In prior generations, before the Baby Boomers transcended the accepted social norms, our mothers and grandmothers seldom worked outside the home. Overseeing the family budget was tightly controlled.

Bank accounts, borrowings and finance-related transactions were denied without a co-signature, usually the head of the household. Little to no privy participation was allowed in planning family assets, or joint tax return disclosures, while unequal rights to the family estate was the law.

That was way back then. Four generations later, we are in the 40-year olds stratosphere now.

Mainstream women today may not have it all, but they do it all. They are visibly employed – the majority workforce in some countries – in all facets of the global spectrum, including outer space.

Contemporary definitions of work and family have changed. Two incomes for most families is a modern necessity. Single contemporary women are choosing independence, acquiring assets, operating businesses, possibly raising children while navigating careers. Future responsibilities hovering, too, over 40-somethings’ plans, are their impending sandwich-spread thin responsibility for eldercare.

Women of today not only manage their own finances, but as career finance professionals, nurture and manage their clients’ money.

In a far-ranging discussion with two successful 40’s finance career professionals, an Encore Age Baby Boomer met with Pearline McIntosh, VP, TEP (Trust & Estate Practitioner), ACIB, Private Banking, Butterfield and Dianne Blais, VP, CFP (Certified Financial Planner) and Canadian Securities License holder, Wealth Advisor at Butterfield.

Our topic sharing covered the gamut: family background, money habits, mentors and career development, longevity, achieving excellence with continuing education, work/ life balance and success attributes, all of which intertwine and contribute to personal and financial success.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Our mothers’ influences. Regardless of our generation gap, we discovered many similarities in our backgrounds.

Coming from limited means households, we were all proud of, and felt fortunate to have, mothers who:

• were extremely convivial, enjoyed family, friends, relatives and community events, all positive communication skills that develop self-esteem for the whole family.
• cheerfully managed the family finances, not the least daunted in accepting a thrifty, modest lifestyle in order to save for the future, assuring that each child received a good education.

It is well known statistically that positive parental attitudes towards money management are extremely influential for children as they grow. The subliminal message resonates – with personal ingenuity and forward planning, one can accomplish any financial goal in life.

LONGEVITY AWARENESS IS PART GOOD MONEY MANAGEMENT

Women, now in their forties, can have an estimated lifespan to 100 years of age, including 15-20 years of time alone. Every woman must now take responsibility for her own financial happiness.

MONEY HABITS AND MATERIALITY

No surprise at all that we had a universal agreement about money habits.

• Save before spending.
• Start saving early. Any small amount adds up: extra change, cookie jar accumulations, say $25 dollars a week, $100 a month, compounds exponentially in twenty, thirty years, forty, fifty years.
• Set up an automatic debit plan so that you will save before spending.
• If you cannot pay cash, don’t buy it.
• Acquiring things actually creates more stress than satisfaction. You really don’t need much to be happy.

Having said that, there is no single way to manage money. Everyone deserves a treat, occasionally. Consider spending on experiences instead of those fabulous shoes or that bag; out of style and worth pennies on the dollar twenty years on.

WORK/ LIFE BALANCE

We are only human. Today’s 24/7 work environment can be very isolating.

• Planning is vital for managing stress, and multi-tasking between work and home. At the end of each week, take time to review accomplishments, then plan for the next week – to keep work and family life in balance.
• Keep in mind that your life is not all about the money.
• You need your people contacts. Do your best to maintain family and friend relationships.
• Stay as physically active as time permits. Use those family backgrounds that encouraged sports activities to stay active.

CONTINUING EDUCATION IS A MUST!

Every finance individual Encore Age has known believes totally in the vital ingredient for career advancement and financial success – continuing education.

Our finance world evolves every minute, day, month, year. You must always be prepared to be current in your thinking or be left behind.

Limited family finances can try to torpedo a dream. Never let hurdles stop your progress. Make your own opportunities. The results: Professional designations: CFP® and Canadian Securities Licenses. TEP, ACIB – UK banking designation.

ATTRIBUTES FOR SUCCESS

• Never be afraid of the next step in life.
• Persevere through every roadblock. Keep that end goal at the top of your mind.
• Create a passion for excellence in all facets of your life!

GRATITUDE TO MENTORS

Having supportive, experienced, wise, leaders-in-their-field mentors has been a wonderful gift for both of our interviewees.

In a classy, grateful, tribute to their wonderful mentors, both Dianne and Pearline are using their powers of professionalism, experience, and commitment to excellence, to perpetuate the tradition of mentoring younger peers starting out in their respective finance professions.

Martha Harris Myron JSM CPA – Pondstraddler Life Financial Perspectives for Bermuda Islanders – Financial Columnist since 2000 for the Royal Gazette – Senior Advisor, Olderhood Group Bermuda

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by Julie McLean

2019 marks the centenary in the UK of the 1919 Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act, which allowed women to enter the legal profession. Julie McLean, a director and board member of Conyers Dill & Pearman, takes a timely look back at the story of women in Bermuda’s legal sector and the progress to equality in her own firm. 

The history of women lawyers in Bermuda begins with an exceptional pioneer – Lois Browne-Evans (later Dame Lois). In 1953, some 30 years after the first female lawyer in the UK, she was the first woman to be called to the Bermuda bar. As a young, black woman barrister in a profession dominated by white men, she was a trailblazer who in her long career went on to break down other professional barriers, including becoming the first female Attorney General in Bermuda in1998.

Following in Lois Browne-Evans footsteps, though over a decade later, were Ann Cartwright DeCouto and Shirley Simmons. As the only three women practising law in Bermuda in the 1960s, they were close friends and known as the “Three Musketeers”.

Other pioneers in the island’s legal profession include Dianna Kempe and Norma Wade-Miller. Dianna Kempe was admitted to the Bermuda Bar in 1973 and went on to become Senior Partner of Appleby, Spurling & Kempe (now Appleby). She was the first female lawyer to become Queen’s Council (QC) in Bermuda in 2000 as well as the first woman to be elected President of the International Bar Association. In 2006 she was the third recipient of the Outstanding World Woman Lawyers of the Year Award. Norma Wade-Miller was the first female magistrate in Bermuda, the first female Judge of the High Court, Justice of the Supreme Court of Bermuda and Acting Chief Justice in Bermuda. Her service to the island’s legal community and judiciary was honoured with an OBE in 2016.

While the percentage of women called to the bar in Bermuda averaged less than 10 per cent in the 1960s and 1970s, the feminist movement of those decades began to bear fruit, with that figure creeping up to roughly 20 per cent in the ‘80s and 40 per cent in the ‘90s. Since the turn of the millennium, on average more women than men have been called to Bar (around 55 per cent) reflecting the equality now present between men and women in terms of access to a legal education and entering the legal profession.

There still tends to be a gap between the numbers of men and women at the director/partnership level.

However, the picture is less rosy when it comes to equality between the sexes in the higher ranks of the profession. In common with firms in the UK, the US and Canada, there still tends to be a gap between the numbers of men and women at the director/partnership level. This can be partly explained by the time it takes to progress to partnership – if fewer women were entering the profession in the ‘80s and ‘90s, fewer would be in partnership positions today. Nonetheless, there are other factors at play too, resulting in higher attrition of women than men from the profession. Most notable is the greater challenge faced by women in balancing career and family, due to the continued expectation that mothers will play the primary role as care-giver. Millennials onwards tend to have a more open view of traditional roles, so as men take on more responsibility at home, balancing will become easier for women.

Recognising that there is still some way to go to ensure equal opportunity for progression to all levels, women in the profession have come together in Bermuda to assist each other. The Women’s Legal Network was founded in 2015 by Kimberley D. Caines-Best and Lovette Tannock. “We wanted to provide a space for women in law to support one another. Over the past few years we have organised a number of networking, educational and philanthropic events which have been very well attended and received,” said Kimberley Caines-Best.

Young women entering the legal profession today not only benefit from having had barriers broken by those who went before, but today often have the advantage of mentorship and support from female and male colleagues as they progress through their careers. This bodes well for a future where gender imbalance in the profession, at all levels, will eventually be a thing of the past.

Gender Diversity at Conyers

Bermuda’s largest law firm, Conyers Dill & Pearman, has come a very long way in terms of gender equality, particularly in recent years.

More than three-quarters of the firm’s Bermuda employees are women, and when it comes to global management roles and department heads, women are well represented – for example, the Chief Financial Officer, Global Head of Client Services, Head of Trust Services, Head of Corporate Services, Global Head of Human Resources and Chief Marketing Officer are all women.

Lisa Marshall, who joined in 1988, was the firm’s first female lawyer, soon followed by Robin Mayor. Lisa went on to become the firm’s first female partner in 1991; Robin was also promoted to partner the following year.

Conyers now has 22 female lawyers in Bermuda representing around 45 per cent of the total. At the director level, only 27 per cent are female, but this number is steadily rising and is higher than most onshore law firms. Lisa Spencer-Arscott, Global Head of Human Resources for Conyers, acknowledges the imbalance at the top, but points out that the numbers of men and women promoted to director in recent years have been equal. “When you look at the numbers of women associates in the firm (66 per cent), it is clear that in time we will see a much more equal representation of gender at the director level. It will just take a few more years,” she said.

The firm has worked hard to attract female lawyers and at least half of applicants to the summer law program – a primary vehicle for sourcing new associate hires – are now women. Equally important is retaining that talent, by fostering a culture in which women feel valued and get the experience they need to succeed. A women’s networking group has been set up by some of the firm’s female leaders to champion the professional developmentand career advancement of women through such means as sponsorship by senior leaders, mentoring and peer networking. “The group will also draw on expertise and insights from our peer groups of influential male leaders to help support our objectives, step up beside women and drive the adoption of actions across the firm,” said Lisa Spencer-Arscott.

Unconscious bias training was also delivered throughout the firm last year, with the aim of improving awareness of implicit biases – including gender and racial prejudices – that can hinder success and inclusion.

Julie McLean is a Director and local Head of Aviation Finance at Conyers Dill & Pearman.

This article was originally featured in the February 2019 edition of the RG Business Magazine.

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