Alison Whelan, who oversees Bank of America credit officers covering more than 200 hedge fund-management companies, tries to lead with a style that encourages transparency and collaboration, like the culture that she works best within, she said.
"Creating a safe space for people to raise questions, especially when you're in a risk management role, is very important," said Whelan, a hedge fund credit officer in BofA's global markets credit division. "People who work with me, I think they know that I'll be in the trenches with them. I'm very happy to let them fight their own battles. But once they need me, they know I'm ready to be tapped in as required."
Stated simply, her job as a credit officer is to answer the question: "Will this client pay us back?" Whelan said. That leads to higher-level questions about how much to lend, lending terms, collateral, client risk profiles, and the nuances of complex trading products and their markets. "There are questions on questions on questions," she said.
Credit officers need to feel confident that they can rely on their leader and on each other, Whelan said.
"If they are a bit hesitant to ask for help, they might miss something; they might make a mistake," she said. "Whereas I think on my team here, everyone feels like they can raise their hand. They can turn to the person behind them and say,'Hey, what do you think about this?' Let me be a sounding board."
Whelan's leadership also shows through her personality, said Adam Lipsky, the Americas head of hedge funds and regulated funds in BofA's global markets credit division and Whelan's manager.
"She's so approachable; she's knowledgeable, energetic; somebody you want to be around," Lipsky said. "It's great to be a leader, but if you can't approach that leader then it doesn't resonate within that team."
Besides managing eight hedge fund credit officers, Whelan is the lead representative for Bank of America's hedge fund team on the bank's global markets margin adequacy council, where she evaluates collateral coverage for derivatives trades by hedge fund clients. She also serves on the team developing BofA's Pyrite model, which provides margin recommendations on hedge fund trades.
Whelan said she learned early in her career to take pride in her preparation, which earns respect from clients. That, in turn, helps her build out a comprehensive understanding of the credit profile of the hedge fund client.
"Show up to a client's meeting having read everything they give to you in advance, look at the trades they have on with you here, be able to ask super targeted questions," Whelan said.
"I love when I've covered a client for 10-plus years and they say,'Oh, well, as you know' or 'I'm not going to even go over this because you already know,'" she said. "They want to know that the person who is deciding yes or no on things is making that decision from an informed place with full understanding of the client."
