women on top with haleh moddasser

Carolyn Saacke is the Head of Financial Sponsor Coverage at the New York Stock Exchange where she maintains relationships with private equity, venture capital, legal, investment banking and advisory firms for the benefit of capital markets and listed company teams.

In this episode of Women on Top with Haleh Moddasser, our guest explains the drop in the number of IPOs in 2022 following a robust 2021; the definition of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC)s; and expectations for rates of return in the stock market. Carolyn and Haleh also talk about what it’s like for women working in the financial profession.

Julie Castro Abrams is the managing partner at How Women Invest, an early-stage venture firm focused on the intersection of female founders and female investors. She is also the CEO of How Women Lead, a network of executive women working to increase female leadership representation on boards and more.

Julie engages with Women on Top with Haleh Moddasser about women supporting other women through venture funds. Julie debunks myths about women investors, demystifies terminology associated with venture funds, and describes the stages of a company and the investment risk level associated with each stage.

Jaime Davis is a Board-Certified Family Law Specialist, Certified Family Financial Mediator and Certified Parenting Coordinator. The co-managing partner at Gailor Hunt Davis Taylor & Gibbs, PLLC in Raleigh, NC was selected to Super Lawyers in 2019 and named to Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite in Family Law in 2018 and 2019. Jaime is the podcast host of A Year and a Day: Divorce Without Destruction and author of a book by the same name.

Jaime sits down with Women on Top with Haleh Moddasser to discuss the current state of divorce, why what looks fair on paper is not necessarily what is best for your long-term, and the reality of gray divorce. She and Haleh explain the value of working with a team of professionals who each advise on very specific but vital areas for your overall wellness during a divorce.

Stephanie Link is chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at Hightower, a national wealth management firm. When she started her career in finance, Stephanie was just 1 of 3 women on a floor of over 500 working on a trading desk, where they couldn’t wear pantsuits or sleeveless anything, but certainly had to wear stockings no matter the temperature. She and Haleh discuss how much has changed since then, the power of learning from life’s challenges, and the “real” Jim Cramer.

Prior to joining Hightower, Stephanie was the senior managing director and head of global equities research at Nuveen, where she co-managed the CREF Stock Variable Annuity Portfolio with $170 billion in assets, managed her own US Core portfolio with $3.7 billion in assets and oversaw a team of investment professionals who collectively managed $40 billion. Before joining Nuveen, she spent seven years at TheStreet as Chief Investment Officer and co-portfolio manager of Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust. Before that, she was at Prudential Equity Group and Dean Witter Reynolds.

With so much experience, Stephanie’s insights are frequently sought after for industry events and by the media. You might recognize her from The Halftime Report, Closing Bell and Squawk Box.