McGuireWoods’ next Celebration of Women Dealmakers highlights Heather Smith, co-founder and managing partner of Ancoris Capital Partners, a specialty investment bank that raises equity and debt in the private markets.
Heather has raised capital for nearly 30 years. Her career began in trading, where she worked with interest rate swaps, derivatives and futures. However, a desire to collaborate with entrepreneurs and build businesses led her to transition into investment banking. She co-founded Ancoris Capital Partners with Brett Tremain in 2019.
Ancoris raises capital for private companies across sectors, including tech-enabled businesses, climate tech, consumer industries, healthcare, industrial tech and financial services. At Ancoris, Heather and her team help companies secure $40 million to $400 million per transaction. The firm focuses on what Heather describes as “mission-critical” capital — financing necessary to support acquisitions or execute on other near-term growth opportunities. This financing comes in the form of equity and debt, and Heather takes pride in matching her clients with partners who provide capital and board-level governance support.
Getting to this stage in her career wasn’t easy, Heather acknowledges. Her entry into Wall Street came during what she describes as a pivotal time for women in finance. Senior women leaders in the industry faced immense challenges, often having to break through the “glass ceiling” with little to no support. Heather recalls that her generation did not often have the benefit of mentorship from women senior leaders, which made working and advancing in the environment difficult, particularly in a male-dominated culture. These experiences motivated a shift among Heather and her women peers. They recognized the importance of supporting each other as well as making the finance industry more accessible to women.
This collective, ongoing effort led to what Heather describes as a significant change in the culture of investment banking. Today, senior women actively mentor junior women and encourage more women to enter the field. These changes are substantial and positive, creating an industry Heather believes will be more attractive to women — perhaps even to her teenage daughter, who Heather hopes will consider following in her career footsteps. While challenges remain, Heather is optimistic that women entering the field face fewer obstacles.
Mentorship plays a crucial role in fostering the inclusivity Heather would like to see more of within finance. She emphasizes the importance of mentoring women in a “dramatic” way, helping junior women receive the advice and support to succeed. Heather notes that her career was influenced by impactful male mentors during her earlier career working at various finance-related companies. These relationships inspired Heather to become a mentor herself, a role she has embraced throughout her career. Many of the women Heather has mentored remain friends and colleagues.
In addition to the challenges associated with inclusivity, Heather says another barrier for women entering finance has been a perception that the industry does not allow for a balanced life and career. She believes that technological advancements and the cultural shifts that occurred now make it easier for women to have a fulfilling career and a balanced personal life.
For young women aspiring to careers in finance, Heather offers two pieces of key advice: embrace quantitative tasks and prioritize networking.
Historically, women in finance were often assigned writing tasks, while men were given quantitative assignments. Heather encourages junior women to seek out and take on the most challenging quantitative work. She has seen how mastering analytical skills early can significantly impact career growth. Heather highlights a woman colleague at Ancoris, an exceptional financial modeler, who leveraged these skills to take on complicated quantitative assignments, propelling the success in her career.
The ability to network is another skill Heather believes is vital for women to achieve career success. Heather recalls a time when women in investment banking worked hard but often did not take advantage of opportunities to network with senior bankers and peers. When she was a junior banker, Heather recognized this gap. Wanting to elevate her career, she and her women peers discussed the issue and collectively made an effort to improve their networking skills, even if that meant stepping outside of their comfort zones. Heather advises young women to pursue opportunities such as attending conferences, joining networking events, and building the types of connections that can support and elevate their careers. Finance, she says, is largely an industry of relationships. The more people you know and the stronger your relationships, the more successful one is likely to be.
The journey to founding Ancoris was one of the most rewarding experiences of Heather’s long career. After years of advising entrepreneurs, she now enjoys being on the other side of the table, making decisions that shape her firm’s future as well as the futures of the businesses she supports. Heather hopes that her success with Ancoris will inspire other women in finance to pursue their career aspirations.