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By Anjuli Davies and Sophie Sassard
LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - For top Morgan Stanley financierCecile Houlot-Hillary, every day brings pressure in the form ofcomplex bond deals, intense competition and demands from highlevel clients.
But, says the 17 year veteran of investment banking, themost challenging part of her career so far has been navigatingher three spells of maternity leave.
"It was clearly the crunch point - coming back and makingsure I was still on track and nothing was going to stop me."
Her successful return to work was largely down to thesupport of her managers, says French-born Houlot-Hillary, whobelieves such coaching is key for banks and their femaleemployees.
The 39-year-old, co-head of debt capital markets forfinancial firms at Morgan Stanley, is now a key player in thebank's diversity programme, which includes coaching for womenreturning to work after having children.
"Whether you call them mentors or sponsors, I think it'shelpful to get independent advice from senior people, helpful tobounce ideas off someone else, it's helpful to have someonesenior who looks out for you," she says.
"It seems simple and obvious but it is very important tohave these processes."
RESILIENT AND PASSIONATE
Houlot-Hillary did not set out to be a banker, consideringcareers in medicine and politics first. But after attendingbusiness school she embarked on a career in investment bankingat JPMorgan, rising from intern to managing director during a13-year stint. She moved to Morgan Stanley in 2010.
Her proudest professional achievement to date, she says, waswinning the mandate with her team to help the Bank of Irelandreturn to money markets - raising 500 million euros worth ofbonds after the bank was locked out for two years in the wake ofan international bailout.
"In this job you have to be resilient, motivated and quitepassionate about what you are doing," she says.
"There's a thrill to pitching and knowing that you're in avery competitive environment, sometimes you lose and you feelvery sick and sometimes you win and you feel super excited."
This same attitude is winning Houlot-Hillary results in herrole as "gender champion" on Morgan Stanley's Diversity AdvisoryCouncil: In 2014 27 percent of the people promoted globally tomanaging director level at the bank were women.
"Retaining employees with high potential is obviously apriority for us," she says. "Moreover, Morgan Stanley seesdiversity as an opportunity to better serve our clients bybringing diverse perspectives to the table."
