Asset Management

Why State Street’s Hannah Smith didn’t aspire to be on the board: ‘I don’t see any role models’

The State Street managing director talks about the importance of mentors and why progress across the fund sector on ethnic diversity has been so slow

'Organisations are aware of the lack of diversity. But there is a lack of consistency in how to address it.'
'Organisations are aware of the lack of diversity. But there is a lack of consistency in how to address it.'

Hannah Smith is a managing director at State Street Global Markets. She is an ambassador for Reboot, a non-profit focused on ethnic diversity in financial services. Here, she tells Financial News about her experience of working in the asset management sector as a Black woman.

I am one of five children. My mum is a teacher and my dad is a black cab driver, so I don’t come from a financial services background.

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