Racquel Oden of
Transcription:
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Chana Schoenberger (00:12):
Hi, I'm Chana Schoenberger. I'm the editor in Chief of American Banker, and I have with me here today Racquel Oden, who is the head of International Wealth, global Private Banking for the US at HSVC. Congratulations, and thanks for coming in.
Racquel Oden (00:26):
Thanks so much for having us and so excited to be part of this honor.
Chana Schoenberger (00:30):
Super interesting. Okay, so what is the biggest challenge you're facing in your role today and how are you handling it?
Racquel Oden (00:36):
So the biggest challenge I'm facing in my role today is managing wealth for global clients, as you can probably imagine, has quite complexity today, as well as uncertainty. There are headlines daily, and my job is to make sure we're providing the advice to help these global clients navigate the complexity that we're facing right now. So I think the way I look at it is how do I make sure I'm providing global advice, but making sure I stay locally relevant.
Chana Schoenberger (01:01):
So what are some of the issues that they're asking you about?
Racquel Oden (01:04):
I think what they're asking us about is what you are probably asking of your advisor today, which is how do I respond to the volatility that I'm seeing in the market? How do I respond to the current policies that are now impacting global decisions, whether they're tariffs, whether it's the interest rates, whether it's inflation. All of these things are concerning for individual investors, but you can probably imagine even more concerning or complex when you're dealing with an international client base
Chana Schoenberger (01:32):
To talk about leadership. What have you learned in your time as an executive that nobody told you when you were junior?
Racquel Oden (01:39):
What I've learned, and I would say what I tell my younger self, embrace risk, there is such upside in what I call possibilities. I think you have to keep that entrepreneurial spirit and no matter what stage you are in your career, being open to learning new things and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, I tell people you have to get what I call comfortably uncomfortable. And if you figure out that right balance, then you're making the right decisions.
Chana Schoenberger (02:06):
One of the challenges that Wall Street is facing today is convincing a new generation of young employees to join banks. And how would you sell them on the idea that this is a life of purpose, that it's a career that's important.
Racquel Oden (02:22):
So what I would tell the younger generation, which is critical as we think about the importance in their relevancy in our industry, when you think about the transfer of wealth that's going to take place for this next generation, and also specifically women, about $124 trillion and 2048 are going to actually transfer. And I would say to that next generation, that's your wealth. And I also say to women, that's going to be your wealth. About 70% of that 124 trillion will actually be in the hands of next gen and women. And so to me, it's a complete urgency of them being part of this industry. But personally and professionally on both sides, it's going to be critical that they are part of what we're doing here at
Chana Schoenberger (03:14):
Do you find that younger people, when they come onto your team, how are they doing things differently?
Racquel Oden (03:23):
I'd say what's amazing about this generation coming in is they are forcing us to do things differently. But I'd say the benefit of that is what I call reverse mentorship. They can learn from us and we can learn from them and the answer somewhere in the middle of how we should be looking at the workforce and how we do things. I always tell this generation that's coming in, there's two things that are very important. Don't feel like you always have to have all the answers be open to what I'd say listening and be hunger for information. And with that learning still bring in your individual voice, your individual perspective, because that's how we gain the knowledge at the table and we can be relevant to our clients today and the clients we need to be relevant for in the future.
Chana Schoenberger (04:06):
How do you attract clients in that generation? They're so amplified now.
Racquel Oden (04:11):
I always say attracting them. It's too late. I have a belief that we should be working with their parents and working with their children before they actually inherit this wealth. I have a view that when we're having wealth discussions or financial planning discussions, we always ask them, can we include the kids? Right? Can we include your significant other? The idea here is we want to build wealth for you, but we understand the importance of passing that on and important that your wealth still deliver on all the beliefs that you've always had, because we won't all be here to continue what we want to do as relates to our finances. But I think this next generation, quite honestly, are thirsty and hungry and actually want to be part of the dialogue, which I think is a huge positive.
Chana Schoenberger (04:58):
And where does technology fit into all of this?
Racquel Oden (05:01):
Technology is at the center of it. The reality is the way that we did things from a brick and mortar standpoint just probably isn't realistic anymore if you don't have that digital offering critical from the standpoint of the next generation. But the fact that I just told you we have global clients, we are around the world and physically sitting across from somebody isn't always possible. And so the technology and our ability to deliver the same unique individual advice digitally and physically are critical to this industry.
Chana Schoenberger (05:30):
So when you think about the issues facing your sector of the industry and how financial institutions are managing them, what are you thinking about?
Racquel Oden (05:40):
Well, I'm thinking about the fact that information is so instant and the relevancy of what we do is why really anchor on advice. Because information and content plethora, there's so much out there. Our job is to help you navigate that fast paced information coming at everyone every single day, figuring out what's fact, what's truth, and what's relevant for you. And then additionally, also still having that edge of anticipating where things are going. That's where advice really comes in, right? It isn't about today's relevancy, but how do I help you think through the next five to 10 years? So what keeps you up at night right now? There are many things that keep me up at night right now, but what keeps me up at night right now, I'm going to say honestly, is thinking about the next gen and what's ahead of us and the opportunities of what they're going to discover and what they're going to bring to the table. As you know, I have a 24-year-old daughter who honestly, when I take a look at what she does on a daily basis, working for a pretty large tech company, I'm excited about what's ahead and anticipating where they're going to take things is an incredible, incredible place to be. Wonderful. Well, thank you again and congratulations. Thank you so much. Such an honor.
