Loop Capital’s Sidney Dillard and Sobani Warner of Siebert Williams Shank discuss their careers, working at Black-owned firms, the role of D&I coordinators and more.
Many multinational corporations in recent years have increased their commitment to hiring banks, brokerage firms and asset managers that are owned by members of minority groups—so-called diverse-owned firms. NeuGroup is committed to learning and sharing more about these firms, the people who run them and the value they bring to corporates in capital markets transactions and other activities.
- So to celebrate Black History Month, this episode of the Strategic Finance Lab podcast features two women in senior leadership positions at two of the top Black-owned financial firms in the US: Sidney Dillard, partner and head of the corporate investment banking division at Loop Capital Markets and Sobani Warner, co-head of corporate finance at Siebert Williams Shank.
- Ms. Dillard and Ms. Warner speak with Andy Podolsky, head of NeuGroup for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a working group for NeuGroup members, to discuss their career paths, how corporates can prioritize diverse-owned firms by providing more meaningful, active roles in capital markets transactions and more.
- Listen now by heading to Apple or Spotify.
One topic you’ll hear Ms. Dillard and Ms. Warner address are so-called diversity coordinators—large investment banks that are lead managers on bond deals that some corporates appoint to help support and facilitate active participation in the transactions by diversity firms.
- These coordinators can play an important role in the allocation of bonds to diverse-owned firms in a deal led by big Wall Street banks. But it’s essential, the two women agree, that corporate issuers get to know and work directly with the smaller firms, to form relationships that allow companies to understand the full capabilities of Loop Capital, Siebert Williams Shank and other diversity firms.
