BNP Paribas’ Barbara Nash on her very early start in finance: The Climb

Barbara Nash’s career in finance started when she was 11. She used the money she earned babysitting and shoveling snow to buy stocks. “I was that kid who read about companies and stocks in the newspaper. I also had a coin collection that I invested in, so I’ve always had a curiosity about finance,” she recalled.

By the time she graduated from high school, Nash said she knew she was going to major in business in college. She majored in finance at Boston University and spent two summers as an intern for Salomon Brothers and Bear Stearns. 

Upon graduation, Nash joined the investment management group at Bankers Trust. “It was the early days of program trading, and it was my first exposure to working with clients,” she said. She learned the ropes working with more senior bankers and had a “great, great learning experience while I was there.”

She began going to night school at New York University to get an MBA, and that set her on a path to work in corporate finance. She joined Sumitomo Bank and Trust Co. in 1990, and worked with non-investment-grade companies, building financial models to project how to deploy capital to get the best return for the risks the bank was taking. “We would be looking at all sorts of deal opportunities, and I would build lots of models,” she said, adding that bankers no longer build these types of financial models any more since the process has long been automated.

During that time, cable companies were building out their franchises, and satellite companies were launching and seeking financing for the transponders needed to transmit the signals on the ground. At the same time, media companies like Tele-Communications Inc. and Cablevision Systems were seeking financing. Nash said that, by chance, she ended up working on many media and telecom deals.

Her newly found expertise led Nash to land a job at RBC Capital Markets as a vice president in its communications, media and entertainment division. “It was really my first experience selling a whole platform looking at M&A, looking at equity opportunities, whether it was an [initial public offering] or a follow-on offer, as well as on the high yield side and the hedging side,” she said. She spent 12 years at RBC Capital, during which period she became the division’s group head.

The former head of RBC’s communications, media and entertainment division had moved over to Fortis Capital. In 2005, he asked Nash to build out and run its technology, communications and media division. She brought colleagues from RBC and hired bankers from JPMorgan and Barclays. “It was much smaller compared to the big American banks. It was almost like a boutique. So we were very specific and strategic about where we would use our balance sheet and tried to sell additional products from there,” she said.

Five years into her tenure at Fortis, BNP Paribas acquired the firm. Nash continued to work in telecommunications and media. In 2013, she was named co-head of the division. In 2017, Nash was asked by the U.S. head of global banking to create a business plan for combining BNP’s technology coverage with telecommunications and media. “We’re looking at the full spectrum of what technology, media, telecom covers from a segment perspective, but there’s so many areas of similarities, where do you draw the line where one stops and the other begins? We’ve gotten a ‘one plus one equals three’ effect,” she said.

The TMT division has nearly doubled its revenue since launching in 2018, while keeping head count nearly the same, said Nash. She has promoted women bankers including Eve Ravelojaona, who focuses on advising technology companies and is the team’s director, and Maria Mulic, who is also a managing director of the division.

Leadership lessons

Nash, who has spent most of her nearly four decades career in leadership positions, said it’s important to lead by example. “I think it really comes down to being in the trenches with them. I cover many, many clients myself, and I work shoulder to shoulder with my bankers and with our product team,” she said. 

She also stressed the importance of giving team members the ability to interact and learn from senior bankers. “I know people have a lot of bases to cover, but I think it’s incredibly helpful. It’s rewarded many times over by the quality and the takeaways for individuals who are on the receiving end of that.”

Nash added that effective leaders give their team members the space to grow and take on more responsibility. “You don’t want people to get bored with their careers. You want them to continue to be highly engaged and have an ability to flourish,” said Nash. 

Why numbers of women in banking have risen

Early in her career, Nash said, she found working in finance “exceedingly rewarding” for someone with a curious mind and a love of lifelong learning. She was, however, one of the few women in finance, and there were even fewer senior women who were decision-makers when she started out. 

Today, however, she is “very encouraged not only within BNP, but also women at very senior levels [in other banks] that are decision-makers and running businesses.” And while more work needs to be done to elevate women in banking and finance, Nash says the onus is on senior leaders to actively help. “We have very talented women and if I can guide and offer support, my door is always open. I look forward to those discussions. I’ve been helping a number of different women and I think the key is to get more women into decision-making positions and running lines of business” she said.

But work still needs to be done

While the industry is doing a better job adding more women to the ranks, it still struggles with diversity. “I think there’s a real recognition that more needs to be done across the board for being more inclusive and more reflective of the population. And frankly, the talent is out there,” Nash said. 

To reach new, diverse talent, banks really need to broaden the scope of where they recruit from. “I love the stories of people — the smart, hard workers that, for whatever reason, weren’t able to get into the Ivy League. But boy, you know they are driven and smart and hardworking. And those are the elements you cannot teach. If you bring such individuals, it makes for a stronger business. And it makes for a better environment,” Nash said.