The four female C-suite specialists today powering Paul Barrett’s fast-growing AZ NGA represent a “powerhouse minority” in a traditionally male-dominated field.
Established and founded by Barrett and Paul Brain in 2014 with backing from Italian asset manager Azimut, AZ NGA is an aggregator of equity stakes in high-quality financial advisory and accounting firms, which has $15 billion of assets under advice, as of August 2024.
As the firm has since grown into a juggernaut valued at $700 million, the business has enlisted more talent to help manage the continued growth with executive general manager Chesne Stafford, chief financial officer Jodie Blackledge, chief transformation and integration officer Roni Marques, and head of M&A Yasemin Onat now a major part of the leadership group.
The four executives spoke to Professional Planner ahead of International Women’s Day, reflecting on their careers so far and why they are passionate about their current roles.
Stafford, who joined AZ NGA on 1 July 2024 from HUB24, says she found a huge opportunity at AZ NGA to step outside just her corporate experience and “evolve in [the] entrepreneurial side from a personal perspective”.
She has always been in financial services and has transitioned through product, distribution, advice and marketing before starting at AZ NGA. She describes herself as a “huge advocate for advice” and so her current position is “meaningful”.
Stafford says she was more “naïve to the world” when she started in the industry and almost left altogether at 35 years old because some of the attitudes she observed towards women in financial services did not sit well.
She built a strong financial future to give her stability and the option to leave finance altogether but has seen changes in how women are viewed in financial services.
“A lot has actually changed, and I’ve learned a lot as well about conscious bias [and] confirmation bias in particular,” Stafford says.
“If 75 per cent of the industry is male and people like working with people like them, then there’s this inbuilt bias that they’re going to look for people that look like them and feel like them.
“Often that doesn’t include women, either because women haven’t come through the ranks or because they’re looking for attributes and behaviours that are more like them.”
Blackledge moved to AZ NGA in February this year, having previously been CEO of Fitzpatricks Group where she had advocated for ways to help the licensing regime be more flexible for female advisers working part time.
Her background is target accounting and investment banking, both in the Australia and the UK, and then strategy, design and execution before taking on CFO roles across listed and unlisted companies.
“I’m particularly passionate about the advice business and the impact that can have on clients,” Blackledge says.
“[AZ NGA] has ambitious plans to grow and so what we’re doing is building the infrastructure, systems and people and capability for that future as we grow into it.
Because there’s such a diverse level of experience that has been in the industry for a while, I think it bodes well to us achieving a lot in our time frames with AZ NGA.”
Blackledge agrees with Stafford that there have been tangible changes in the perception of women in the industry since she began her career.
“I think the advancements of what we have seen over the last five to 10 years, maybe in terms of that real understanding of unconscious bias, and that real understanding that even I took for granted certain things in the past that I’m much more aware of today,” Blackledge says.
Forward progress
Marques is a returning figure, having worked for Barrett in the past before setting up and running her own consulting firm Making Marques.
“I used to dip in and out and help Paul and AZ NGA whenever they needed it,” Marques says.
“I’ve done a fair bit of work with startup businesses and [small to medium] businesses as well. This is a really kind of interesting space for me.”
Marques says she has noticed a significant change in the way people speak to or about women.
“There is a huge difference now when you see something and you call it out – people immediately understand that they are saying something that perhaps they shouldn’t be saying, or they immediately see that there is some unconscious bias that they’re thinking about,” Marques says.
Her role is focused on positive change for AZ NGA – “my job [is] trying to get things to move to where we want them and we need them to be, but making sure we keep all the really, really good stuff from the past”.
Onat joined AZ NGA in March 2016 having been with one of the member firms and says she very much learned on the job.
“It’s been a really great place for me, coming in young and without a lot of experience, and having that opportunity to grow,” Onat says.
“Paul Barrett and Paul Brain were always really good at just seeing who was delivering, and seeing when that opportunity was there for you, and just always letting you sort of step into that.”
For about eight of the nine years she has been at AZ NGA, Onat had a “side gig” on the board of industry super fund EISS Super to help gain as much as experience as possible and spent time as a company secretary before taking over the role of head of M&A.
Onat says she has not experienced as much gender bias working at AZ NGA as “you’re seeing people in positions because they’re good at their role, not just because of who they know”.
“If I have been the only female or one of two females, I haven’t been treated that way, as if I’m the token female in there. I’ve felt that the industry has been pretty respectful, at least in my last 10 years, so it’s been good,” Onat says.
Despite this, Onat loves “the tilt towards some really hard working, high performing intelligent women”, referencing the three women she works with at AZ NGA also in executive positions.
Stafford says there is still some way to go, especially regarding the gender pay gap issues, but describes women in financial services as “still a minority but definitely a powerhouse minority”.
‘Believe in yourself’
Professional Planner asked the women what advice they would give to young women navigating a career in financial services.
Onat encourages all women to “back yourself and believe in yourself”, advice spanning beyond financial services.
“I just don’t think you should ever question entering any industry,” Onat says.
Stafford says she dealt with severe imposter syndrome in her first executive role and that it “absolutely crippled” her for months.
“If you’re feeling that way, make sure you’ve got a mentor, a sponsor,” Stafford says.
“Get those people early in your career, because they will give you that objectivity that will spur you on and, you know, and do all that, which took me a long time to learn that lesson.”
Blackledge also recommends finding a coach or person to be “a sounding board”, “second opinion” or “somebody to sound off so you can be confident”. She urges women not to be scared to reach out for help.
“It’s not a weakness, it’s actually showing how you can drive yourself and be at your best as much as you can,” Blackledge says.
Marques agrees with Blackledge and encourages all working women to seek out help, whatever that looks like, when they need to.
Marques talks about her own experience and says when she was younger asking for help was “initially quite an issue” in her career.
“Probably about 15 years ago, when I turned that around, I thought people really want to help you. They like being asked for help. They like being asked for advice. That was a massive turning point for me,” Marques says.
Stafford advises working women to step “into the void” and be brave in order to progress their career.
“If there’s something you can see that needs doing…just dive in and have a crack,” Stafford says. “Just give it a go. It builds skills, it builds resilience.”
She also provides insight into what was initially holding her back in her career which was relying on previous strengths instead of developing new ones. She describes this as a potential “Achilles heel”.
“You tend to think that the strengths you’ve had in what’s made you successful in the last period or last role are the strengths you need for the next phase, and often it’s the other way around,” Stafford says.
“What was getting in my way [was] that I’m holding on to the things that I used to do when I actually needed to evolve, and that’s where a coach or a mentor or a sponsor can help bring that objectivity as well.”
Blackledge adds the importance of self-promotion and communicating to your mentors your successes.
“I often find that women do work hard and do things well that they forget to share it and help their stakeholders understand the journey that they’re on,” Blackledge says.
