Rachel Minard
On the surface, Rachel Minard's career may seem a far cry from her academic path at Northeastern. A journalism major and philosophy minor, Minard has spent the past 16 years in the global institutional asset management industry. As one of three Partners and President with Cogo Wolf Asset Management, LLC, she is responsible for engineering future growth of the firm, raising assets globally, and managing strategic partnerships in 16 countries. However, she attributes much of her success in the competitive asset management field to the skills she learned in her philosophy and journalism classes and as a rower on the Charles River.
“My teachers at Northeastern helped me tremendously,” says Minard. They guided her in how to work in a variety of environments, she says, and how to distill complicated ideas down to their simplest form. They also taught her how to articulate those ideas clearly and concisely—a critical part of her job in raising capital from global investors and managing those relationships.
As a four-year member of Northeastern's crew team, Minard also developed the discipline that her demanding job, as well as her high-energy extracurricular life, requires. “I'm on the road 85 percent of the time,” she says of her busy work schedule. “But I absolutely love what I do. When you have great passion for something, it doesn't feel like work. I felt that way when rowing. Hard work, but incredibly rewarding.” She spends her free time mountain climbing, skydiving, running marathons, and riding her motorcycle.
Minard got her start in marketing in 1991 when she was hired to help launch the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. She entered the investment industry in 1992 as assistant director of marketing and client service for Pareto Partners, which specializes in currency and risk management. She has also worked for investment giants J.P. Morgan Investment Management, Cadogan Management, Corbin Capital Partners, and now Cogo Wolf Asset Management, LLC.
Minard's counsel for anyone interested in pursuing a career in her industry? “Travel after you graduate. See the world. Work odd jobs. You wouldn't think knowing how to skydive or being a docent in a museum would help when marketing a hedge fund, but those experiences yield the greatest insight on leadership and people. In an ever-changing industry, you must adapt and learn to be better. It's the striving that makes it all so much fun.”
