Anya Schnoor, head of Scotia DBG Investments. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Despite the recent statistics, there is one company leading the corporate world with women at the helm; Scotia DBG Investments. Six of their eight-member management team are women.

Leading this group of women is one who has excelled against all the obstacles facing women in the corporate world: Anya Schnoor.

Senior vice-president, Wealth Management Division, Scotiabank Group, and chief executive officer, Scotia DBG, Schnoor is one of the youngest CEOs in the world of finance.

A knack for investments

In an interview with the Flair magazine (when she was appointed CEO in September 2007), she revealed that a knack for investments was innate. In school, Schnoor formed a treasury club with her friends where they pooled their lunch money to buy a particular toy or something that they needed at the end of the week.

However, after graduating from St Hilda's Girls school in Brown's Town, St Ann, Schnoor began studying computer science at Florida International University. Eventually, she answered her true calling and veered back into financial services.

Paid her dues

As a woman, Schnoor has definitely paid her dues. "Early in my career, there were prejudices. I had the extra burden of being a woman and I had to give 12 or 14 hours to a 10-hour job." But all that has paid off, leaving her with an impressive track record which has put her at the top of her game.

Her only wish is that her father were alive to see all she has achieved. "My father died when I was very young and I'm proud of the things I've been able to achieve without compromising or losing my integrity. I have achieved what he would have wanted me to."

Schnoor notes that trust and confidence are the key ingredients in the financial services. "Financial service is all about confidence. You're working with people's money."