Greek-Australian Reeny Paraskeva joins Jarden Australia, a rising star in investment banking


Greek-Australian Reeny Paraskeva will be joining Jarden Australia as Managing Director and Head of General Industrials, as the New Zealand investment and advisory group expands its operations to Australia.

Ms Paraskeva – the daughter of Anthoula and Paul Paraskeva from Lefkada and Cyprus respectively – was previously a Managing Director at UBS in New York, having started her investment banking career in Australia with UBS and Goldman Sachs.

She returns to Australia with over 15 years of investment banking experience across a number of sectors including General Industrials, Healthcare, Consumer Products, Retail and Media and Technology.

In addition to this, she has over a decade in traditional advisory, Ms Paraskeva led the Consumer Products & Retail ECM team in New York and was most recently responsible for broadening the US financial sponsors coverage effort.

As Jarden stated in their announcement, Ms Paraskeva will also have responsibility for broader roles in their business as part of the senior team across Corporate Advisory.
The new director spoke to Neos Kosmos about her new responsibilities, the economy during the pandemic, and how important her Greek legacy has been in her life.
Stating that Australia has done a good job in handling the pandemic, she said she feels lucky to be back in Australia with her husband, who is also an Australian citizen, and their two children – 3.5-year-old daughter and their 9-month-old son.

Speaking about the USA where she lived for around 10 years, Ms Paraskeva said that the healthcare system “lacks a safety net” which can have significant consequences during a pandemic.

“It can be a very tough place to live; But, it’s also wonderful,” she said. “I was very fortunate to have a fantastic experience in the USA and to work at a supportive firm.”

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Reeny Paraskeva and her mother, Anthoula, in New York.

On being a banker

Ms Paraskeva said she stumbled into investment banking “a little accidentally” after a Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University and Bachelor of Commerce with a Finance major.

“This was in 2005. At the time, it was very common for those with a Finance degree to pursue a career in investment banking and I was fortunate enough to be employed by UBS in Melbourne,” Ms Paraskeva said.

“I hadn’t spent a lot of time researching the industry, but from the minute I started, I really enjoyed it,” she added.

“It’s a very challenging and very demanding job. You’re working really hard, but at the start of your career, you are also getting fantastic exposure to senior professionals within the corporate landscape. I always found the work quite rewarding from that perspective and continued to be offered different opportunities to grow and extend myself. It’s been over 15 years now, which is quite amazing,” she said.

“To be perfectly honest with you, when I started in this industry, I didn’t feel any issues related to my gender. I was treated equally with the men in my class, I was given opportunities. I was promoted and paid fairly,” she said, adding that the main issues concerning gender are the fewer women in senior positions.

“Fewer role models. And at the same time, I think the challenges become different for women,” she said, adding that other than the lack of women in senior roles – something which is slowly changing – she believes the industry is “a meritocracy” despite the fact that maternity leave is “tricky” in a “non-stop business”. In her case, UBS in New York was supportive, creating different structures for her when she had children.

“I had always dreamed of living in New York,” she said of her initial plan to stay in the city for two years, but ending up being there for ten due to the career opportunities for her and husband Aaron McGovern, employed in infrastructure investment management.

After their second child, the couple began to think about their long term plans and where they wanted to raise their children. “We had always planned to visit Australia while I was on maternity leave, but we had expected to return to New York. Then the pandemic began to deteriorate and I was offered this opportunity with Jarden; so it became much more logical for us to stay here,” she said.

She added that her sister Miranda, who is a respiratory physician, “is based in Western Australia at the moment, but she’s coming back to Melbourne, hopefully sometime next year. So, I think our parents are very excited to have both their children nearby and all the grandkids around to see them grow up”.

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The economy

Ms Paraskeva said “if someone compares what is happening around the world, putting aside the specific Victorian issues, just in terms of government support, Australia is ahead of many other economies.

“There’s actually been a lot more fiscal support for the citizens of Australia than what other governments have provided,” she said.

“I think the biggest question for me, is what the economy will look like as that stimulus is eased away,” Ms Paraskeva said, adding that “while there is an expectation that the recovery will be more ‘V’ shaped than that of the financial crisis, the extended lockdowns or second wave of lockdowns in Europe and the US could materially impact how that recovery looks in 2021”.

A lot, she said, will depend on a vaccine, or rapid testing.

Ms Paraskeva also noted, “Let’s not forget that this government stimulus isn’t free. At some point, future generations will have to pay that back”.

About Jarden

She told us that Jarden is extending its presence from New Zealand into Australia. “We’re essentially building what we hope is the leading Australasian focused, independent advisory firm,” she said.

She explained that Jarden as an independent firm is focusing on building differentiated relationships with its clients and distinguishing itself from the “big banks”.
Jarden, she said, “is focused on staying true to its core values of being client-centric and building long term trusted relationships”.

“Investment banking is a people business; its success is fundamentally driven by the quality of the people and the advice that you provide to your clients,” she added. “So, what we’re trying to do right now is assemble the best team”.

Growing up Greek

Reeny Paraskeva said her own personal role models were her parents: Anthoula and Paul.

“My father was born here, but my mother immigrated here when she was eight and they both started their own businesses as young professionals. This was very inspirational for my sister and I – they are really strong role models and I think both of us (Ms Paraskeva and her sister), have been very heavily influenced by their family values, but also their work ethic,” she said.
Ms Paraskeva also mentioned that she was very close with her grandparents growing up and that she went to Greek school every Saturday.
“My father’s parents lived next door to us in Carlton. Every weekend, we’d go visit my grandparents in Βox Hill, who were on my mother’s side. The Greek culture, the heritage, the religion, they were all very central to our lives growing up…I have very fond memories,” she said.

Being far away, it was difficult knowing her parents weren’t able to spend the same amount of time with her children which she had spent with her grandparents growing up.
But now, “I am really, really happy that my children will get to experience that as well”.