New capital markets group seeks to support, develop talent

A recently formed organization wants to support women currently working in or considering careers in specialized portions of the mortgage business that are central to the industry’s finances.

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The CapitalW Collective is working with other existing groups but is filling an underserved niche.

“The Mortgage Bankers Association already has a large women’s organization called mPower but when we asked if there was a group focused on mortgage capital markets they validated our idea,'” said Leslie Winick, co-founder and president.

CapitalW aims to be complementary to other industry organizations and also to the work of colleagues of all genders, who are invited to join as the group seeks to “educate, elevate and empower” those who work in this part of the market.

“We are not here to overlap with what other trades and entities provide to the customers and

members, but rather a unique educational option that is very targeted in this field,” said Deb Jones, a board member and former chair of the MBA’s capital markets committee.

CapitalW is focused on a wide range of needs including those of people just starting out in the business as well as seasoned veterans, said Pat Peters, co-founder of the group and a senior vice president in warehouse administration services at SitusAMC.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to grow and help women find each other. We do exist in the capital markets,” Peters said.

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How it all came together

The idea for the group took root at an industry event that both Winick, chief strategy officer at Mortgage Capital Trading, and the organization’s third co-founder, Amy Creason, attended.

“I went up to Leslie and said, ‘We don’t know each other, but I think we could create a women’s capital markets group,'” said Creason, who was a Freddie Mac director of single-family sales at the time.

Creason credits getting an entry-level job on what at the time was an unusual women-dominated mortgage trading desk at one-time industry powerhouse Fleet in Columbia, South Carolina, for her three decades of work in the business. 

“As the industry looks generally at itself today, we know we have a younger-person pipeline problem to work on, and we also see the impact of new technology,” she said. “There’s a different type of workforce coming, and that concern bleeds into the capital markets space.”

The organization took years to get off the ground in part because of the need to obtain the nonprofit designation they all agreed was essential and helped establish the group’s integrity.

“We didn’t want to make this anything but a positive organization, that was one key tenet of ours,” said Winick. “Another was we were going to be fully inclusive. We love all the people getting behind us.”

Sheppard Mullin, a real estate law firm, helped establish the CapitalW as a nonprofit on a pro bono basis. It was one of the group’s original supporters, along with MCT and Agile Trading Technologies.

“Our goal is increased corporate support. The more brand names behind us, the greater the amplification of our cause,” Winick said.

Professional information the group offers is available to all, said Jones, who also is a senior vice president and director of capital markets in Citizens Bank’s home mortgage division.

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“We firmly believe a person should get their role based on their merit. That’s why education is one of our key tenets,” Winick said.

Why women in mortgage cap markets require dedicated support

The industry’s capital markets jobs include those concerned with funding and investments. These can include positions concerned with whole loan and servicing trades, financing secured by mortgage assets, or risk management strategies ranging from hedging to underwriting.

“The capital markets are where the money is made in the transaction and it’s historically very male-dominated,” said Winick, noting that as a result women in this world sometimes find it particularly tough to find connections to mentors or sponsors for professional designations.

Because capital markets work tends to be so specialized, the group’s founders wanted to supplement existing women’s networking groups in the industry.

“We are heavily focused on subject matter expertise in capital markets,” Winick said.

The next steps 

“We believe education on mortgage capital markets is critical to attracting more women into the space,” said Creason. “What we at CapitalW intend to do in 2025 is provide webinars, thought leadership pieces, and other information sharing for those women who are interested in a career in capital markets but don’t know how to pursue one.”

While sharing that expertise fulfills aims to educate and empower, CapitalW also plans to develop another resource that will elevate women in the business, Winick said.

“We are in the process of developing a speakers bureau of women who can address capital markets subjects,” said Winick. “We’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘I want to have different voices but I need to find them.’ So we’re going to help solve that pain point.”