Loretta McCarthy became a founding member of the venture capital fund Golden Seeds in 2005 after working as chief marketing officer at Oppenheimer Funds for 10 years.

“At the time, women were not participating in capital formation at all,” said McCarthy, who is a managing partner at Golden Seeds, which finances women-led businesses.

Today, McCarthy is one of 18.8 percent of women working in the alternative investments industry, according to Prequin data. Although women are well represented in investor relations and marketing positions, comprising 45 percent of positions across all asset classes, McCarthy used her skill set and experience to cross over into the investment end.

“My marketing skills are helping women entrepreneurs who are not receiving funding at the same rate as men,” said McCarthy, who attended the New York Alternative Investment Roundtable's (NYAIR) second annual all-female forum in Manhattan last week.

NYAIR honored International Women’s Day with panelists that included Sonya Capital Management founder and CIO Anna Raytcheva, Appomattox Advisory President and CIO Susan Webb, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investments Group Services Executive Director Carmen Lai and Hedge Connection CEO and co-founder Lisa Vioni.

“You have to work harder as a woman than most men,” Webb told Financial Advisor following the presentation.

Prior to co-founding the woman-owned investment firm Appomattox, which manages some $2 billion in assets, Webb was head of First Atlas Capital. Other previous positions included working on the trading desks of Citibank, Paribas Capital Markets and CIBC. She advises women looking to make their mark in alternative investments to make strategic alliances.

“There are men in the industry that are very willing to work with you, but they're more like partners and not usually senior,” Webb said. “Only recently have I encountered some senior men that have actually been very supportive, but they're hard to find.”

Other ways to advance is to join peer groups. The Fortis Group at Morgan Stanley sponsors peer group topics on portfolio management and strategic planning for founders, owners and successors.

Vioni began her career in  mortgage-backed securities sales and trading in 1990 at Prudential Securities and later became senior vice president of institutional sales at Lehman Brothers Securities.

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