Charting your own course and staying true to yourself

“I soon realised that political science wasn’t really for me. On the other hand, I discovered economics there, and I enjoyed it so much that I switched courses.” So, after studying economics at Paris Dauphine University and completing a Master’s in Finance in London, Géraldine began her career in 1996 on the trading floor of a major Scandinavian bank. She then gradually moved into asset management, initially in artificial intelligence. Her role at the time was to develop models for investing in financial markets using AI, which, at that stage, was not yet capable of learning independently. “It was really like downloading your economist’s brain into a machine, making sure not to instil any bias into it.” After two intense years developing such models, Géraldine felt the urge to put the results of her research into practice. 

In 2000, she was recruited by Citigroup to join a hedge fund department, where she would be using the models she had developed to make investment decisions. As fate would have it, Géraldine was the only woman in her team, a reflection of how male-dominated the hedge fund world was at the time. Nevertheless, she found her feet and soon specialised in emerging markets, which were undergoing frequent financial crises at the time. 

Géraldine was regularly sent to these emerging countries to gather more information, negotiate debt repayments, and even to verify in person that the company in question actually existed. These assignments were often risky, and with her youth and limited experience, Géraldine was a very different figure from what her counterparts were used to dealing with. She never tried to hide this difference – in fact quite the contrary. “Even at 25, I was never afraid. I’ve always owned who I am, and I wasn’t scared to speak my mind. It became my strength, and it’s what allowed me to get the information I needed.” 

Géraldine has cultivated this determination to stay true to herself throughout her career. It has earned her many supporters who have recognised the value of her unique style. With their backing, she has been able to make her way in the hedge fund industry, first in research and then as a manager.

In 2010, while working for Brevan Howard in London, Géraldine followed several colleagues to Geneva, where many hedge funds had recently established themselves. Having left the peace and quiet of her home village in the French Jura at the age of 18, she was pleased to rediscover the benefits of somewhere calmer and closer to nature. 

After five enjoyable years in Switzerland, she packed her bags once more and returned to London in 2015 to join PIMCO, one of the world’s leading investment managers. For two years, Géraldine and her family settled once again in London. However, the city wasn’t ideal for her children, who missed their life in Switzerland. In 2017, her husband and children decided to return to Geneva, seeking a more suitable environment for the children’s upbringing. For several years, Géraldine commuted between the two cities, doing her best to balance family life and her career. She spent over nine years at PIMCO as a managing director and portfolio manager. This role marked the first turning point in her career towards a more traditional multi-asset management approach. 

In 2024, she felt the need to be closer to her family and her roots, so she joined Pictet Wealth Management in Geneva as Head of Investment Offering – a new professional chapter, this time in wealth management. Today, she co-manages PWM’s investment platform in close collaboration with César Pérez Ruiz, Head of Investments & CIO at PWM. “My role is to act as the link between the investment committee and the front office – that is, the bankers and investment specialists who are in daily contact with clients and their needs. I endeavour to pick up the signals from both sides so that our product offering responds to market trends as well as client requirements.”

Unlike her previous experience with institutional clients, private clients have different needs and varying levels of financial knowledge. “In wealth management, you’re much closer to the end client, so your message needs to be accessible to everyone. The art is in simplifying things as much as possible, without losing the underlying complexity.”

Alongside her work, Géraldine is also committed to supporting education. Since 2013 she has funded scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds or those looking to retrain by taking evening courses at Birkbeck College, where she herself completed her Master’s degree. “I didn’t have much money when I was a student, and these night classes allowed me to work during the day to support myself while continuing my studies in the evening,” she explains. “I believe everyone should be able to change career if they wish, without financial barriers getting in the way.” She was also appointed a fellow of Birkbeck College in 2017, which means that she is consulted on certain decisions, such as the development of online courses or the introduction of sustainability issues into the curriculum.

Despite her seemingly unshakeable confidence, Géraldine faces the same doubts and challenges as any woman trying to balance a demanding career with family life. “Finding that balance has been a constant struggle. I often felt as though I were failing on all fronts – being a bad mother, a bad wife and not good enough at work. But one day it struck me that if I hadn’t pursued my career, I would probably have been a less good mother and wife, because I wouldn’t have felt fulfilled. Reconciling all these roles is far from easy, but I believe it’s important to find what works for you, and above all, to not feel guilty to be yourself.”

That, ultimately, is the lesson to take from Géraldine’s journey: stay true to yourself, don’t bend to the expectations of others and find your balance by trusting your own instincts.