Simona Shao joined IDR’s Commercial team in March. She reflects on her career journey to date, what motivated her to make the leap from a global investment bank to a private markets fintech and why she’s excited to help write the next chapter of IDR’s growth story.
My name is Simona Shao and I’ve been a part of IDR’s dynamic and global team as a commercial development manager for a little over a month now. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and then began my career at the JPMorgan Private Bank. There, I delved into the financial sponsors vertical, working with some of the largest private equity and hedge fund managers in Southern California.
Private markets exposure
JPMorgan provided a fantastic opportunity to gain exposure to the private markets industry. I worked with founders, partners and family offices across banking, investing, lending and wealth planning, but also with the funds themselves on the debt side, setting up subscription line facilities. As part of this, I got an insight into all things KYC and onboarding as well.
After working in a large institution for over 5 years, I was looking to spread my wings and try something new, ideally within a smaller rapidly growing firm. I wanted to gain a different type of experience whilst retaining my private markets focus.
A lot of what I’d worked on at JPMorgan on the private markets KYC and onboarding side of things had, at the time, felt quite niche. However, as it turned out, this experience was uniquely aligned with what IDR is doing.
Fateful…
It was almost fateful, as the role popped up on my LinkedIn feed, and from there I was quickly speaking to Hannah Holmes, IDR’s People Director. I instantly connected with IDR’s “one global thread” culture, as I was keen to work directly with an international team that had greater diversity of culture and experiences. Tim Andrews, the CEO, and I also had an immediate link as we both play the piano. I was inspired to hear how he’s embedded this passion for music across the organisation with a piano in each global office. Although I work remotely, I’ve very much felt like a part of the #IDRTeam since day one and have enjoyed meeting my new colleagues both in person and virtually.
Growing together
Something that stood out to me in my previous role was the inefficiency of private markets onboarding systems, so it was immediately clear that IDR’s solution made a lot of sense. Since joining the firm, I’ve been inspired by seeing the solution in action and the team’s energy and vision in making a difference to our industry. I can see great potential for IDR to grow in the US market whilst also enabling me to grow my role and professional experience, so for me, this is a truly exciting place to be!
