Biography:
Lucy Bond is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Infrastructure at Man Group, based in London. She has held this role since April 2018. She has also held the roles of Head of Sales, Distribution and Marketing Compliance and Head of Compliance Due Diligence in the Financial Crime team for Man Group, and Head of Compliance for Man Solutions.
Before joining Man Group in January 2015, Lucy held various roles in compliance and
regulation at Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange.
Lucy has a LLB (Laws) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
● Could you describe what your role entails and what responsibilities you hold on a daily basis?
○ I am the Deputy Chief of Staff for Infrastructure at Man Group. I generally think of
Man Group as being organised into three parts: portfolio management, sales,
and infrastructure.
○ I work across the nine departments which make up the infrastructure side of the
business and I am also responsible for coordinating much of our diversity and
inclusion work, as well as leading our corporate social responsibility initiatives.
● What is your educational background and how has this helped you in your role today and throughout your career progression?
○ I went to LSE to read Law, obviously I chose not to be a lawyer but it helps me in
that I have to do an awful lot of reading, writing and background research and
also identify the relevant facts from information – sometimes very quickly.
● What do you enjoy about working at Man Group?
○ As a firm, there is a culture of integrity with a real focus on serving our end
investors which I find very meaningful.
○ There is also an emphasis on responsibility and collaboration, which runs
through the organisation from the highest level down.
● Could you talk us through your rough career progression since graduating and what led you to join the finance industry and eventually Man Group?
○ I didn’t have a spot on a graduate scheme upon graduation, so I set about trying
to get a job – not specifically in finance, but just a job!
○ I ended up with a role as an investigation support assistant at what was the
London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), and I
really enjoyed learning the analytical and investigative skills that were required.
that.
○ I then moved to Lehman Brothers’ Regulatory Audit team before moving to
Compliance, supporting the private wealth management department which I
found really interesting.
○ I then moved to head up Compliance for the Private Wealth Management
department at Bear Stearns, where I subsequently held a number of different
roles including the Money Laundering Reporting Officer.
○ During the financial crisis, when Bear Stearns was bought by JP Morgan, I moved
to back to a Lehman Brothers owned company and following seven years there, I
moved to Man Group where I have been for the past six years.
○ My background has mostly focused on financial regulation and compliance.
● What was the most challenging point in your career and how did you overcome it?
○ There are two. The first was when I joined Lehman Brothers from LIFFE as it
was a real cultural change. I learnt an awful lot, but I didn’t enjoy my audit role as
much as I had being an investigator. I worked hard to get to know the
organisation and lots of colleagues there and after some time, moved into a
different role that I did really enjoy.
○ The other was [at a different firm], where I returned to work after having my [first]
daughter. I was the first person ever to return from maternity leave and work part-
time at that company. I felt I had to work very hard to show part time work could
count. As such, I am so pleased to see the changes which have come about
since then with flexible working and part time working being far more
commonplace and with other women finding this transition a lot easier.
● What are the most rewarding and most challenging areas of your role?
○ I love learning new things and so I find the constant challenges of new business,
new regulation and new markets fascinating.
○ There is an emphasis at Man Group on excellence which I enjoy and which
makes us all work together to “raise the bar”.
○ I also enjoy the opportunities I have to meet our new staff and also to mentor
colleagues, which I find very rewarding.
● How has COVID-19 impacted your role?
○ We all needed to pivot quickly to adapt to working from home all the time – this
means everything is very different which has been challenging but some of the
changes are very positive.
○ We needed to make sure our people had the facilities and technology they
needed to get their work done – I was able to help with that.
○ It is increasingly important for new joiners to be able to reach out since learning
about an organisation is harder when you are not overhearing conversations
around you (as you would if in an office). I make sure I am someone people can
contact.
○ The way one finds information has also changed, normally I might walk around
the office and find the right person to ask, but now it requires much more
organisation. It’s also really important to work harder at being collaborative and not leave people out of a decision making process just because they are not on the phone at a particular time.
● How do you anticipate your role changing in the next 5 years?
○ My role has changed three times since joining Man Group six years ago so I'm
sure I'll be called upon again to move to a different role at some point, but I
couldn't tell you what that would be!
● How have your previous roles helped you to develop the necessary skills and knowledge for your current role?
○ I take a lot from my investigator role [at LIFFE] despite it having been a long time
ago. Learning how to gather information from people and do it quickly is a key
skill in my current role, along with judging and assessing the most relevant
information to present upwards.
○ Attention to detail, which I also learnt as an investigator and then working in
regulation, is crucial in my role. We can't risk mistakes or miss important
information given the nature of the work we do and our commitment to
excellence.
● What advice would you give to young people looking to enter the industry?
○ Be interested, practice active listening to show you are engaged and make sure
you follow up.
○ Leverage your network through talking to your peers and keeping in touch with
your connections who will no doubt, end up in many different roles and places.
○ Challenge and support each other now to practice skills you are less comfortable
with.
● What are the biggest concerns facing your company or the industry currently?
○ How we harness the good things about working from home and make sure we
take these forward to the “new normal”. For example, working from home allows
those who are disabled or those returning from maternity leave to work without commuting which can be incredibly helpful to them - these are good things we
can bring from this shift.
○ We need to keep doing the right thing, making it a priority to connect those
working from home with those in the office to ensure we all remain on a level-
playing field.
● What skills are particularly useful in your role that you would encourage those seeking to enter this industry to develop?
○ Analytical skills to be able to review, assimilate and conclude on various pieces
of information are key.
○ Numerical literacy is important in the industry as a whole.
○ Emotional intelligence to make sure you are good at working with lots of different
people, and being able to “read a room” and know how to follow up is invaluable.
● How key is leadership ability in career progression?
○ That depends on the role you seek to do. Different people want to do different
roles.
○ In a simplistic way, some people love their roles and are subject matter experts
but are not driven to manage large teams or lead. Others love managing a team
and leading the way. You need both types to make a business work!
○ However, if you want to lead a company and have set your sights on being CEO
(and there aren’t many of those roles!), it is critical to develop those skills.
● What advice would you offer those of us graduating and entering the workforce for the first time?
○ It’s not always straightforward and opportunities do not always line up perfectly,
but things do fall into place eventually.
○ I think it is important to remember that you can change what you are doing if it
doesn’t work for you. There will be hiccups to navigate around and finding your
“resilient self” will be important.
I leave you on the note that so many of the things you will need in the workplace are things which you help each other with now - collaborating, listening to each other, helping each other forge a way through, encouraging each other, challenging each other. Don’t settle for what you have if you’re not happy, encourage each other as you move forward - start and don’t stop.