Female Executive in Fintech Talks: JBWere Senior Analyst Susan Fu on Empowering Women - Have You Spoken out for Yourself?

​When we first contacted her about having her as our guest for the Women's Day Specials, Susan accepted the invite unhesitatingly, and I quote, she is "happy to share her story and support more women". This is why we at Fazzaco planned the whole event in the first place; we want to hear the voice of more women in finance.

Previously hired by Pepperstone where she took charge of APAC Region, Susan Fu joined JBWere as a senior analyst recently. As she explained the reason to her move, we also got the chance to learn about her earlier experience and her opinion on women in finance speaking out for themselves.

Fazzaco: Welcome Susan! Thanks for joining us at Fazzaco! Now could you first introduce yourself to our readers?

Susan: Thank you so much for inviting me to share my story with Fazzaco's readers on International Women's Day. Hello everyone, My name is Susan Fu. I was born and raised in Suzhou, China and in 2008 I moved to Melbourne to pursue a higher education.

I'm now a senior analyst in the advice team in JBWere. For anyone who may not be immediately familiar with this company, JBWere is a prestigious and leading wealth management firm with a history of serving clients for more than 180 years. I had been working in the foreign exchange and CFD industry for almost seven years before moving to JBWere, holding positions such as Regional Lead at Pepperstone, where I managed a team of six people to service the Southeast Asia Market. On top of that, I just completed MBA course with Melbourne Business School.

Fazzaco: Congrats on that! Well, as you mentioned, you left Pepperstone and joined JBWere, what led to this change?

Susan: It is a good question. I really loved my days with Pepperstone because I felt fully supported and empowered. At this company, I was the first woman to become a regional lead in their global sales team. Thanks to the trust from the upper management team, I was able to show my initiative and lead projects, host seminars, and collaborate with the media.

However, I've always had a passion to work in wealth management. For a while, I was hesitant to act on this, because I feared it was too late to change my career direction. But thankfully, Sam Wylie, a professor at Melbourne Business School, encouraged me to investigate this further and then connected me to people doing well in the industry. I was luckily referred to JBWere by an alumnus in Melbourne Business School, who is an advocate for women in finance, and so, here I am.

Fazzaco: What have you got out of your new position so far?

Susan: I'm really enjoying my new role right now, but honestly, it was quite challenging in the first month. I was completely out of my comfort zone and I felt like I had a big knowledge gap to fill in. We were working remotely at the time and I found this was a barrier because I had so many questions but no idea where to start. However, any frustration diminished quickly thanks to the tremendous help and support of my team members, people leader and manager. I can still remember a time I made a mistake and escalated it to my manager, who reassured me it was OK to make mistakes because it is an important part of learning and now I know how to prevent the same thing from happening again. So, the most significant message from my journey I'd like to share with Fazzaco's readers is don't be afraid to change careers or start a new role and don't worry about making mistakes, we are all here to learn. 

Fazzaco: In your opinion, do women have a tougher time being heard in the finance industry?

Susan: I would like to twist the question a little bit. Let us ask ourselves – have I spoken out? and will I continue to speak out?  

There is one thought from the founder of Girls Who Code, Rashma Saujani, that I cannot agree with more – in our society, we're raising our girls to be perfect, and we're raising our boys to be brave. Its common in the professional world to see men raise their hands and ask for opportunities because they have been conditioned in this behaviour. As women, we often think that "I am not ready to express my opinions because I might be wrong", which was my mindset early in my career. But I do urge women to shift our thinking to "I want to do that, and I will learn by doing it". No one is perfect – it is so beautiful when you realise the motivation and energy you can have by acknowledging that we are all imperfect.

Therefore, I would like to take the chance to urge more women: let us unlock ourselves with a bit confidence, then the world will hear more voices from women.

Fazzaco: That is an excellent point, Susan. Speaking of your early days, could you tell us the story on how you got into the finance business?

Susan: I was actually planning on becoming an accountant when graduated; however, FXCM was looking for a bilingual Financial Service Representative in their new Melbourne office at that time. So, I applied and got the role within three weeks. Nothing fancy, but that's how I started my journey in finance.

Fazzaco: Have you ever been in a situation where people had lower expectation for you simply because you are a woman? What is your opinion on this?

Susan: Yes, this has happened to me. I applied for a team leader role, but management chose a male applicant over me because they thought he was more "leader material" than me. I agreed that applicant would be a good leader, but that shouldn't mean that I couldn't be.

So, I think we have to acknowledge that we all have bias. The bias is something that's ingrained in us, that's built over decades. Traditionally, men were thought to be born leaders, the decision-makers with the power to dominate their world. Women, on the other side, could be good team members and followers. However, I think the stereotype is being changed a lot by having more and more female leaders in the world, like Kristalina Georgieva, the Chairwoman of IMF.

Fazzaco: A lot of girls had their childhood heroines growing up, did you? How did she inspire you?

Susan: My heroine is my mother. She is the first female character in my childhood, the person who taught me how to become a kind-hearted and generous person. More importantly, she demonstrated the importance of being determined and resilient.

Fazzaco: Are women underrepresented in the finance industry?

Susan: Well, male leaders still dominate the finance industry. But if we look at the statistics, there are some numbers that provide hope for change in this status quo. Based on a paper from Deloitte in November 2021, the proportion of women in leadership roles within financial service firms has modestly risen from 22% to 24% and is projected to grow to 28% by 2030.

Admittedly, we still have long way to go, but as long as we continue putting effort into gender equity, the next generation will experience a better world for sure.

Fazzaco: Is the International Women's Day celebrated in Australia? What do you usually do to celebrate the day?

Susan: Nothing particular on the day, but we normally will hang out and enjoy a glass of wine.

Fazzaco: How do you balance work and life?

Susan: Honestly, it is hard to keep the balance between work and life. But I try to stick to a daily routine. During weekdays, I normally wake up at 6:20 am and head to the gym for a 45 minute workout. Before starting work, I will spend 10 – 15 minutes prioritising my tasks based on the level of urgency. Also, I will try to remove distractions by making small changes like putting my mobile phone away. All these tips help me to be productive and focused.

Over the weekend, I will hang out with my friends, sometimes we will explore new restaurants or play golf together. Also, I've started to learn Salsa dancing this year. So, I think I am pretty happy with my work-life balance so far.