The fields of investment and finance are still markedly male-dominated ones: as recently as 2015, only nine percent of mutual fund managers in the United States were women, while in banking, women comprised less than a third of senior vice president and C-suite positions. This shortage of visible role models only perpetuates the uneven dynamic between men and women, let alone women of Asian descent, in the field.

All the more impressive, then, are the Asian women who do break through those historic barriers to build a career at the vanguard of the industry. For its third program, in celebration of Women's History Month, Asia Society Southern California's newest initiative Asian Women Empowered, will host a two-part event highlighting those women who have brought their expertise and unique perspective to lead their respective companies.

On March 7 at 5:00 p.m. PT, the eve of International Women's Day, Ida Liu and Denise Yi of Citi Private Bank will participate in a fireside chat. That conversation will be followed by a program on March 16 at 5:00 p.m. PT featuring a panel with Noriko Honda Chen (Capital Group), Christina Gaw (Gaw Capital Partners), and Veena Isaac (BlackRock), moderated by Denise Yi. The program will also include a pre-recorded conversation with "womenomics" pioneer Kathy Matsui (MPower Partners) and AWE Committee member Sylvia Kim (CerraCap Cares). A limited number of guests will be invited to participate in person while the program is simultaneously broadcast on Zoom.                                                                                                                                  

Fireside Chat Speakers:

Ida Liu is the Global Head of Citi Private Bank, overseeing 50 offices across 18 countries and delivering wealth management solutions to ultra-high net worth families and their businesses globally. Before becoming the Global Head, she was the Head of Citi Private Bank North America and held numerous other leadership roles. Liu is an advocate for diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the workplace, serving as the Co-Lead of Citi’s Asian Heritage Affinity and as a member of the Citi Women Steering Committee. She has been named to Barron’s 10 Most Influential Women in Wealth Management, Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance, and American Banker’s 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance. Additionally, Liu is a Young Global Leader (YGL) of the World Economic Forum, a member of The Committee of 100 (C100) and Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). Liu serves on the UCLA Health Advisory Board as well as the Asia Society Board of Trustees.

Denise Yi is a Managing Director and Global Private Banker at Citi Private Bank. She leverages Citi’s global presence and platform to providing strategic advice and tailored solutions to ultra-high net worth families and family offices globally on how to preserve, grow and transition their wealth. Prior to joining Citi, Yi was a Senior Relationship Manager at HSBC Private Bank. She worked closely with UHNW clients, providing a range of wealth management services. Previously, Yi was a Senior Business Analyst at Deutsche Bank and a business management consultant at PwC in New York. Yi is passionate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and serves as the Co-Chair of Citi Private Bank North America’s Diversity Operating Committee. She is also a member of Citi’s Asian Heritage Affinity Steering Committee and has served as the Co-head of Women’s Committee and was a founding member of the Women’s Network steering committee in Southern California. She received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Binghamton University and studied International Business at the University of Westminster in the UK. 

Program Speakers:

Noriko Honda Chen is an equity portfolio manager at Capital Group. She also serves on the Capital Group Management Committee. She has 29 years of investment experience and has been with Capital Group for 22 years. Earlier in her career, as an equity investment analyst at Capital, Chen covered Asian infrastructure, building materials and construction companies, as well as oil, gas and refining companies. She was also a research director for one of the global groups. Before joining Capital, she worked in the research and corporate finance departments of Worldsec International in Hong Kong (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Bank) and graduated from the Japanese Language Bekka Program at Keio University, Tokyo. She has a B.A. in economics from Williams College where she is also on the board of trustees. Chen is on the advisory boards of the Women’s Foundation in Hong Kong, Peninsula Bridge and the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative in California. She and her husband Norman Chen (CEO of The Asian American Foundation) have two kids, Niki (18) and Zach (20) and two viszlas. She is based in the Bay Area.

Christina Gaw is a Managing Principal, Global Head of Capital Markets and Co-Chair of Alternative Investments at Gaw Capital Partners. She works closely with limited partners relating to capital raising and new product developments. Gaw Capital is a real estate private equity firm and has raised six commingled funds targeting the Greater China and APAC since 2005. The firm also manages value-add/opportunistic funds in Vietnam and the US, a Pan-Asia hospitality fund, a European hospitality fund, a growth equity fund and provides services for separate account direct investments globally. The firm has over USD$ 32.6 billion in AUM as of Q3 2021. She also serves as Executive Director of Pioneer Global Group (0224.HK) and Independent Non-Executive Director and Member of the Finance and General Committee and the Sustainability Committee of CLP Holdings Limited (0002.HK). Gaw was named Global PERE’s Rainmaker 30 and one of the Top 10 PERE’s Women of Influence in 2021.

Veena Isaac is co-head of the Secondaries & Liquidity Solutions (SLS) business at BlackRock, and is part of the founding leadership for the secondaries program. SLS focuses on partnering with a wide variety of private market participants including both general partners and limited partners to create liquidity solutions for private market assets. In total, Isaac has over 19 years of investment experience across private markets. Prior to BlackRock, she was a Partner at Jasper Ridge, where she co-led the secondaries investing effort, and a Principal at Pantheon Ventures, where she was recruited as the third member of the NY office and focused exclusively on all aspects of secondary transactions. She began her career at Goldman Sachs in investment banking and in investment management. Isaac holds an MBA from the Stanford GSB and a BA from Mount Holyoke College.

Kathy Matsui is a General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-focused global VC fund. She was the former vice chair of Goldman Sachs Japan, co-head of Macro Research in Asia and chief Japan equity strategist. Kathy was ranked No. 1 in Japan Equity Strategy by Institutional Investor multiple times. She was chosen by The Wall Street Journal as one of the "10 Women to Watch in Asia" for her work on the "Womenomics" theme and was also named to Bloomberg Markets magazine’s “50 Most Influential” list in 2014. Matsui has served on numerous government committees aimed at promoting gender diversity in Japan. She is a board member of the Asian University for Women (AUW) Support Foundation, chair of the Board of Councilors (Japan) of the US-Japan Council, director of the Fast Retailing Foundation, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Nature Conservancy-Asia Pacific Council, and Keizai Doyukai. She also serves on the Advisory Council for the Japan Society Fund Against Breast Cancer.

Sylvia Kim is the Founding Partner of CerraCap Cares - a women-led impact-driven fund unleashing the power of technology for good and investing in early-stage human-centered technologies that reduce disparities and empower the underserved. Currently, she is also a Senior Consultant with La Piana, a Venture Partner with CerraCap Ventures, an active member of Transact Global and the Global Women in VC community, and a member of the inaugural 2020 class of the All Raise Visionary Voices Speakers Bureau. As an award-winning human rights lawyer and former non-profit executive, Kim has extensive experience in rights-based advocacy, strategic planning, and raising capital for mission-driven initiatives. Throughout her career, Kim has co-founded a human rights organization for North Korean human rights, led the Orange County expansion of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and launched the country's first National Asian American Community Foundation (now known as Asian American Futures). 

Proud Sponsor 

Supporting Sponsors 

With Special Thanks to 

Promotional Partners