What’s it like to lead the Irish business of a major global asset manager? And in this case, as a woman CEO who’s a financial industry veteran with deep experience in what it takes to advance in this business? Meet Anna Long, CEO of PineBridge Investments Ireland Limited. She answers questions here about her firm’s Irish operations, her career path, and how women can get ahead in the industry by offering advice for those striving to become leaders in finance.
What is PineBridge, and what do you do in Ireland?
PineBridge Investments is a private global asset manager focused on active, high-conviction investing.
Our clients include pension plans, insurance companies, private banks, advisers, and intermediaries. While I’m responsible for PineBridge’s Irish business, together with global colleagues, we work closely to understand our clients’ needs and help solve their challenges.
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In Ireland we operate as PineBridge Investments Ireland Limited. and are licensed by the Central Bank of Ireland to market funds throughout the European Economic Area.
How did you get to your current position?
I became CEO of PineBridge Investments Ireland in June 2024, having joined in 2017 as Vice President for risk and product. I took on several senior roles including a role in operational risk covering the EMEA region.
Before that I was a Senior Associate at Duff & Phelps in Dublin providing oversight and compliance for Irish domiciled funds. I started my career in asset management in 2002 at AIG Global Investment Group, a giant US financial services firm. PineBridge originated out of AIG, and I continued to work for the firm in a series of positions in its Fund Services division before moving to Duff & Phelps in 2014.
How do you see Ireland’s asset management industry today, and what trends have you seen in recent years?
Since I came back to PineBridge in Dublin, the number of Irish management companies has significantly expanded, making Ireland much more competitive. But this also means Ireland has a lot more business opportunities to tap into. Much of this increase stems from Brexit, which led investment firms domiciled in the UK to choose to locate their European business in either in Luxembourg or Ireland.
We have seen a significant number of these businesses locate to Ireland.
One area that’s a relatively newer focus for Dublin’s financial industry, particularly in comparison to Luxembourg’s, is the category called alternative investments, and it’s one in which PineBridge has great experience and strength. By alternative investments, we mean asset classes such as private real estate, private equity, and private credit.
Another change in Ireland’s financial industry is the growing number of women in business, not only in overall employment but especially in the all-important leadership positions of senior management.
Given this, what advice would you give to women starting their careers in asset management?
Well, if you were to ask me what’s my favourite part of the day, I’d say it’s giving advice! And a good piece of advice is to speak up and don’t shy away from asking for advice.
Also key is to join support groups in the industry and then network. That’s really what it’s all about – networking. I always tell young women to network, network, network. Start networking, and keep networking.
Another important factor is to look for mentors because loads of successful people are willing to help others just coming up. And remember, you can have various mentors for different areas, and not just from your own firm. By joining industry support groups, you can find a wider array of people who can mentor you beyond those in your company.
Why did PineBridge recently join Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter?
Becoming a signatory to the country’s Women in Finance Charter is a big deal for us. Supported by the Irish Government, this initiative aims to improve female representation in financial services by committing signatories to increase the participation of women at all levels.
The proportion of women across senior levels at signatory firms has increased year-on-year, and we are proud to be playing our part at PineBridge.
As positions for women in asset management change, what more can be done?
PineBridge is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and I’m thrilled to say PineBridge’s Irish business has exceeded 40% female representation in senior management. PineBridge Ireland remains committed to maintaining this target and to further bolstering our DEI initiatives. Despite the notable progress we’ve already made, we also acknowledge that a lot more needs to be done, and we intend to keep doing everything we can to ensure having the most diverse and inclusive business culture possible.
How has PineBridge approached DEI, and what are the results?
We believe that cultivating a diverse and inclusive corporate culture is central to delivering superior service to clients and maintaining our industry competitiveness. Our approach serves to attract, develop, and advance the most talented individuals regardless of any dimension of diversity.
PineBridge’s diversity strategy is driven both top-down and through employee-led groups. Mick Sweeney, Head of EMEA and CEO for Europe, is a huge advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion internally and within the industry. Meanwhile, PineBridge is fortunate to have a range of grassroots Employee Resource Groups, who drive impact by supporting meaningful causes globally.
The results of this can be seen in our numbers. Globally, 46% of PineBridge’s workforce is female, while 29% of our investment professionals are women. (Results from a 2024 voluntary survey of 624 employees.)
What do you see coming in 2025?
We look forward to ongoing growth of Ireland’s asset management industry, continued collaboration with our industry colleagues, and successful servicing of our PineBridge Irish clients.
The Irish funds industry has seen extraordinary growth in assets under management. According to investment industry association Irish Funds, at year-end 2019, Ireland had 7,700 domiciled funds with total assets of €3.05 trillion, and as of August 2024, those figures raced to 9,000 and €4.58 trillion, respectively. That’s 12% average annual growth in assets, and we see no reason for that trend to stop.
So it’s a really exciting time to be in Ireland’s funds industry. There’s so much going on, so many organisations setting up, and we find that every event we go to is really very interesting to be a part of.
Overall, we’d like to maintain our growth in Ireland’s asset management industry and to see things keep changing for the better, while also continuing to service our Irish clients and add more of them. That’s the future we’re looking to.
For more information, visit pinebridge.com