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Appropriate applicants will be qualified lawyers who have gained some experience in

banking/finance related work. Knowledge of the Financial Services Act or experience of working in

an investment bank would be a distinct advantage.
This constitutes a unique opportunity for a lawyer to develop his or her skills within a

dynamic and truly international environment.
Interested applicants should write, enclosing a full reference, to Fiona Campbell at the

address below. All applications will, of course, be treated in the strictest confidence.

Alderwick Peachell Limited

ONE WOMAN’S EXPERIENCE AS A GLOBAL HEAD OF IT

A successful manager sees a wider role for women

in the male-dominated world of IT networks

Women are in minority in information technology and even more so in IT management.

Over the past 30 years, Wendy Merkley has worked her way up from data entry operator in
her native Canada to global head of IT at reinsurance company Life & Health, based for the last

two years in London. She has spent much of the last year traveling the world to consolidate data

centers run by Life & Health – company supporting 80 different systems.
Her travels have highlighted different rates of success of women getting into IT

management in different countries.
“In Canada, being a woman had little impact on my career. I was taken seriously quite

early,” she says.
“My North America management team is four men and four women. In the UK, it’s five and

two – and in Zurich it was originally nine men plus me; now it’s 12 men and two women.”

She believes that companies can benefit by having more women managers.
“It’s possibly more natural for a woman to relate to what people are going through in their

personal lives,” she says. “I’ve coached many husbands on my staff in juggling children, home life
and work. Men seem to be more comfortable discussing these things with a woman, who’s probably

been through it herself. They often find it easier talking to me than they have to a male boss in the
past.”

She adds: “I’m not women’s lib about this. Anyone can get to management – just get on

with it.”