Finance, Hedge Funds and Leadership
Most teenagers
going into university have a vague idea of where their university course will
take them. Some know what they want to do, but have little idea of how to
achieve their goals. Others, who study law or medicine, know exactly what they
are studying for. But if you study finance also, you have such a broad church
of subjects that banking, marketing and possibly even a career in hedge funds
are all on the cards.
If you have that
range of career paths to choose from, choosing what is right for you can be
difficult. For Adriana Kostov, the choice was a simple one; her interest in the
corporate world and particularly how finance has a global impact, as well as
how law integrates into this has led to a stellar career. Currently Adriana
hold positions as the Director of Compliance and General Counsel for global
macro currency hedge fund firm Excalibur Funds Management as well as the first
Australian Regional Director of the Hedge Fund Association. It has also been a
quick rise through the corporate ranks for Adriana and she represents the value
of knowing your mind and having direction.
Her career
effectively began when she entered the Law/Commerce undergraduate program at
the University of Western Australia.
“In choosing the
degree I felt it would give me the best exposure to the broader corporate
world. I was very interested in international trade and trade relations in the
global environment. I wanted to understand what are the key drivers for the
Australian economy and how we attract foreign investment.”
The best way to
understand foreign investment was to take up a position in a political
environment.
Adriana worked
for the Electoral Commission, as well as the WA Attorney General, Mr Jim
McGinty, whilst studying at university.
Her tasks were to
assist in policy development and research various legal methods, which she
found quite interesting. The significance of that role was that it shaped the
way she saw business.
“It definitely
had an influence, because when you work within the government you do start to
understand the processes that are involved in various decision making.
Generally speaking there are quite a lot of protocols and levels of decision
making that are required. The other thing of interest is the policy guidelines
set by the government, as well as future initiatives on which the government is
embarking. So, when making a commercial decision, one thing that I think about
now is what is the government policy on this issue and what is the likelihood
of this commercial decision being successful in light of that?”
That level of
policy knowledge is invaluable to those who are commercially minded. Adriana
believes that her time in government has had an extremely strong influence on
the way she’s approached financial ethical issues and interpreted Australian
investment guidelines.
“With the Hedge
Fund Association, it’s obviously had quite a strong influence. There is a
strong focus on government and regulatory affairs in the US and that was part
of the attraction in bringing the group to Australia. Intrinsic to my work are
Australian policies related to international finance and investment and the
governance around that.”
Her time in
government worked as a facilitator for Adriana’s drive to succeed in the
corporate world. Moving on from the Electoral Commission, and graduating from
the University of Western Australia, she wanted to get more involved in the
day-today decision making of corporate Australia, while dealing with the money
markets and the legal markets.
Hence, her
applying, and being accepted into, the Macquarie Graduate Program.
“It was a
fantastic experience, just in the sense that there were a small group of us
nationally that had been accepted into the program. We had quite an intensive
training course in the first three months learning the basics of financial modelling.
At the time I met a really great group of very like-minded and very ambitious
people, many of whom I am still in contact with today.”
Macquarie gave
Adriana the financial grounding to cover any technical and analytical financial
challenge.
Both Macquarie
and the Electoral Commission were high intensity environments, but that didn’t
phase a young Adriana.
“If you find
yourself in that position, you probably have quite a good understanding of what
is involved and the high pressure environment that goes along with it including
the long hours and the level of responsibility. So, you just need to put your
head down and really focus on the task at hand and there will be competing
priorities at all times, but you just need to learn how to try and identify key
issues, and what needs to be done.”
Adriana also
credits the strength of supervisors who were willing to take the time to teach
as well as let her discover things for herself and learn how to solve
particular issues on her own.
“In terms of what
I’ve learned about myself, it’s that you really need to think on your own two
feet. You need to keep on challenging yourself because at the end of the day
there always is a solution to any problem.”
Challenges are
another element in business that drives Adriana and she thrives on them.
“I like to
continuously learn and I think I tend to become attracted to certain situations
that facilitate continuous growth and development. Having that type of
mentality attracted me to some environments where I really needed to apply my
skills, but then also learn new skills to be able to perform well in certain
situations.”
Particularly in
recent years, Adriana has learnt a lot about leadership.
“In terms of
leadership, one of the most important skills is to be able to listen really
well. And when I say ‘listen’, you really need to understand what message
another person is trying to put across, so you need to take the moment to think
about where the person is coming from and what is their perspective on a
particular issue. I believe, if you listen and then you understand what exactly
the issue is, you will probably find a mutually beneficial solution quicker and
they’ll respect you a bit more.”
According to
Adriana, leadership is also about identifying key critical business issues and
looking at things from the top down, while understanding the technical side of
the business.
“Anywhere that I
have worked, there has been a need to understand what somebody might be doing
‘on the ground’ so to speak, in the day-to-day operations of the particular
company, whether that be out on a mine site, or in the administrative team. If
you don’t also understand that part of your business, then you might be making
decisions at the top, which aren’t necessarily the best decisions to make.”
This isn’t always
easy, but if you try to take some time to speak with staff, you can generally
understand what is happening in their sector of the business. You can find the
cause of an issue or problem and discover what other perspectives exist towards
it.
“Then, in terms
of coming up with the solution, it is easier to make decisions that will keep
the wider business stakeholders happy, but also be in keeping with your
business objectives,” Adriana says.
The current phase
of Adriana’s life is just as busy as the previous phase, but she is able to
utilise her leadership and business skills across a range of areas.
Her interest in
global markets saw her bring the Hedge Fund Association to Australia.
HFA is an
organisation that represents hedge funds, service providers and investors.
Adriana is the head of the Australian chapter.
“The Hedge Fund
Association was very keen to launch into Australia, as Australia is viewed
favourably in international financial markets. My initial steps will be to
build relationships with government departments, investment managers and other
key stakeholders in the alternative investment/hedge fund industry.”
She is juggling
her duties as head of the Australian chapter with her role at Excalibur. She
joined Excalibur to work with a highly experienced team of professionals. She
noted that Excalibur Funds Management has a solid operational platform that
could perform well in difficult markets.
Excalibur is an
investment manager that specialises in the Australian Dollar, and has already
attracted international interest. They have recently expanded into New York and
many of their investors are international institutional investors. “Excalibur
combines what I’ve learned and what I’ve originally wanted to do in my career,
which was look at financial markets, look at government policy and
international investment,” Adriana says.
“I’m finding it’s
a culmination of everything I wanted to do. I deal with the US regulatory
environment, I’m dealing with European laws and regulation regarding hedge
funds and hedge fund investments. Then also, there are the day-to-day economic
activities.”
There is a lot on
Adriana’s plate, but she puts it down to the nature of work she does. “It’s the
nature of the industry – I really enjoy it, and, at the end of the day, you
just do what you have to do.” Adriana is one to never stop learning and
believes there is always something useful to learn. She likes the dynamic
environments, the institutions, the global markets and the impact she feels she
can make in each.
She is busy, but
that doesn’t matter. She knows it is that mindset that has brought her from the
University of Western Australia to where she is now.
Adriana
attributes her success to patience, perseverance and being able to listen and
work on a team. Most importantly she knows what she wants and she goes for it.
“You live once.
So do it well.”
Adriana’s
keys to success
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