The Chief Investment Strategist of Wilmington Trust talks about what she's learned about leadership and why Wall Street is a career with purpose.
Transcription:
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Mary Ellen Egan (00:11):
Hi, I am Mary Ellen Egan. I am the senior director Content and Strategy Live Media for American Banker. I'm here with my guest, Meghan Shue, the Chief Investment Strategist for Wilmington Trust. Thank you Megan, so much for taking time to speak to me today.
Meghan Shue (00:24):
Thank you for having me.
Mary Ellen Egan (00:25):
So I want to talk a little bit about your role and what challenges you might be facing in this environment. I mean, we're seeing impacts from tariffs and the market certainties, so how is it affecting what you do and how you view what is going on within the market?
Meghan Shue (00:41):
It's a challenge. My job is to show up every day for our clients and impart wisdom and views about what is happening in the world and how it will impact their investments. And there is just a tremendous amount of uncertainty and environment where no one can know what's going to happen. So showing up and recognizing what we know, what we don't know, and using that to inform a view is really all we can do and what we strive to do for our clients.
Mary Ellen Egan (01:12):
And so when you look at the industry as a whole, especially when we're talking about wealth management or so, what changes? I mean, how do you navigate those kind of uncertainties, which we alluded to before, and how does it impact, are there certain strategies you think financial institutions should be considering or things that look down maybe to look at down the road that they might not have considered like maybe a year ago?
Meghan Shue (01:35):
Absolutely. The industry is constantly innovating and the world is rapidly changing as well. Geopolitical alliances, global relationships, the role of technology, all of that is really challenging the status quo for how we've thought about investing and successful investment strategies in the past. So we are constantly trying to find ways of bringing appealing risk adjusted returns for our clients. Obviously considering the risk, but also looking for ways that they can grow their wealth and achieve their goals. Because that at the end of the day is what it's all about. It's not about the numbers or the ups and downs of the stock market. It's about helping our clients who have this wealth preserve it and grow it over time for hopefully many generations to come.
Mary Ellen Egan (02:25):
So we're heading into our most powerful women in banking and finance week, and you are our first one who started the first honoree, who started as the next honoree and are now women in banking and finance honoree. So obviously as you've come from being more of a junior person to being a leader now, what kind of leadership changes have you seen or what do you wish you knew now being a leader that you didn't know when you started your career?
Meghan Shue (02:51):
Well, I think when I was junior, I had many wonderful leaders to look up to and they always seemed to have all the answers. And sometimes I think they did, and I think sometimes they didn't. They used their team to come up with the views that they needed to share. And so as I find myself in a leadership role now with oversight of many different areas, some of which I know incredibly well and some of which I might not know, as many things, I have to really rely on my team. So humility is huge. I think recognizing what you know and what you don't know, and that also feeds directly into investing because if you approach investing with a certain amount of humility, you'll probably be able to appreciate the risks and make some good long-term decisions. I think the other thing, as I am now a little more senior and I look back on especially some of the junior women who I mentee, and I think back to when I was in those seats, I was deep in the weeds and now I'm up above the trees, so to speak. And sometimes I miss being back in the weeds. So I would tell my junior self, enjoy being in the weeds. There's plenty of time to come out of that and just learn as much as you can about that specific area that you're focusing on.
Mary Ellen Egan (04:12):
So today, with everything going on in the world and in your industry, what keeps you up at night? Is there one certain thought? Does it maybe not have anything to do with business, has something to do with something else?
Meghan Shue (04:24):
Yeah, there's plenty of things to keep me up at night focusing on the markets and geopolitics. There's a whole laundry list of concerns related to geopolitical risk and the long-term relationship between the US and China, things like that. But I guess if I had to go out of the box a little bit, one of the things that keeps me up at night a little bit is the pace of change that I think we're going to see related to technology related to artificial intelligence over the next 10 years. I was thinking, speaking to my daughter the other day, who's 10 years old about different career paths, and it dawned on me that there may not be the same suite of careers for her to choose from. When she eventually makes her way into the professional world, it's probably going to look a lot different because of the role of technology. So whether it's as an executive or a mentor or even a mother, how do I guide these younger generations towards where those opportunities will lie? And that's something that I think is both incredibly exciting, but also a little bit unnerving.
Mary Ellen Egan (05:33):
Right. I'm building on that. One of the last things I want to ask you is how do we encourage young people to be interested in jobs on Wall Street? Maybe it is because there's so much changing, and so what they used to might think was more stodgy straight career path is now a lot more varied and more exciting. So what do you think would help interest the younger generation in working on Wall Street and working in banks and financial institutions, just like Wilmington Trust?
Meghan Shue (05:56):
Yeah. Well, I'm in wealth management, and I think what some people might not appreciate is that it really is a very exciting combination of following the markets, following what's in the headlines and affects us every day as global citizens. But it's also incredibly people driven, and it's one of the most rewarding aspects of my job, is connecting the investment opportunities to the people and the families who we are doing it for. And I think for people who really want that connection and those personal connections with the intellectual stimulation of following the markets and being in finance, there is no better career path than to move into banking and I think specifically wealth management.
Mary Ellen Egan (06:42):
Well, thank you very much for your time, Megan. I really appreciate you. Thank you. I.
