Women in M&A: Embracing the Nordic approach at Oaklins Baltics
Insights from Oaklins Baltics’ female partners and associates on achieving success in gender representation
In this article, we spotlight the voices of Valērija Lieģe, Partner at Oaklins Baltics and a Global Executive Committee Member of Oaklins International, and Evelīna Valtere, Associate at Oaklins Baltics, who have firsthand experience both in achieving and embracing equality in the workplace and leading the way for those following in their footsteps.
ARRIVING AT SIGNIFICANT GENDER REPRESENTATION
How does female representation at Oaklins Baltics compare to the situation in other investment banking organizations in the Baltic states? Have you done anything specifically to ensure that enough women are being hired?
VALĒRIJA: Across the three Oaklins offices in the Baltics, there are approximately 25% of women represented at various levels: partners, associates, analysts. To our knowledge, this is far more than in other M&A organizations in the region, but I wouldn’t say that when hiring or promoting we’re specifically focusing on ensuring gender balance — it’s simply what happens when you promote based on merit, when you give opportunities equally and when you don’t create obstacles or operate based on prejudice. We treat everyone equally, and, at the end of the day, it’s only your ability that matters. And in the Oaklins’ Baltic offices it’s clear that all the women can do their jobs very well.
EVELĪNA: I wouldn’t say that women get special treatment here or that the organization hires based on “gender quotas”. Over the last two years I’ve participated in interviews where we’re hiring internally, and I’ve observed that it’s roughly the same number of male and female candidates who apply — it’s the same as society, roughly split 50:50. And when you don’t discriminate and simply hire based on ability, you’re very likely to eventually arrive at the same proportion within the organization.
Was it important to see women represented at Partner level when you entered the M&A industry? Does female mentorship play a part in success and development opportunities?
I’m not necessarily convinced that women have a very different perspective — when it comes to doing the job, both men and women are able to do it equally well. But it is important that others in the work environment are of the same opinion, and allow you to do your work without any bias or assumptions.EVELĪNA VALTERE
EVELĪNA: It’s important that when you start working at a company, there are other women working at various levels and that they have been for some time — this fosters an inclusive environment where, as a new employee, you feel supported and can envision opportunities for your own growth. It also ensures that colleagues are accustomed to working in a diverse team, reducing the need to prove your worth simply because you’re a woman entering a traditionally male-dominated space.
When it comes to mentoring, I don’t single anyone out — I’m simply giving equal opportunities to my whole team and, ultimately, it’s all about whether a person has the necessary focus, ability and stamina to do the work that needs to be done. We’ve not tried to hire more women, but we’ve always had a very neutral and fair selection process, where the person is asked to do a task and if they can do it, they’re the one for us, regardless of their gender.VALĒRIJA LIEĢE
Do you see any problems or obstacles in the investment banking environment for women in the Baltics and generally? Women are comparatively well represented in Oaklins Baltics at different levels, but it is still not a 50:50 balance and you mentioned that Oaklins Baltics stands out among the other M&A organizations when it comes to female representation.
VALĒRIJA: The way I see it, there are two potential obstacles. M&A work is demanding, and sometimes you have to stay late or do some work at weekends. Traditionally that can be hard for women to combine with family life, especially in the first years of children’s lives. In order to be able to work successfully in the industry and combine it with the early years of raising a family, women need a strong support system — equal partnerships where both partners take on their fair share of childcare responsibilities and, in the best-case scenario, an extended support network as well. Another obstacle, which applies to the situation in the Baltic states, where paid parental leave is of a very generous length, and can last up to 1.5 years, is that leaving the industry for that long is very likely to have a detrimental effect on a woman’s career. There are women who fall out of the system because of that. But the situation is changing, both at an institutional and at a societal level.
EVELĪNA: That’s true, societal attitudes in this respect have changed. It’s no longer the case that women simply don’t return to work after starting a family. We also see that there is a push from the government to change this. At the beginning of 2023, the EU Work-life Balance Directive was passed in Latvia. One of the goals of this directive is to ensure that at least two out of the four months of parental leave are non-transferable from one parent to another. In the case of the Baltic states, it means that men are actively encouraged to use more of the available parental leave. We have a great example close to us in Sweden, where such a directive was implemented over 20 years ago. The country has now reached a situation where parental leave is shared more or less equally between men and women, ensuring that women don’t miss out on work opportunities or fall out of the system for too long. It also means that workplaces simply have no reason to discriminate against women, because both men and women of reproductive age are expected to take some time off. We’re not at this point here yet, but this is the right course of action, and we’ve already seen rapid changes.
VALĒRIJA: It is very likely that we are also benefitting from the “Swedish approach” ahead of time, so to speak. The Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga), which is celebrating its 30 anniversary this year, has been the Alma mater of many of the men and women pursuing a career not only in M&A, but also in various other Latvian industries as company leaders, owners and board members. Since the first class graduated in 1996, SSE Riga has awarded diplomas to over 3,000 individuals, two thirds of whom are from Latvia. Many graduates have risen to leadership roles in major organizations, and of the 101 most valuable companies in Latvia, 23 are led by an SSE Riga graduate.
We spoke about institutional and systemic obstacles, but there are often biases and preconceptions about women’s characters and the roles that might or might not be suitable for them. What does your experience in the M&A field tell you about that?
It’s true that this line of work requires a very stable nervous system (laughs). I’m not saying that women are by nature more emotional, but we are definitely socialized as such, and therefore tend to be more affected by perceived failures and drawbacks than men. Of course, if you are not raised to see yourself as weaker and more emotional, you don’t have a reason to be.VALĒRIJA LIEĢE
EVELĪNA: Growing up I was never told, you’re a girl, so you cannot do this or that. I have an older brother, and we were raised in exactly the same way. I believe that if you don’t get constantly told that because you’re a girl, you’re incapable of something or that different standards apply to you, you won’t internalize this attitude towards yourself either. I studied in a technical high school which had 75% male students and only 25% female. I simply didn’t have any place in which I would be told that, as a girl, I could not do something. So, I believe that’s why I don’t carry this “thesis” with me and have never thought about falling back on it.
And that’s what I want to tell all young women who are thinking of pursuing challenging careers in previously or even currently male-dominated fields: don’t focus on being a girl, because you are the same as anyone else; if you like what you do, just keep doing it and do it well!EVELĪNA VALTERE
It’s clear that the internal work environment at Oaklins Baltics promotes equal opportunities for women, but is the same true in communication with clients? Are women equally well represented in your clients’ fields, and is it easy to build trust with them as women, if, perhaps, their expectation is to work with men?
VALĒRIJA: It’s true that, although many of the companies we work with have women in their leadership teams, our direct contact is mainly with the owners of the companies, who are still men in most cases. Because of that, it’s hard to compare how communication would change if there were more female owners. I can only speculate that, if M&A is a demanding enough field for women when it comes to combining work with family life against a backdrop of incomplete equality and social support, company ownership might be all the more so. However, if we’re talking about communication with male clients, I’ve never experienced any problems. Oh, there was this one time, years ago, when someone tried to ask me to prepare coffee for them (laughs)!
EVELĪNA: I guess new clients often have some initial reservations, but I doubt that that’s connected to gender — I think they need a bit of time to make sure you know what you’re doing and afterwards there’s no problem in communicating with them at all. There might actually be more of an age-related component: the average age of our clients is 50+, and it can initially seem strange that someone under 30, like me, is going to sit them down and tell them how to sell their company. So, that is a small obstacle that I have to get across, rather than anything related to gender. And trust can be built — as soon as they see that you know what you’re talking about, there’s no issue!
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