Foreign currency or forex trading has traditionally been a male-dominated environment, but these female trading warriors conquered the markets – and overcame gender bias – regardless. For example, see pictured above Adena Friedman, President of NASDAQ and Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of J.P.Morgan Asset Management (photo courtesy of Financial Times)
With trading education resources being accessible online and trading platforms facilitating trades 24/7 and on any mobile device, forex trading is one of the most flexible ways of putting your money to work at your own pace, in your own time.
Although not the most obvious career choice for women, there have been plenty of female traders who have excelled at their jobs over the decades – at times pretending to be male in order to win trust…
We introduce you to the stories of the top five female traders in the world.
Kathy Lien
One of the most successful forex traders around, Kathy Lien graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business aged just 18. She was initially employed by JPMorgan Chase, working on the interbank forex trading desk. With over twenty years of experience in financial markets, she has published bestselling books and started a major online foreign exchange research portal.
In 2003, Kathy Lien started DailyFX.com, now the leading portal for financial market news and analysis.
Geraldine Weiss
One of the first women to succeed in investment finance, Geraldine Weiss started an investment newsletter in 1966, aged 40. For a long time, she signed herself G Weiss to mask the fact that she was a woman, as investors were not inclined to believe that a woman could be successful in finance at the time. By the time she revealed the truth eleven years later, subscribers to her newsletter were making so much money it didn’t bother them.
Known as the Grande Dame of Dividends, Geraldine Weiss picked stocks based on dividend yield.
Muriel Siebert
The late Muriel Siebert founded her own brokerage house in 1967 and was the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She was an advocate for the rights of women as well as being a philanthropist. She strongly believed that a nation would be stronger if women, as well as men, held executive positions in government and industry because of their different viewpoints and talents.
Muriel Siebert owned and operated the only female-owned brokerage firm on the New York Stock Exchange.
Mary Callahan Erdoes
The Chief Executive Officer of JP Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, Mary Callahan Erdoes manages assets worth over $2.8 trillion. Starting out in what she described as a glorified mailroom job, she worked her way up to her current role, which she has held for over ten years. She says that one key to success is a willingness to abandon investment strategies that aren’t working well. Her team is known for closing funds that aren’t performing well and opening new ones.
In 2014, Forbes Magazine ranked Mary Callahan Erdoes as the 66th most powerful woman in the world.
Sallie Krawcheck
To try and close the investment gender gap, Sallie Krawcheck founded Ellevest, an online financial advice platform for women. Having held a number of senior roles, including president of the Global Wealth and Investment Management division of Bank of America, she is well-placed to offer advice and help women achieve their financial and professional goals.
On the Masters of Scale podcast, Sallie Krawcheck talked about how cognitive diversity is crucial in scaling any company.
Five Investment-savvy Women to look out for on social media
If you want to stay up-to-date with the thoughts and analyses of modern-day experts, follow a few of the best female traders on Twitter. We have five suggestions to get you started.
Lydia Idem @faithmight
An equity investor for over 23 years and an active currency trader for 13 years, Lydia founded FM Capital Group, an investment advisory firm. She has a strong following on Twitter.
Kristin Bentz @KristinBentz
Kristin is a former Wall Street trader who tweets about the latest market developments. President of the KB Advisory Group, she specialises in the analysis of consumer retail, luxury and fashion industries.
Abigail Dolittle @The Chartress
Abigail is an expert at chart analysis and a former technical strategist at The Seaport Group, a boutique New York investment bank. She provides reports on stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies for Bloomberg TV.
Cathy Curtis @cathycurtis
Cathy runs Curtis Financial Planning, an independent advice and investment planning firm. She specializes in helping women navigate the financial world and overcome financial inertia to gain more confidence and clarity when it comes to money matters.
Kiana Danial @KianaDanial
Kiana is the CEO of Invest Diva, an online platform teaching investment tactics for families. She is the author of three books including Invest Diva’s Guide to Making Money in Forex.
Getting started in forex investment
If you’ve been inspired to try forex trading, do your research and make sure you have a good grounding before you take the plunge. To find out what sort of forex trader you are and what currency pairs may be most suited to you, try DailyFX’s quiz to get a better understanding of your trading style.
