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Seasoned/Executive

Ginny Woods Goes Where Curiosity Leads Her at TD Securities

By Meredith Hunt
Ginny Woods does not have a typical finance resume. Instead of heading to an investment bank after Princeton, she took her East Asian Studies degree and followed her curiosity to Japan. After a stint at a paint manufacturing plant, Ginny forged a successful, 10-year journalism career while based in Tokyo. When she was offered a job in equity research for a hedge fund in New York in 2006, her inquisitive nature kicked in again, eventually leading to her current role as Director of Strategic Projects, Managing Director at TD Securities.   

Current Role: Take an Interest in People

What is the mission of TD Securities (TDS), and what drew you to this company?  TD Securities is the investment bank of TD Bank Group, one of the largest financial institutions in Canada, which has global operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. I started out at a small investment bank called Cowen in June 2022 and, about a month later, I learned TDS was acquiring Cowen. It's been a great experience. There’s a lot of opportunity at TDS, but it’s also a lesson in getting comfortable with not always knowing where a path will lead.  In simple terms, what do you do as Director of Strategic Projects?  I manage a team of equity research analysts. Investment banks often have analysts who produce company, industry, and stock research aimed at professional investors. Hedge funds, for example, need this information to understand where to invest their clients’ money.   What is something you love about your job?   I learn something new every day. Research is all about investigating and asking questions, observing the world, and staying on top of changes. I also work with great people and have a supportive boss who I can be open with. Regardless of the job I do, if I am working with people that I like, the job is going to be fun.  You can have a prestigious job, but if you don’t get along with the people or don’t like your boss, it may not be a great job.   What is something challenging about your role?  In the investment business, we are always following news and trends. We are busy and engaged, but it can be challenging to stay focused and not get distracted by lower priority tasks. When I see my inbox has 200 emails, I focus on two goals per day so that I can stay on track. 

Students should think more broadly about what’s needed to be successful in business. Curiosity motivates me and has been the driving force of my career."

What characteristics does someone need to be successful in a role like yours?   Students should think more broadly about what’s needed to be successful in business. Curiosity motivates me and has been the driving force of my career. I have a background in Japanese literature and lived in Japan for 10 years after college. The study of literature, history, and writing are skills that are not emphasized enough when we talk about jobs in business. You will gain technical finance skills on the job, so study topics in college that interest you and are not necessarily related to business. They help you learn, think, understand people, and to be empathetic. Ultimately, banking is a people business. Be curious about people, ask earnest questions, and seek to understand them. In looking at resumes, I like seeing people with an atypical degree for a business role. Diversity of educational backgrounds, in addition to other kinds of diversity, is also important.  

Early Years: Desire to See the Bigger World

Growing up, was there a particular person or experience that helped to shape your path (personal and/or professional)?   I grew up in Augusta, Georgia, a mid-sized southern city. I couldn’t wait to get out and see the bigger world. I was always fascinated by people from other countries. Augusta is home to a famous annual golf tournament, and there are never enough hotels to accommodate visitors, so a lot of people rent their homes during the tournament. Every year, we’d rent our house to the same group of Japanese businesspeople. I never met them, but they would send food ahead of time – things like ramen, miso, and Evian water. This was the 1980s, and I’d never seen bottled water. When we came home after they left, we found gifts for us from Japan. It piqued my interest in Japan and, at the age of 16, I went there on a two-week exchange program. Japan was so different than the U.S., and I wanted to know more about it. When I got to college, I took Japanese then studied abroad in Japan.  

Career Path: Approach with a Sense of Adventure

I see on LinkedIn that you started your career as a journalist. What prompted you to pivot to finance?   During college, I got offers in consulting and banking, and I chose consulting. I wanted to work in Japan after college though, so the consulting firm let me defer for a year. During that year, I worked at a Japanese paint manufacturing company in Osaka. It was total language immersion because I was the only foreigner there. I would translate things when they had to deal with foreign customers. After that job, I wanted to stay in Japan and decided not to take the consulting job.    I was interested in writing and exploring Japan, so I moved to Tokyo. Through my network, I found a journalism job at the Japan Times, a local English newspaper. I was there for a year then went to the Associated Press and later the Wall Street Journal to work in their Tokyo bureau until 2006.   You never know who in your network will lead you to a new opportunity. I knew a guy who was starting a hedge fund, and he wanted someone to prepare journalistic style research for his fund. I decided to try it, so my husband and I moved to New York City and, since then, I have done different things in finance, stocks, and investing.   Curiosity and interest have been my guides. I am not driven exclusively by money, but I am practical and need to support my family. Equity research allows me to exercise my creativity and curiosity in a stimulating environment, even though I don’t have a typical finance background. 

You can never predict exactly how your career will go, but you can choose how you handle unexpected change. I chose to approach it with a sense of adventure and exploration."

What’s a pivotal lesson you’ve learned in your business career?  When Cowen was bought by TD Bank less than a month after I started my current job, I was concerned that I might no longer have a job. It was a total curveball going suddenly from a company of 1,500 to a company of 100,000 people that was based in another country. I had to figure out the culture and who was who. The experience showed me that you can never predict exactly how your career will go, but you can choose how you handle unexpected change. I chose to approach it with a sense of adventure and exploration.  

Supporting Women: Talk About Solutions

What advice do you have for a young woman just starting out in her career in business?  Come to it with curiosity and talk to as many people as you can. Build your network, not just for the purpose of finding the next job, but to get to know people. Don’t be shy – people love to talk about themselves. Ask them what they like and don’t like about their work. In doing that, you may discover new interests or different fields. If nothing else, you will gain a friend, and that friend might help you get your next job.   What is it about Forté’s mission that makes you want to support our efforts?   I love aligning myself with organizations that share the belief that diversity of all types is important and makes us stronger and better. I have spent a lot of my working life in situations where there are few women. When I worked in Japan as a reporter, I interviewed people for stories about Japanese business, which is male-centric. Finance, too, is still heavily male, especially at the upper levels of management. That won’t change unless we talk about it. You can’t flip a switch, but gradual change will come if we have ongoing conversations about potential solutions. We have to find ways to encourage people who wouldn’t typically go into finance to consider it as a career. 

Personal Pursuits: Plant Protection 

Is there anything on your “bucket list” you’d be willing to share?   I’d love to run a native plants gardening company. I support environmental causes and am on the board of Mastic Beach Conservancy, which aims to protect the wetlands of Long Island. If I could spend all day weeding in the yard, I’d be happy.  

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