Through the lens of the media you often just see one side of finance, Wall Street traders and stock charts make up most of the images that grace your screens. At How To Money, we know there’s a lot more to finance than that, and there are countless individuals working in the industry across a wide variety of roles.

Whether you’re looking to work in finance or are just interested in what they do all day, this series focuses on people working in the industry and their stories. Welcome to the Faces of Finance…

In this instalment of Faces of Finance, we interviewed Camilla Love, the Chief Executive Officer at eInvest. We’d love your feedback and suggestions on who we should interview next! Get in touch by sending us an email.

Introducing Camilla Love from eInvest

Hard to be brief – I wear a lot of hats!

I founded eInvest in 2017 on the back of over 17 years of industry experience. I’m passionate about getting Australians better invested, and this is my goal through eInvest. I encourage more women to enter the finance industry through F3 Future Females in Finance, and I love to share my passion about the industry with the next generation.

Prior to eInvest, I was the head of institutional sales at Perennial, both in Australia and offshore. I also headed Perennial’s Marketing & Client Services team early in my career. I currently sit on the Board of Perennial Investment Management Limited, supporting the governance of the business.

I am involved with a number of community activities, such as sitting on the Abbotsleigh Foundation and am on the Alumni and Engagement Committee for UNSW.

I have jumped out of a plane twice. I like to ski off high mountains and I love a good laugh (one ‘Who’s line is it anyway’ episode at a time).

Where do you work and what is your role?

I work at eInvest. I’m the Managing Director there. eInvest forms part of the Perennial group, a fund manager that manages over $7bn in assets, as its ETF arm. eInvest specialises in actively managed ETFs, and now manages over $100m in assets. 

I’m also the founder of F3 – Future Females in Finance. At F3, we aim to educate young women about careers in finance and provide practical work experience. 

How did you get into finance?

I have been within the Perennial group for nearly 20 years. However, the spark that led me into finance was what I called my “international man of mystery” – my god father. He spent a lot of time while I was young in the US and Tokyo at CitiGroup.

When he returned to Sydney over summer, he always sparked my interest in the people he had met, the deals he had done, and the places he had been. I knew that I wanted to experience something like it – hence why I went into finance as a career.

Perennial was my first job out of university. Although I will admit that it wasn’t my first offer. I was offered a few graduate recruitment roles that weren’t right for me. I knew I wanted to be in funds management and I knew I wanted to be in marketing. So I said no, and patiently waited for the right role. Something came up at Perennial, and I never looked back. I’ve done lots of different roles over the years and have had a lot of different experiences. eInvest is my latest adventure.

What do you enjoy about working in the financial services industry?

What’s not to love about it? You get to work every day with purpose to help clients achieve their life goals, whether that be reaching their retirement, investing for their first home, or even partnering with them to ensure that their first step into investing is an enjoyable one. 

I also love that I get to work with really intelligent people doing some really fun things, and that no day is ever the same.

Do you see any downsides to working in this industry?

You can definitely have long hours, but who’s industry doesn’t have that? When deadlines are due, then you need to do what it takes. 

Finance can be reasonably complex, so distilling those complexities into simple language can be somewhat challenging.

It would be remiss of me to add that there could be better gender diversity in the industry, which is one of the reasons why I started F3. However, this is changing gradually one talented female at a time.

So come and be part of the change that is occurring!

What is the most common misconception you think others have about the industry?

The culture. The Wolf of Wall Street didn’t do any good for the perception of culture in the finance industry, however, I have never seen this at all.

Don’t just assume all companies in the finance industry are like this portrayal. There are a huge number of great companies in the industry, who are doing some really good things. You just need to find them. Big and small.

If you received $1000 extra to spend to ‘increase your happiness’ right now, what would you use it on?

Ha! Can I have two answers for this?

Altruistically…. 

I’d really love to donate it to help buy more vaccinations for third world countries, as I’d like to help support them in their vaccination roll out. It will help the globe more equitably move on from the virus, which I think is important. This would increase my happiness, but also those of others.

Personally….

I’m a super keen skier, and it’s really hurting me inside at the moment having summer in Sydney, as I’m usually offshore in the US for a few weeks skiing with my family. My Mum, brothers, sisters in law, husband, kids, nieces, nephews, family friends all come – it’s a real family activity. I miss that wholesome family fun in an environment we all love. I’d love to spend $1k increasing my happiness in buying my ski pass.

What are your tips for young Australians considering a career/job in finance?

Do your research into what segment of the industry you are interested in

Open your mind into taking a role at a smaller company. There are some globally competitive smaller businesses within the financial services industry. Seek these out. Big brand names are not your only option.

Try different companies to find the right cultural fit for you before launching into your career.

Learn more about Camilla and eInvest

Click here if you’re interested in finding out more about F3, and you can register for work experience here.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how ETFs work and the types of ETFs on offer, head to eInvest. You can register for our Learn about ETFs newsletter which gives you some of the basics.