Kalina Moore

How did you arrive at Pictet?

I joined Pictet in November 2000 as a physics graduate. I would hardly have imagined that I’d one day be working in Pictet Wealth Management’s investment communication team. I started out as an assistant in Pictet Asset Management’s quantitative management team, calculating tracking errors and drawing up risk reports. My work then was very analytical. So, you could say I’ve now switched from numbers to letters.

Tell us about your path through Pictet?

In 2004, I chose to reduce my working hours after the birth of my second child. I was offered a job at Pictet Wealth Management, working on Panorama, a macro focused publication that was the ancestor of our current communication offering. My boss retired in 2008 and was replaced by Christophe Donay (Head of Asset Allocation and Macro Research). He is a visionary and the creative force, I was his engineer. He remains a mentor to me, both challenging and inspiring. In 2014, Christophe asked me to formalise the communication function in his team to move forward in both depth and quality.

And now?

Now I head a team of four people proactively involved in communication across Pictet Wealth Management’s investment platform. The purpose of our publications is to create better comprehension of the financial and political environment for our clients. I see communication as an open system, a sort of bridge between clients and the economy by way of investment.

So why the physics degree?

There was a time when I wanted to be an astrophysicist, or even an astronaut. Studying physics taught me how to structure my thoughts. It gave me an insatiable appetite for rational thinking and a constant need to understand the universe around me.

How did you adapt to banking?

You could give me almost any sort of work, I think I’ll always find something interesting about it. I have a very determined personality, and I truly believe in the strength of willpower. In the changing environment of modern banking, new challenges are always appearing but new solutions are always to be found.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

It came from one of my managers, now retired, who was an outstanding quantitative analyst. He said: ‘If you’re ever hiring for your team, choose someone who has that extra spark, something a little quirky about them...’taking this advice helped me create a better team. After all diversity is our strength.