From 2010 as managing director she assumed responsibility for the convertibles team in London s later for all of Europe, with a broader role including derivatives. Here she becomes a major player in the primary market, working closely with public and private companies in the structuring, pricing and placement of financing instruments from convertibles to debt to SPACs. After several years spent abroad, she returned to Italy in September 2021 where she continues as Head of Convertible Bonds Sales Europe and local sales manager. IAG business angel, get to know her better.
Can you share your experience and professional background? What was it like returning to Italy after so many years spent abroad?
I must admit that my career in investment banking started a bit by accident. My dream was to become an ambassador and to travel the world, which is why I followed a university path directed toward the diplomatic field. While working on my thesis I was lucky enough to get in touch with AIESEC (Association of Students in Economic Sciences) and with their help I started an internship in the treasury of Citigroup Panama. I thought, "Central America is the perfect place, banking a little less but it will give me a chance to gain experience abroad and, in the meantime, potentially work with the consulate." Eventually, I realized that banking was not what I thought it was and that it was actually a very dynamic environment with interesting people with a lot of desire to do and learn.
So, I decided to pursue a career in investment banking in London, first with UBS and later with Goldman Sachs. Markets have always fascinated me, and operating on the trading floor in one of the world's leading marketplaces was a unique experience. What has stimulated me most has been working with clients and colleagues constantly looking for new financial solutions to meet market needs, from the financial crisis of 2008 to the European sovereign debt crisis in 2015 to the pandemic of 2020. The crises (alas) were the most interesting-they were the times where I learned the most and got to really challenge myself, especially in capital raise transactions for large European companies.
The phase of my job that I found most challenging but also most rewarding was rebuilding the Goldman Sachs convertibles team after convincing management that it was the right time to invest choosing the right people and creating a team spirit is not easy, but it is a recipe for success. Within three years we became No. 1 in Europe by trading volume. In addition, profitability has more than quadrupled. The decision to come to Italy was more personal than professional: I felt that the team would continue to function at its best and I was looking for a new challenge that would bring me closer to the Italian market while remaining part of the Goldman family.
What were your main motivations for entering the investment world as a business angel?
I had long wanted to enter the world of business angels, both as an investment opportunity but more importantly I find it a way to contribute to growth and innovation in my country. Europe is still far behind the United States in venture capital. For example, in 2023 there were only 150 unicorns in Europe vs over 600 in the US. On a positive note, venture capital investment has increased exponentially in recent years, tripling between 2015 and 2022 to 130bln, thanks in part to the regulatory regime and government incentives. One of the reasons why Europe lags the US is the lack of seed capital: 60% comes from business angels vs. only 30% in Europe. Hence my desire to be more involved in this area.
I had already approached the VC field in London, participating in investments with colleagues and then taking an active part as a mentor and financial advisor in seminars organized by Goldman for startups (10k small businesses program). I was fascinated by the enthusiasm and desire to innovate of many of the entrepreneurs I met. Back in Italy, I looked for a somewhat more systematic way of investing in startups. I wanted to start "getting my hands dirty," not only investing but also taking a more active mentoring role. When I was introduced to IAG, I could not have imagined a better way to enter the world of business angels, and right from the beginning it has been an exceptional journey, both from the point of view of screening startups and collaborating with other partners in the group.
Given your professional experience, what is the role of leadership in encouraging and supporting diversity and inclusion?
As leaders we have a huge responsibility to support diversity and inclusion. Mentoring our more junior colleagues is important but it is not enough, we need real sponsorship. For years I played an active role as Head of Goldman's Women Network in London-we started small, creating a sense of community and trying to raise visibility to senior management while simultaneously working closely with HR. To really make a difference, however, you have to create a critical mass at the top: we started by building more transparent processes at the recruiting stage both at the university level, where we got to 50 percent women in the analyst class, and at the more senior level, where we generally tend to lose more women, but then most importantly we intervened more actively in the promotion process, creating a real sponsorship program with direct participation of senior management. It becomes a virtuous circle, the more you promote diversity at the top, the more you attract candidates from diverse backgrounds and the workplace becomes more inclusive. Women are only one aspect of diversity: the issue of immigrants and their integration is equally important especially in Italy where the percentage of first-generation Italians is clearly increasing (11% today vs. less than 9% in 2010).
How important do you think it is to promote diversity and inclusion in the startups you invest in, and what changes do you hope to see in this area in the coming years?
Promoting diversity in startups is most important to me. First, it's a matter of returns: companies where there is more diversity tend to generate better returns-in a recent Blackrock publication analyzing 1250 companies globally, it was found that since 2013, companies with a gender-balanced workforce have outperformed the rest by more than 2 percent. Moreover, there is evidence that diversity not only improves company performance but also provides a significant economic boost: a recent Goldman study titled "Women (still) hold up half of the sky" found that decreasing "gender inequality" by half could increase global GDP by 5-6%. Startups are at the very beginning of this chain, so they are an important element in promoting change. Education plays a key role here: not just scholarships and training programs for women and minorities who want to pursue entrepreneurial careers, but school-level education on what it means to become an entrepreneur and create your own company. Basic financial training is still completely lacking at the school level unless you study economics/accounting.
Although we are still a long way off with only 10 percent of startups in 2022 created by women-only teams, I remain optimistic for the future. My hope is that the changes that are taking hold in the public market will slowly make themselves felt in the private market as well: from my experience over the past few years, I have noticed a distinct change on the part of investors to take a more active role in ESG and force companies to set concrete goals to improve diversity, failing which they risk failing to raise capital from investors and find themselves paying higher funding costs.