Career Connect mentor Kate Howitt shares her advice for women starting out and moving up in investments.
Kate Howitt spent 18 years as a decorated fund manager at Fidelity before moving into non-executive director roles, most recently on the board of Commonwealth Bank Australia.
Across that career, she's spent decades mentoring young women as they take their first steps into the investment industry. She's watched the same pattern play out again and again. A manager sees potential in someone early in their career and pushes them with harder, more stretching work. Instead of feeling backed, the person curls into themselves. The fear and trepidation gets read as proof they're not good enough.
Kate's advice is to flip that script entirely.
"Anxiety isn't a sign you're failing," she says. "It's a sign you're working on something bigger. Anxiety is a feature, not a bug." Her second piece of advice is simpler: read The Economist.
It's a gap she's now closing through our Career Connect mentoring platform. Kate has moved from navigating that isolation herself to helping the next generation navigate it, bringing a board-level view of where the industry is headed.
"Career Connect takes the friction out of mentoring. When everyone is short on time, it makes it seamless to find the right connections, so I can spend time with people I'm best able to support, and mentees can find the mentor they need."
Kate Howitt, NED
Looking forward to the expanded Career Connect platform in 2027
Kate is excited that Career Connect is expanding beyond its original focus to cover all career pathways and levels in funds and wealth management. It means she can now connect with women already working in investment roles, not just those taking their first steps, and help them navigate an industry going through significant change and challenge.
For Kate, the value of Career Connect is it makes all this easy, on both sides.
"As a mentor, I can focus on the talent I'm best placed to support, making it easy to give back and pass on my hard-earned lessons. And mentees can find the people they're most aligned with, without the guesswork and legwork."
Want to connect with Kate or become a mentor yourself? Register for Career Connect here.
Career Connect 2027: What's changing?
After proving the platform with front-office investment and advice teams for the past year, we’re expanding Career Connect next year to every role and function across funds and wealth management.
Students and career changers will be able to meet mentors from across the industry, including HR, risk, operations, technology, marketing, legal and more. Professionals working in the industry will also be able to find their own mentor to help grow and develop their career. Industry professionals can sign up as mentors, mentees or both, creating a more generous and connected industry where experience and insights flow in both directions.
Registrations for the expanded platform open 18 January 2027 and matching starts 15 March. We'll share more information over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
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