Jane Karczewski

Jane Karczewski has recently joined HSBC as Managing Director, Head of Global Custody within Global Banking and Markets. She has global responsibility for the management and development of the global custody franchise.

Prior to HSBC Jane was a Managing Director within Citi Global Markets, Strategic Risk Solutions, where she focused on Asset Management solutions for liquidity and yield across multiple asset classes. Jane started at Citi in 2010 as EMEA Head of Sales and Business Development for Equity Financing and Delta One. Further roles include: Managing Director, Head of Equity Finance Sales within Global Prime Finance at Deutsche and 13 years at Morgan Stanley where she started as an Equity Finance trader before moving to a senior sales and business development role managing the EMEA Sales effort.

Jane is on the Board of London Women’s Forum and is the former Co-Chair of Citi Women. Whilst at Deutsche Jane was a member of the Senior Women’s Advisory Board, and the Women in European Banking (WEB) committee.

We are delighted that Jane has agreed to sit on this year’s WIBF Awards for Achievement judging panel.

How would you encourage someone to make a nomination if they weren’t sure?

Having been involved in supporting the awards for many years, I have seen the real impact the awards have from a confidence and recognition point of view. Do not wait for someone to nominate you, believe in yourself, be brave, step up and ask someone to do it! So much exceptional work goes unnoticed so if you know someone who deserves recognition do take the time to nominate them.

This year we have a new award for ‘Rising Star’ – what advice would you give to women just starting out in a career in banking and finance?

Times have changed and women coming into banking and finance have a great support network via organisations such as WIBF and through their own firms. HSBC as an example puts huge focus on leaders of the future and has specific programs with respect to women and indeed all new entrants. Always deliver on time, manage up, sideways and down, be open, ask for feedback, accept failure, be yourself, and make sure you enjoy what you do. If you don’t, change.

You have spent your career in banking, what advice would you give to women who feel that they have come to a standstill in their career?

1) Enjoying what you do, 2) appreciating and respecting the people around you, and 3) feeling valued – are all part of what makes an individual deliver and be successful. Each person has a different weighting to apply to each of these three elements but ultimately if one of them starts to trend downwards, it is time to make change. Be open to considering opportunities which do not sit fully within your comfort zone. It takes courage to make change, but change is good and very rewarding.

Was there a ‘lightbulb moment’ that made you want to get involved with women’s networks and forums?

Earlier on in my career I certainly did not feel the need and quite enjoyed being a minority amongst male colleagues. After I became VP at Morgan Stanley (5 years into my career) I realised that I would need to take ownership of my own destiny if I wanted to move up within the firm. I joined the women’s network and never looked back. It provided me with a safe haven to discuss concerns, brain storm ideas and connect with women across all areas of the organisation, who helped provide connections to “get things done”. When I then moved to Deutsche and then to Citi, it was the key connector for me to get to know the organisation quickly.

If you would like to nominate someone for one of WIBF’s 2018 Awards for Achievement please visit this page for more information and to access the nomination page.