Electronic Trading APAC at BNP Paribas.
She has over 20 years in the industry and is recognised in the buyside and sellside for her expertise in electronic and quantitative trading. Carrie was also the first female and foreign co-chair of the Japan FPL chapter.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is a certified executive coach from The Coach Partnership.
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ANDREA FLETCHER
Andrea Fletcher is the Chief Operating Officer for the APAC region
Andrea has been based in London, Sydney and Hong Kong and has worked extensively with the US, Europe and across Asia. She joined the Investment Banking industry in London in 1994 as a graduate and moved into European Equity Sales before re-locating to Sydney in an Equity Sales role in 1998.
Andrea joined Citi in 1999 and worked on the Australian Equity Sales desk in Sydney from 1999 until 2007 before taking on the role to run the Australian Markets Client Management team. In 2010 she moved to the Asia region to head the Markets Client Management team for Pan Asia. In 2015 she took on a newly created role as the Global Head of Client Strategy for Equities and Prime Finance spearheading the Equities Sales strategy to help drive Citi’s global growth strategy in Equities.
In March 2020 Andrea moved to a cross franchise role by taking on another newly created role as Chief Operating Officer for the APAC region as part of which Andrea will help drive Citi’s efforts to grow the regional franchise.
Throughout her career Andrea has been a keen supporter of diversity in the workplace and involved in mentoring and leadership programmes. Andrea was the co-chair of the Citi Women’s Network in Sydney in 2009 and a foundation member of “Females in the Finance Industry’ – fundraising in Sydney.
Andrea helped to establish the Citi Women’s network in Hong Kong in 2014 where she was co-chair from 2014 – 2015 and remains a key supporter of that group.
Andrea received a BA in French and Business from the University of Loughborough and has two daughters aged 15 and 13 years.
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NASRINE CHOZALI
Nasrine Ghozali re-joined Oasis as Chief Risk Officer & Member of the Strategies Group in February 2016 and is based in Hong Kong.
She was previously a Convertible Bonds Strategist and Equity Derivatives Trader for Oasis between January 2006 and March 2010. Prior to re-joining Oasis, Ms. Ghozali co-founded Silver Tree, an Asia-focused event driven hedge fund, in June 2010, and served as Principal Portfolio Manager and Responsible Officer until January 2016.
Prior to joining Oasis, she was Co-Head of Convertible Bond Arbitrage at Natexis Arbitrage, Group Banques Populaires in Paris from August 2001 to December 2005. Before that, she was a Convertible Bond Trader with BNP Paribas Arbitrage in Paris between August 2000 and August 2001.
Ms. Ghozali received a Master of International Finance & Economics, a Master of Economics majoring in Bank Finance Insurance, and a Bachelor of Economics majoring in Applied Economics from University Paris IX-Dauphine.
Ms. Ghozali co-founded the Board Diversity Hong Kong Investors’ Initiative, which aims to improve gender diversity on boards of Hong Kong-listed companies, and she is a member of the steering committee of the 30% Club Hong Kong Chapter and of the investor group of the 30% Club Japan Chapter.
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JOEL HUREWITZ
Joel Hurewitz is Managing Director, Head of Sales & Global Head of Broker Dealer Strategy and Product Development for Instinet. He is responsible for sales of the group to buy and sell side clients across the Asia Pacific Region as well as the broker dealer strategy globally. Joel joined Instinet in 2008 to run broker dealer sales, but in the course of his 8 years with the firm has held a number of positions including Head of Product Strategy and Head of Electronic Trading.
With over 20 years equities experience in Asia, Mr. Hurewitz has been an active member, pioneer, and supporter of FIX Trading Community since the early days of electronic trading in Asia.
Prior to joining Instinet, Joel held roles within Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and CLSA where he built electronic businesses, products, and teams.
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MARIJA JANCHOVSKI
Marija Janchovski is an Equity Portfolio Manager and Trader with Vanguard Australia.
In this role, Marija is responsible for managing funds and executing trading on behalf of Vanguard’s funds. She brings to the team knowledge of the APAC stock markets, electronic trading, and transaction cost analysis. Marija joined Vanguard in October 2015 as a Global Data Manager, overseeing the team that provides equity and fixed income investment data to the investment management group.
Prior to Vanguard, Marija worked for Thomson Reuters for seven years, where she held several roles within data teams in both New York and Melbourne.
Marija holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and MA in Economics from Fordham University.
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NICOLE KIM
Nicole Kim is head of Credit Suisse’s Advanced Execution Services(AES) team in ASEAN.
Based in Singapore, Nicole has over 10 years of experience in APAC equities markets and is currently responsible for algorithmic trading sales in cash equities, multi-asset and quantitative trading products at Credit Suisse’s ASEAN region.
Previously, Nicole has worked as a high touch sales trader in Korea for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Nicole holds a degree in Economics from the University of Chicago.
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JACQUELINE LOH
Jacqueline Loh PhD, leads the trading team at AIA Investment Management. In her previous role as Head of Trading- Asia at Schroders Management Investment Singapore, she was a proponent of the use of electronic trading across all asset classes to increase efficiency and transparency.
Her interests include derivatives, quantitative analytics of market trends, big data and artificial intelligence.
Jacqueline graduated with a BSc Immunology, London and MBA Finance from Cass Business School, London.
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VIVIAN PENG
Vivian Peng, Executive Director, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Vivian Peng, specializes in systematic and quant driven trading on APAC equity trading desk at JP Morgan Asset Management. Vivian Peng joined the APAC equity trading desk at JP Morgan Asset Management in year 2016 and is responsible for automation and establish quant driven trading on JPM’s Hong Kong desk.
Vivian started her career working in Lehman’s equity division in New York. Subsequently, she moved to Hong Kong and joined Barclays Asia where she spent five years to buildout their electronic trading business across APAC markets. She then joined JPM investment bank to work on their equities algorithmic product and electronic sales trading before moved into JPM Asset Management world. Vivian studied in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and Statistics.
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STUART BADEN POWEL
Head of Asia Electronic Trading, Cash Equities, Macquarie
Stuart is Head of Asia Electronic Trading at Macquarie, based in Hong Kong. He was previously Executive Director JP Morgan in Hong Kong and Head of European Electronic Trading at RBC in LONDON. He drove the internal discussions for THOR to Europe and oversaw the build, release and distribution to clients. In that role he spent significant time in the US and Canada advising clients on European execution.
He is an “A” Director of FIX Protocol Limited and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Trading. Stuart served on the AFME Securities Committee for three years and was a founding Quorum 15 Board member in Australia (2011) as well as being a long term Q15 member in London (2008).
Stuart holds an undergrad from Southampton University (UK), two Masters degrees, one from Durham University (UK) and one from the London School of Economics (UK), with majors in decision sciences, information technology, innovation and technology. He holds the ACE from MIT Sloan in Innovation and Technology Management and has completed the SEP at Stanford Graduate Business School where is he is an alumni of the Stanford GSB.
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EMMA QUINN
Emma Quinn
Global Co-Head of Equity Trading
AllianceBernsteinEmma Quinn was appointed Global Co-Head of Equity Trading in October 2014. Previously, she was Head of Asia Pacific Trading from 2011. Before that she was Head of Asia Pacific Fixed Income and Australia Equities Trading from 2010, and Head of Trading for Australia and New Zealand from 2009. Quinn joined the firm in 2001 as a senior trader. Prior to joining AllianceBernstein she worked as an equity trader at AMP Henderson Global Investors. Quinn holds a BBus in finance and law from the University of Technology, Sydney. She was Co-Chair of the Asia Pacific Regional Committee and is currently a Director of FIX Trading Community.
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KEVIN RIDEOUT
Managing Director
Global Client Development
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (“HKEX”)Mr. Kevin Rideout joined HKEX in April 2015 as Head of the Global Client
Development. He is principally responsible for the International and Mainland client
relationship management and marketing services.Mr. Rideout joined HKEX from Citigroup Global Markets where he served 5 years as
Head of Wholesale Execution Services Asia. He was also Chief spokesman on the
implementation of Stock Connect program launched by HKEX. Prior to this he was
Global Head of Market Infrastructures based in London for 5 years where he led a
global team to harness commercial arrangements with stock exchanges, clearing
houses and depositories around the world. In addition he founded and led a new
business group for Citigroup in clearing HFT/Prop trading business.Prior to joining Citi, Mr Rideout spent 10 years at Thomson Reuters. He held various
positions in Thomson Reuters, including Regional Manager Hong Kong, Regional
Director Japan and Korea, Managing Director Asia in Singapore and Managing
Director – Global Head of Relationship Management and Sales in London for the
Omgeo (DTCC) Division. Mr Rideout holds a Bsc (Hons) Environmental Chemistry
from the University of Hertfordshire UK. -
MALAVIKA SHANKER
Head of Execution Services Sales, Morgan Stanley Asia
Malavika currently leads the Execution Services Sales team for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, which encompasses Equities & Listed Derivatives. In the role, Malavika is responsible for execution consulting with clients and represents the firm on industry bodies to advocate for key market structure changes across the region.
Malavika has over 12 years of experience in Equities – having held a number of roles as APAC Head of Distribution, Product Manager & COO at both Societe Generale & JP Morgan prior to joining Morgan Stanley.
Malavika holds a Masters in International Affairs from Hong Kong University & a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Singapore Management University.
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JOSEPHINE KIM
Josephine Kim, Head of Morgan Stanley at Work, Hong Kong, Morgan Stanley
Josephine is Country Head of Morgan Stanley at Work Hong Kong entity which is one of the Morgan Stanley affiliates.
She was previously Managing Director, Head of APAC Execution Sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch HK, APAC Co-chair of Women’s Leadership Council.
She was also Co-chair of the Asia Pacific Regional Committee of FIX Trading Community and Q15 member in HK.
Josephine holds BSc Economics and Management, London and MSc Finance from Cass Business School (a.k.a Bayes). She also completed Women’s Leadership Program at Columbia Business School
PREVIOUS WINNERS
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2022
Individual Achievement Angela Leong, Head of Liquidnet Singapore, Liquidnet Excellence in Banking Laurianne Curtil, Managing Director, Co-Head of Financing Distribution, Goldman Sachs Rising Star Tassie Brakenridge, Product Strategist, APAC Regional Sustainability Lead for Active Investments, BlackRock Rising Star Mari Kato, Sales Trader, Asia Pacific Electronic Trading, BofA Securities Rising Star Natalie Lo, Vice President, State Street Global Advisors Rising Star Shiho Miyanaga, VP, Technology, Media & Telecom Group, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Excellence in Marketing and Communications Cynthia Lin, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific (ex Japan), Fidelity Excellence in Operations Sherleen Tong, Head of Operations, Asia, Instinet Best in Custody Vaisshali Babu, Head, Relationship Management, Product & Market Intelligence, BNP Paribas Securities Services Excellence in Trading Platforms YiLin Lee, Credit Product Manager APAC, Tradeweb Excellence in Exchanges Jennifer Ilkiw, Head of ICE, Asia Pacific, Intercontinental Exchange Inc. Excellence in HR and Talent Management Kristina Knoll Martinez, Managing Director, Citadel and Citadel Securities Lifetime Achievement Rachel Lord, Senior MD, BlackRock’s Chair and Head of Asia Pacific, BlackRock Best in Fintech Florence Kwan, Head of APAC IT Production, Sales & Research, BNP Paribas Excellence in Asset Management Cindy Lai, Executive Director, JP Morgan Asset Management Excellence in Sell-side Trading Kitty Li, MD, Head of APAC Agency Electronic Trading, UBS Excellence in Buy-side Trading Marija Janchovski, Equities Head Trader – Asia Pacific & Portfolio Manager, Vanguard Australia Excellence in Hedge Funds Julia Tsai, Analyst, Citadel Excellence in Legal and Compliance Emily Hengeveld, Legal & Client Onboarding APAC, Virtu Financial Excellence in Sustainability Mathilde Swierczynska, MD, Head of Private Wealth Compliance, APAC, SMBC Nikko Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Trailblazer Mariko Ishikawa, Head of Equity Sales, Japan, Credit Suisse Crystal Ladder Malavika Shanker, Head of Asia Listed Derivatives Execution and Platform Sales, Morgan Stanley Excellence in Leadership Laura Atherley, MD, Head of APAC Senior Relationship Management, Citi CEO of the Year Caecilia Chu, CEO and Co-founder, YouTrip -
2021
Individual Achievement Simone Turtle, Virtu Financial Rising Star Aya Asanuma, MarketAxess Rising Star Lucy Liu, BlackRock Rising Star Ako Nishi, JP Morgan Asset Management Rising Star Jessie Xu, FMR Excellence in Operations Jo Tong, BNP Paribas Best in Custody Vicky Tsai, Citi Best in Fintech Elsa Lau, Tradeweb Excellence in Trading Platforms Anri Koike, Citi Excellence in Marketing & Communications Rowena Kwok, BlackRock Excellence in Asset Management Joanna Kwok, JP Morgan Asset Management Excellence in Sell-Side Trading Melissa Cooper, Credit Suisse Excellence in Buy-Side Trading Joanne Ong, M&G Investments Excellence in Hedge Funds Nasrine Ghozali, Oasis Management Crystal Ladder Kate Weidenhofer, Liquidnet Trailblazer Felicity Chan, Credit Suisse CEO of the Year Debra Lim, Instinet Excellence in Sustainability Juliette Macresy, V.E Excellence in Leadership Yvonne Tsui, Citadel Lifetime Achievement Deborah Ho, BlackRock -
2020
Rising Star Liesbeth Baudewyn, Systematic Trader, CitadelRising Star Carrie Cheng, Trader, BNP ParibasRising Star LeiLei Qu, Associate, JPMorgan Asset ManagementBest in Exchanges Joelle Yap, Director – Client Development and Sales, CME GroupBest in Custody Angely Yip, Head of Sales and Relationship Management, North Asia, BNP Paribas Securities ServicesBest in Operations Edna Chan, Director, Asia Pac Head of Cash Equities Middle Office, Citigroup Global Markets Asia LtdBest in Fintech Rebecca Sin, Head of Equities, Asia, TradewebExcellence in Trading Platforms Janice Lau, Executive Director, ET, InstinetExcellence in Buy-Side Trading Cheryl Chan, Equity Trader, BlackrockExcellence in Sell-Side Trading Mary-Anne Peril, Head of Execution Services Australia, Virtu FinancialBest in Hedge Funds Elizabeth Lo, Chief Operating Officer, TX CapitalTrailblazer Winnie Khattar, Head of Market Structure, BofA SecuritiesCrystal Ladder Susan Chan, Head of Asia, and Head of ETFs & Index Investing and Trading and Liquidity Services Asia-Pacific, BlackRockIndividual Achievement Erica Poon Werkun, Head of Securities Research Asia Pacific, Credit SuisseExcellence in Leadership Terecina Kwong, Chief Operating Officer, HSBC China, HSBCCEO of the Year Susan Soh, Singapore CEO and Co-Head of Asia Pacific, Schroder Investment Management (Singapore) LimitedLifetime Achievement Cecilia Chan, CIO Fixed Income, Asia Pacific, HSBC Asset Management -
2019
CEO of the Year Azila Abdul Aziz, Kenanga Futures
Excellence in Leadership Nellie Dagdag, DTCC
Individual Achievement Lauren Degney, Citi
Crystal Ladder Jessica Morrison, Morgan Stanley
Trailblazer Carrie Cheung, BNP Paribas
Excellence in Sell-Side Trading Josephine Kim, BAML
Excellence in Buy-Side Trading Christine To, T Rowe Price
Best in Trading Platforms Shilesh Shekhawat, Virtu Financial
Excellence in Fintech Lisa O’Connor, SWIFT
Excellence in Asset Management Belinda Boa, BlackRock
Rising Stars
Nicola McGreal, State Street Global Advisors
Sandy Ngai, AllianceBernstein
Vivian Peng, JP Morgan Asset Management
Lily Xiong, BlackRock