NEW YORK, Oct. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An all-star panel that included some of the country’s leading women asset allocators and fund managers convened at Labaton Sucharow’s Women’s Initiative event to address current trends, compelling reasons to include diverse managers in a portfolio, and ways to improve visibility for diverse managers.
Held at the Four Seasons in New York on September 28, the event was conceived and designed to foster the discussion around the important topic of how institutional investors invest and build relationships with women and minority-owned firms, according to Labaton Sucharow partner and program co-chair Serena Hallowell.
“This topic is of interest to many of our clients, both the public pension funds and investment managers, and our Women’s Initiative wants to be part of the effort to open the dialogue and bridge some of the gaps that exist between allocators and diverse managers,” said Ms. Hallowell, co-chair of Labaton Sucharow’s Women’s Initiative.
“The goal of the Women’s Initiative is to promote the advancement of women lawyers and to make them into women leaders,” said partner Carol Villegas, program co-chair and co-chair of the Women’s Initiative. “This event expands our vision by engaging fabulous female professionals in the finance and legal industry and helps elevate women and minorities in the profession.”
Introduced by Karen Grenon (Assistant General Counsel, Office of the Treasurer-State of Connecticut), the allocator panel included Corinne T. Babcock (President and Commissioner, Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions), Laurie Martin (Chief Investment Officer, Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds), Sheryl Mejia (Director of Emerging Managers, New York State Common Retirement Fund), and Angela Miller-May (Chief Investment Officer, Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund). Meredith A. Jones (Partner and Head of Emerging Manager Research, Aon) moderated the first panel.
The managers’ panel was moderated by Safia B. Mehta (Managing Director, Outsourced Investment Solutions, Manager Analysis Services LLC) and the panelists included: Marilyn R. Freeman (Principal & Manager, Capital Prospects LLC); Mary Lisanti (President, Portfolio Manager, and Managing Member, Lisanti Capital Growth, LLC); Mary Pugh (CEO & Chief Investment Officer, Pugh Capital Management, Inc.); and Susan Webb (President/CIO, Appomattox Advisory, Inc.).
Partner Marisa N. DeMato, co-chair of the program, delivered the closing remarks and highlighted the event’s all-female panels noting that this was a deliberate decision to provide a platform to highly accomplished women to share their expertise and experiences. “We believe female-led panels should be the new normal,” she added.
Labaton Sucharow’s Women’s Initiative was founded in 2007 with the goal of providing an environment that fosters growth, leadership, and success for the Firm’s female attorneys. Since its launch, the firm has hosted dozens of exceptional guests, including senior executives from a wide array of commercial markets, as well as leaders in politics, law, and global not-for-profits. The program also includes quarterly workshops on practical skills, such as networking, public speaking, and self-advocacy, as well as opportunities to participate and join outside women’s organizations, bar associations, and networking groups in order to build professional profiles. The group is also a proud supporter of Girls Who Invest and Rock The Street, Wall Street, two leading organizations that seek to bring more women into leadership roles in finance.
ABOUT LABATON SUCHAROW LLP
For more than 50 years, Labaton Sucharow LLP has been a trusted partner to public pension funds, hedge funds, investment banks, and other financial institutions. We have prosecuted precedent-setting class and direct actions, recovering billions of dollars on behalf of injured investors and consumers. The Firm’s successful reputation is built not only on its team of 60 attorneys, but also on its industry-leading in-house investigators, financial analysts, and forensic accountants. The Firm litigates in the areas of securities, antitrust, consumer protection, and corporate governance and shareholder rights law, as well as whistleblower representation. With affiliates worldwide, the Firm also advises clients on non-U.S. securities actions. For more information, visit www.labaton.com.
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