Following the Legal Pathway: A Conversation with Claudia Gourde
Claudia Gourde is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Pictet Overseas Inc., the US Broker Dealer and Futures Commission Merchant as well as Pictet Canada L.P., the Canadian investment dealer of the Pictet Group. Lawyer by education (LL.B from Université de Montréal and member of the Québec Bar), she started her career working on the trading floor of the Montreal Exchange when she was quickly initiated to the finance world. Then, she worked in the regulatory department of the Montreal Exchange and for various Canadian firms, mainly in their respective Compliance departments.
She joined Pictet in 2010 in the Compliance department and became the Chief Compliance Officer for the local entities shortly after. In 2018, she was promoted to Head of Compliance PTS, the trading department of the Pictet Group. Her main tasks were the management, coordination and supervision of the compliance activities of Pictet Global Markets (UK), Pictet Canada L.P. , Pictet Overseas Inc. (POI) and Compliance PTS at Banque Pictet & Cie SA bringing common leadership and efficiencies throughout the groupwide PTS entities.
In 2019, she was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Pictet Overseas Inc. and Pictet Canada L.P., role that she still actively performs today. With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, she is always looking for new challenges and innovation. As a female leader, she is also committed to advancing women in leadership and driving progress, passion that is driven by her own experience.
BT: You studied law at the University of Montreal, and continued down a legal pathway. What was this experience like and what was the motivation behind this decision?
Claudia Gourde (CG): It was not an easy choice for me since I always wanted to go into finance. Coming from a middle class family and being a first generation student, my parents really wanted me to be a professional. However, I couldn’t be a doctor - I wish I could, but I couldn't be a doctor. So I decided to go to law school. Again, it wasn't my first choice, but I thought, you know, if you go to law school and you become a lawyer, you can go down many other paths. In the end, I think going down the legal pathway was the right choice.
BT: Law is indeed a very broad career choice. Has your experience with law been helpful in your career?
CG: When I joined Pictet in 2010, they were looking for someone in compliance. They were looking for someone for a compliance role, which included some legal aspects. Being a lawyer was one of the key requirements for this position. So, it ended up being crucial in helping me obtain this role.
BT: If you could go back in time, knowing everything you know now, what would be a piece of advice that you'd give yourself?
“My piece of advice would be to follow your own intuition and that the world is your oyster.”
CG: When you're young, you try to go with the flow and try to follow the pathways that your parents recommend. However, what I've learned in my career is that once you are yourself and follow your own intuition, you'll always be successful. If you try to follow what others tell you to follow, that's when it's going to be more difficult and you will struggle. My piece of advice would be to follow your own intuition and that the world is your oyster.
BT: Would you still have studied law?
CG: For many years, I asked myself why I hadn’t gone into finance or economics. But then again, going back in time with the career that I have now, I believe that if I hadn't initially pursued a law career, I wouldn’t be here. Maybe I would, but maybe I wouldn't. I do know that pursuing law has given me this step up to become who I am right now. And when I started my career as a lawyer, I really thought I would be a very bad lawyer, but it turned out that I was good at negotiating contracts and analyzing long texts. So it did give me a lot of good instincts for my career.
BT: You joined Pictet in 2010. What initially attracted you to this firm?
CG: Normally, if you’re from North America, Pictet is not the first financial institution that comes up when you’re looking for job opportunities. Normally, you want to work for Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs. I was working in Montreal when I heard of the Swiss bank, Pictet through a client. I saw that Montreal was the first office they opened abroad. I thought that it would be a good opportunity to have an international career while staying in Montreal. So then, I applied and things have turned out really well.
BT: So it's safe to say that you had quite high expectations when you first joined?
CG: I had high expectations when I first joined. When they hired me in Montreal, there were only 40 people in our Montreal office. I remember the CEO at the time saying that people don't leave here, people stay here for a long time. I initially thought that, since I was hired as a compliance officer, I’d probably remain as a compliance officer for a long time. But throughout my time here, I have been able to become the Chief Compliance Officer, I was also Head of Compliance for international trading at one point, and now I'm COO. So, Pictet has never disappointed me. I've been loyal to them, and they’ve been loyal to me. This bank is great for any student that wishes to join the finance industry. It’s a big bank but it's also run by people that care. You have so much room to grow and be yourself.
BT: How have these expectations changed and grown throughout your time at Pictet?
CG: In your life, you always have personal things that happen to you, and you realize that life is not a straight line. There are many things that happen that are out of your control. However, no matter what happened in my life, Pictet has always been a great employer. They will give you the support, no matter what it is. Thus, your career can still grow and you can still be concerned about your personal life. So in that sense Pictet has never disappointed me. Despite the billions of assets under management, Pictet realizes that their employees are still human. Indeed, one of our partners once said that we don’t have human resources. Rather, we manage resources humanly. That's what I've experienced and I'm still experiencing it.
BT: Throughout your time at Pictet, you’ve moved up the corporate ladder. What has this experience been like?
CG: The experience of going up the ladder at Pictet has been great. There are days where I’m dealing with the Asian markets, European markets, etc. Pictet has given me so many resources to become a better leader and to go up the corporate ladder without fear. Pictet has always pushed me. Multiple times, they’ve asked me “What's your next move? What do you want to become? Where do you want to go?”. That’s because they care about your career and they care about who you want to be in the family. Overall, I’ve given them a lot and I think they're giving me just as much.
BT: What does a typical day look like for you?
CG: When I wake up at 6:00 AM, the first thing I do is look at my emails to make sure I haven't missed something. We normally have meetings very early in the morning to make sure that everyone's around the table. After I read and respond to my emails, I start my day. As a woman, you always have to multitask. I have to take care of my children, prepare everything, and get ready. Sometimes I have a meeting while I try to prepare my kids to go to school. So I try to put my iPad on while I’m getting my kids ready. I get to work at about eight in the morning. I try to plan my day, and then I try to see the staff in my office and make sure they are doing well. After I get to my office, I go back to project management, business planning, reviews of contracts, and signing of contracts - you know, all the things that need to be done. Sometimes it can be a little hectic. For example, when the trading system is down, I have to rush to make sure that everything is back in place.
I also try to have a balanced life. At lunch, I usually try to go and run by the water for a few miles to make sure I clear my head. After I go back to the office in the afternoon, I try to get some real work done. I always try to block my agenda to be able to do some work in the afternoon to avoid people booking meetings because this world is full of meetings and full of emails. Finally, I try not to leave too late. I leave around 5:30pm and start my evening. Sometimes we have some interaction with our Asia offices at night. However, this is very rare. Usually, there is no extra hour of work or weekend working for me most of the time.
BT: What makes you wake up in the morning? What excites you about your work?
CG: There’s no day that I feel bored and this is very exciting for me. Everyday, I'm thankful for this job and being able to do this work. I get to regularly work on projects that involve our New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, and Geneva offices. Also, most of my colleagues have been working here for many years. I've worked for 11 years and I'm still a baby here. Furthermore, Pictet feels like a family, so it feels like you're going back to your family everyday.
BT: How has COVID affected your work?
CG: I do remember one day in March when the pandemic was at its peak and the stress level was really high. This time is also when the volume is historically at its highest. So we have people stressed and they're not sure what's going on in the world. Thus, as a leader, COVID has made me more empathetic to the people I work with. During these times, I have to constantly ask myself questions such as: Why are those people feeling so stressed? Why do these people have anxiety about the pandemic? You have to be there for them during these stressful times. You don't only have to think about the business and the efficiency of the business, you also have to think about the people that support you in this business. I feel like I’ve learnt the tools to deal with and assess different types of personalities, and I believe that’s what makes you a great leader.
BT: What’s a piece of advice that you have for current undergraduates who are considering finance as a career?
CG: As I said before, it’s important to be yourself and to trust your intuition. Furthermore, if you're young, another advice I would give is start building your network. When you're young, networking is one of the key components of success in the world, especially in the business world. Knock at doors, ask people, connect yourself, go on LinkedIn, and go into those meetings.