Spring Break
Zoe Cruz Delivers Remarks at Alma Mater: Discusses Success, Adversity and Change at Morgan Stanley
Youmna Salameh (OA), Contributing writer
Issue date: 11/14/05 Section: News
To be sure, Cruz appears to find solace in a work/life balance that allows her to remember that "having fun in life is important." Cruz is half of one of Wall Street's reputed power couples; her other half, Ernesto, is Global Head of Equity Capital Markets at CSFB. The couple spends much of their time outside of work with their three children. Their rationale? "Children need unconditional love and to have their own choices," says Cruz. "My social life oscillates slightly above zero as a result, but I love the choices I've made."
Another choice that Cruz has made has been to stay at Morgan Stanley as others around her have flocked to the buy-side. For some with an entrepreneurial orientation who do well in a less structured environment, this may be a move worth contemplating, allows Cruz.
Still, subscribers to an increasingly popular theory that hedge funds offer an unparalleled path to a career nirvana might benefit from weighing certain considerations. "From a personal finances standpoint, statistically speaking, hedge funds tend to trigger a binary outcome. Either you're a billionaire by age 30 - as opposed to Morgan Stanley, where you're only a millionaire," notes Cruz, "or you become unemployed. And being an unemployed hedge fund person is not what I look for when I hire."
Indeed, perspective may in some ways be lost when it comes to working in financial services. "It's that time of year when you give people billions of dollars and they're all unhappy about it," jokes Cruz.
MBAs might also take into consideration the training options that come with various finance career paths. While many established investment banks devote substantial resources to comprehensive training programs that provide instruction on topics from WACC calculations to exotic financial instruments, hedge funds operate differently. "In a hedge fund, people sit in a room like Buddhas and talk to you if they feel like it. You learn through osmosis - but there is no training in a formal way," says Cruz.
Another choice that Cruz has made has been to stay at Morgan Stanley as others around her have flocked to the buy-side. For some with an entrepreneurial orientation who do well in a less structured environment, this may be a move worth contemplating, allows Cruz.
Still, subscribers to an increasingly popular theory that hedge funds offer an unparalleled path to a career nirvana might benefit from weighing certain considerations. "From a personal finances standpoint, statistically speaking, hedge funds tend to trigger a binary outcome. Either you're a billionaire by age 30 - as opposed to Morgan Stanley, where you're only a millionaire," notes Cruz, "or you become unemployed. And being an unemployed hedge fund person is not what I look for when I hire."
Indeed, perspective may in some ways be lost when it comes to working in financial services. "It's that time of year when you give people billions of dollars and they're all unhappy about it," jokes Cruz.
MBAs might also take into consideration the training options that come with various finance career paths. While many established investment banks devote substantial resources to comprehensive training programs that provide instruction on topics from WACC calculations to exotic financial instruments, hedge funds operate differently. "In a hedge fund, people sit in a room like Buddhas and talk to you if they feel like it. You learn through osmosis - but there is no training in a formal way," says Cruz.
