INTERVIEW VIEW

InterviewINTER Continuous Improvement An Interview with Eileen Murray, Management Committee, Bridgewater Associates, LP

So I am fortunate that at this point in my In the areas I’ve been accountable for, career, I found a place where those three things I’ve seen that 50 percent of the graduates are existed. women and wonder why it is that these per- You have a broad level of expertise. centages aren’t refl ected in industry. There are How clearly defi ned is your role and how more women in our colleges and universities are you focusing your efforts? and there are more women in senior positions, I’m more of a generalist since I’ve spent and that is going to continue to grow because years in fi nance, treasury, and risk, and then I of their capabilities and skills. got involved in operations and technology. I’ve What people don’t always talk about is Eileen Murray also spent a lot of time with clients. So I bring to how much progress has been made over the Bridgewater a unique way of thinking about solv- past 20 years. So the discussion should perhaps EDITORS’ NOTE Eileen Murray joined Bridgewater ing different problems based on that experience. focus less on where we are but more on where in 2009. Before this, she spent most of her early This is a company that has consis- we’re going and where we came from. career at Morgan Stanley where she served as tently performed well and is known to have It’s an evolution that is continuing, and in Controller, Treasurer, and CAO for the Institutional a distinct culture. Has it been what you ex- order for companies to continue being success- Securities Group. In 2002, Murray worked at CSFB pected and what makes Bridgewater such ful, you have to get great talent, and that pool as Head of Global Technology, Operations, and a leader in what it does? includes a lot of women. So there has been a Product Control and as a Management Committee When I was fi rst introduced to Bridgewater, trajectory of women increasingly going into member. Returning to Morgan Stanley in 2005, it took me six months to make up my mind more senior roles and that will continue. she served as an Executive and Management about coming here. I’m not a person who likes You are focused on supporting causes Committee member. Most recently, she was President to jump from job to job and I wanted to settle in that are important to you. Was that instilled of Duff Capital Advisors and CEO of Investment Risk a place where I could continue to learn. in you early on and how critical is it to be Management. Murray is currently on the Board So I took this decision seriously. What I liked engaged in those areas? of Inwood House, College, and the about Bridgewater is there is a social contract where The way I was raised with eight siblings taught YMCA of Greater New York. She earned a B.S. in people are open and honest with each other. The me that if you have a piece of bread, and someone Accounting from . intention is for all of us to help make each other else doesn’t, you should split it with them. better by furthering our understanding of ourselves I’ve been very fortunate in life and it would COMPANY BRIEF Based in Westport, and our ways of thinking, and acknowledging what be easy for me not to give back. But it’s impor- with approximately 1,200 employees, Bridgewater we can change about ourselves and what we can’t tant to do that, not just monetarily but also in Associates, LP (www.bwater.com) is a global in- and how to guardrail those items we can’t change. terms of relationships with people. vestment manager and has pioneered several in- So I wanted to make sure that I was com- As a manager, I work with people that are vestment strategies, including overlay fortable that this is the way it actually works. less experienced than I am, so it’s important management in the ’80s, the separation of When companies put out their values, they all for me to give back just as people have helped and in the early ’90s, and infl ation-linked emphasize a culture of honesty and integrity, develop me along my career. bond management in the mid-’90s. Bridgewater but that may or may not be the case. Do you ever take the time to appreciate began managing assets in its optimal alpha strat- We’re a community of people who want what you’ve accomplished and the impact egy Pure Alpha® in 1991 and its /opti- to have quality relationships with each other you’ve had? mal beta strategy All Weather® in 1996. The fi rm and who want to do well in our business. But I look at success not in terms of what I’ve manages approximately $100 billion in global in- like any job, you want quality relationships, you achieved monetarily or awards; I look at success vestments for a variety of institutional clients, in- want to continue to learn about yourself, and in terms of what type of relationships I have cluding foreign governments and central banks, you want people who are willing to help you with people and I refl ect on that. corporate and public pension funds, university en- through your journey and vice versa. At the end of every day, I ask myself, if I dowments, and charitable foundations. This radical transparency and desire to wasn’t me and I had to deal with me, what would continuously improve is part of what makes the experience be like? Sometimes I say, you You’ve had a successful career in the fi nan- Bridgewater great because there is no sitting on were such a jerk in this particular situation and cial services area. When the opportunity your laurels – there is a constant evolution. you have to apologize. presented itself with Bridgewater, what Are senior leadership opportunities Because I take the time to do that, I learn made you feel it was the right fi t? in fi nance becoming more open to women about myself, but I also learn how other people I was looking for three things: fi rst, a group and is enough being done to build diverse are experiencing me. of people that I wanted to work with on a daily leadership? Do you have the ability to slow down? basis and whose values I shared; second, a cor- Until I started working in fi nancial services, I At some point, we all have to slow down. porate mission based on doing a good thing; didn’t think about those issues. I grew up in a very But being part of the fabric of moving and in- and finally, a company where I could have diverse area and even have a 20-year difference teracting with people in a quality way is so en- impact. between my eldest sister and my youngest brother. ergizing – it keeps you young.• 94 Leaders posted with permission. copyright © 2011 leaders magazine, inc. volume 34, number 3