ABGSC + the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation host “Women Insight Day” in Stockholm

Above: (From left) ABGSC’s Josephine Andersson, Hanna Forsgren and Mirjam Medelli address students and ABGSC CEO Jonas Ström during the Women Insight Day.

On 28 September ABGSC and the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation co-hosted the “Women Insight Day”, a student event designed to inspire female participants to pursue a career in finance.
The event featured presentations, case training, and networking sessions, and was attended by 25 female students from a variety of universities, including the Stockholm School of Economics, The KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm), Lund University, Linköping University, the London School of Economics, and Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg). The attending students had applied and were selected from a pool of applicants.
The purpose of the event was to increase female students’ interest in the financial sector and lower the barrier to entry by offering insight into the many career paths available within finance, as well as offering a networking opportunity for participants to connect with others who are interested in the industry.

About the event
The event consisted of a variety of presentations, including a presentation on “Why women should choose a career within finance” by the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation’s Board Member Catrin Jansson and Administrator Marianne Daae, presentations by Erik Skog of ABGSC’s Corporate Finance team and Olof Cederholm of ABGSC’s Equity Research team on the opportunities within their fields, in addition to presentations by ABGSC CEO Jonas Ström, and guest speakers Charlotta Faxén (of Lannebo Fonder) and Cecilia Nytorp (of Verdane) – all of whom further fleshed-out the opportunities for women within the sector. Rounding out the day, the event also included a panel discussion, case training, a networking-mingle, and finally dinner (hosted by the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation).
Mirjam Medelli, a member of ABGSC’s Stockholm Corporate Finance team and one of the event’s organisers, commented that, “I hope the students were inspired to pursue a career in finance and that they have discovered that there are many different career opportunities in the sector. I also hope that they have made a lot of new friends and contacts, both at ABGSC and among the other students, whom they can reach out to if they want to ask questions or get advice”.
Marianne Daae, Administrator for the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation, stated that, “The Foundation’s current focus is on supporting initiatives that may stimulate an increase in the proportion of female students who study or have an interest in finance at universities in Scandinavia, with the aim of increasing the number of women who choose to pursue careers in the industry. The ‘Women Insight Day’ contributed to this objective by providing insight and information about career paths in the financial sector to motivated students from a variety of educational institutions. We hope that the event has encouraged participating students to choose a career in finance, and possibly that those students will in turn contribute to an increased interest in finance among their peer groups”.

Looking towards the future
This is the first time that the event has been held. However, both ABGSC and the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation are hopeful that the event can become an annual activity going forward.
Reflecting on the future of female participation in the Scandinavian financial sector, Mirjam Medelli commented that, “By attracting interest in a career in finance among female students, our hope and ambition is that more women will choose to pursue a career in the sector in future. I am convinced that more diversity in the financial industry will enhance business performance and create a more inclusive and inspiring work environment”.

Above: (clockwise from top): ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation Board Member Catrin Jansson addresses students; students mingling during the event; ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation Administrator Marianne Daae addresses students; students interacting during the event.