She’s now known in the industry for being involved in groups like the Municipal Bond Women’s Forum. The group hosts an annual gathering that features networking events and panels at a time when women are still struggling to break into the top ranks in some areas of finance.
Trachtenberg was one of the forum’s early advocates while others expressed doubts that it would work, said Rachel Perlman, director of institutional sales at Boenning & Scattergood and chairwoman of the group.
“Debe kind of looked at me and said, ‘You just keep on moving. Tune them out,’” Perlman said. “She was a real cheerleader.”
Trachtenberg, the forum’s co-chairwoman, said she sees mentoring as key to helping diversify the industry. Over the years she says she’s mentored people like Kevin Dyer, a trader at MFS Investment Management, and Sara Chanda, a portfolio manager at Breckinridge Capital Advisors. Both previously worked at Eaton Vance.
She’s also passed her love of trading—and her affinity for numbers—down to her children: Her daughter trades municipals and her son trades cryptocurrency.
Looking Forward
After retirement, she’ll continue to be involved with the forum and work with organizations like the Matthew Larson Foundation for Pediatric Brain Tumors. She’s also looking forward to tending her garden at her home in Scituate, Massachusetts, and to a trip to Italy planned for soon after she leaves her job.
She’s confident that Eaton Vance’s state and local-debt group is in good hands with longstanding senior traders like Christopher Berry and Simone Santiago. The company this year also hired Alisa Fitzgerald and Don Schatz as senior traders on the municipals team. Cynthia Clemson and Craig Brandon are co-directors of municipal investments.
The team was excited about Fitzgerald’s hiring, because no woman had interviewed for a trading role that opened up previously.
“We were all over the moon,” Trachtenberg said. “Women have really come into their own in municipals.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.