We are the women in M&A. We navigate complexity and bring businesses together to build stronger futures. We define strategies and unlock value. We understand risk and reward and make historic deals happen. We see problems differently and solve them uniquely. We imagine new possibilities, establish trust, drive growth, and find solutions to the most pressing issues facing our clients and communities to shape a better tomorrow. We need more like us. We need more like you.
“I continue to be motivated by paying it forward and helping the next generation of women succeed in their careers.”
Meet Jiak See. She leads more than 5,000 professionals across 19 geographies as the leader of Deloitte’s Financial Advisory practice in the Asia-Pacific region. She’s also a member of the Global Financial Advisory Executive Committee and the Asia-Pacific Executive Committee. She has 30 years of experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as well as with fundraising and IPO and growth strategy. Across a spectrum of industries, she is involved from the strategy to the deal, including its execution, financing, closing and the post-deal integrations. “You must have that fire-in-the-belly passion in M&A and I know that I have that because to me, it’s interesting,” she says. “You’re front and centre to the C-suite strategy discussions. We are the trusted advisors for the most important people in the room, who need our advice, our brainpower and our skillsets to achieve the values that they want to create.”
“A lot of people think that M&A is tough, has long hours and that there’s a need to be aggressive in a negotiation room—so maybe it’s not suitable for women,” says Jiak See, noting that that couldn’t be further from the truth. Working in M&A plays to many of the strengths she believes women already have. “Everyone can pick up the basic technical skills. But what really makes you stand out, from my perspective, are the soft skills such as the people skills, the negotiation skills, the art of empathy and the art of storytelling. Women bring different perspectives. They listen. They often have a different way of getting things done in the boardroom.”
Jiak See is very passionate about her work. “I find this industry fascinating. Its dynamic nature means that we continue to learn, we continue to connect with people from all walks of life. Things like market fluctuations, the rise of innovation and technologies, the changes in the sectors, the transformations of our clients… it all makes every day exciting.”
We need more like Jiak See.
We need more like you.