Alexandra Jouberjean is the compliance manager at the Monaco office and a former trader in Paris in the financial markets. She has been working for 16 years at Aurel BGC, a market brokerage company with a global presence. Alexandra Jouberjean, in an exclusive interview with The Women’s Voices, reflects on her unique journey as a woman in finance.
When you started, you were the only woman at Aurel BGC. How did you approach that ?
When I started, I was the only woman in my team in Paris at the front office. I initially joined as an intern, and the first few months were not easy at all. I had just graduated from business school, I was 23 years old, and I didn’t know the codes of the trading floors. It was only after several months that I began to gain confidence, assert myself, find common ground with my colleagues, and that’s when I found my place. Deepening my soft skills also played a significant role in my integration, first through sports, as I ran with both colleagues and clients, participating in half marathons, and later through theater. Theater allowed me to dare.
Is it essential to know how to “dare” to be effective in a trading room ?
Certainly! Daring is crucial, but so is being adaptable. We all have different personalities. In the trading room, we’re in an open space, and you have to deal with everyone’s character and know how to work together. So, it’s essential to know how to work with people. Everyone can be useful to you, and you can be useful to everyone.
What attracted you to this profession ?
I wanted financial independence. I wanted to leave home, own property, travel, and it’s true that it was one of the most lucrative fields for someone coming out of business school. At the beginning, you start as an intern, but very quickly, if you find clients, you start trading. There’s the fixed part, but also the variable part, which has no ceiling and can allow us to earn a very good living and double or triple our salary. And it’s true that at 25, I was making a much better living than all my former business school classmates. However, it’s a very stressful job that requires a lot of commitment.
Today, you’re no longer a trader; you’ve moved to Monaco to explore control, also known as “compliance.” Why ?
Firstly, I wanted to change my quality of life while staying in this company. I also wanted a challenge; I was turning 40, and I knew the broker job by heart, but I thirsted for learning. So now I’m in control, dealing with anti-money laundering, and my mission is to secure the business while ensuring ethics and professional conduct. Today, compliance has become essential; without this control aspect, we wouldn’t close deals. Having been a broker allowed me to see things from the other side because I have experienced both roles. Of course, I also made this choice to allow my children to travel. Aurel BGC is opening offices all over the world, and that’s also a wealth.
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