leader leader leader
Driving growth by delivering client and product solutions across asset classes and investment strategies.
STEPHANIE SCHILS
product & client solutions executive
Ms. Schils has an established 15+ year track record of driving growth by delivering client and product solutions across asset classes and investment strategies.
Through diverse roles in product, distribution, and ETF capital markets at BlackRock and Neuberger Berman, she’s honed a versatile skillset and holistic investment view.
Specializing in go-to-market strategy, she’s lead cross-functional teams to build and scale solutions in new product segments, driving growth through broader client reach and increased investor access through ETFs.
Ms. Schils takes a consultative, client-centric approach to fundraising. She’s worked with wealth advisors to identify investments aligned to their clients’ financial goals, and partnered on institutional asset allocation solutions with pensions, foundations, and endowments to meet funding targets.
As a subject matter expert, she is experienced in learning and effectively communicating technical concepts to clients.
She thrives with the entrepreneurial problem solving, critical thinking and analysis required to build businesses, working across growth stages to: launch a new venture, scale up a growing business, and navigate expansion within a mature market.
Her informed, collaborative approach to decision-making is crucial for success when working across functional teams, navigating cross-cultural business environments, and effectively engaging C-suite and senior leaders to drive strategic initiatives forward.
Ms. Schils has cultivated a robust global network across the US, Europe, and Latin America, particularly in the ETF ecosystem.
She adapts quickly to new challenges and easily navigates cultural differences, a result of living across 4 continents (Asia, Latin America, Australia, US) prior to her finance career, and in New York, Spain, and Miami as a professional. Fluent in Spanish, she appreciates languages as a tool for connection.
Throughout her career, she’s cultivated a passion for financial wellness and inclusion that sits at the intersection of her financial market expertise and the opportunity to positively impact individuals and communities.
CONTact Stephanie
work experience
- Heading ETF Product Strategy, ETF Product Specialist, Neuberger Berman
- Factor ETF Product Specialist, BlackRock
ProducT Roles
- Focus on Factors, Thematics, Commodities
- New product launches & ETF conversions
active & indexed etfs
- US Institutional Client Advisor, Neuberger Berman
- Offshore Wealth Business Development, BlackRock
- International Institutional Client Analyst, BlackRock
distribution Roles
- Pensions, Foundations, Endowments, Hospitals, Family Offices
- International Advisors, Banks
- Private Equity/Credit, SMAs, Tax Managed
- Mutual Funds, ETFs (UCITS, US, Mexican cross-listed)
institutional & wealth
- iShares ETF Capital Markets Specialist, BlackRock
capital markets role
- Market Maker and Authorized Participant engagement on ETF trading from LatAm
etf trading
work experience
- Heading ETF Product Strategy, ETF Product Specialist, Neuberger Berman
- Factor ETF Product Specialist, BlackRock
ProducT Roles
- Focus on Factors, Thematics, Commodities
- New product launches & ETF conversions
active & indexed etfs
- US Institutional Client Advisor, Neuberger Berman
- Offshore Wealth Business Development, BlackRock
- International Institutional Client Analyst, BlackRock
distribution Roles
- Pensions, Foundations, Endowments, Hospitals, Family Offices
- International Advisors, Banks
- Private Equity/Credit, SMAs, Tax Managed
- Mutual Funds, ETFs (UCITS, US, Mexican cross-listed)
institutional & wealth
- iShares ETF Capital Markets Specialist, BlackRock
capital markets role
- Market Maker and Authorized Participant engagement on ETF trading from LatAm
etf trading
work experience
- Heading ETF Product Strategy, ETF Product Specialist, Neuberger Berman
- Factor ETF Product Specialist, BlackRock
ProducT Roles
- Focus on Factors, Thematics, Commodities
- New product launches & ETF conversions
active & indexed etfs
- US Institutional Client Advisor, Neuberger Berman
- Offshore Wealth Business Development, BlackRock
- International Institutional Client Analyst, BlackRock
distribution Roles
- Pensions, Foundations, Endowments, Hospitals, Family Offices
- International Advisors, Banks
- Private Equity/Credit, SMAs, Tax Managed
- Mutual Funds, ETFs (UCITS, US, Mexican cross-listed)
institutional & wealth
- iShares ETF Capital Markets Specialist, BlackRock
capital markets role
- Market Maker and Authorized Participant engagement on ETF trading from LatAm
etf trading
work experience
- Heading ETF Product Strategy, ETF Product Specialist, Neuberger Berman
- Factor ETF Product Specialist, BlackRock
ProducT Roles
- Focus on Factors, Thematics, Commodities
- New product launches & ETF conversions
active & indexed etfs
- US Institutional Client Advisor, Neuberger Berman
- Offshore Wealth Business Development, BlackRock
- International Institutional Client Analyst, BlackRock
distribution Roles
- Pensions, Foundations, Endowments, Hospitals, Family Offices
- International Advisors, Banks
- Private Equity/Credit, SMAs, Tax Managed
- Mutual Funds, ETFs (UCITS, US, Mexican cross-listed)
institutional & wealth
- iShares ETF Capital Markets Specialist, BlackRock
capital markets role
- Market Maker and Authorized Participant engagement on ETF trading from LatAm
etf trading
CREDENTIALS
(Cryptocurreny Certificate)
Build, scale and manage cross-functional teams to go-to-market and drive growth of a product solution.
CHALLENGE:
RESULTS:
CHALLENGE:
- How to effectively expand into the ETF market as an established, fundamental active asset manager.
RESULTS:
- Built and launched active ETF business at Neuberger Berman with $210mn AUM across three research driven, thematic equity strategies (tickers: NBDS, NBCT, NBCC) and the first commodity mutual fund to ETF conversion (ticker: NBCM).
GO-to-market
the SUCCESS STORIES
APPROACH:
- Collaboration across product, marketing, technology, operations, investment, capital markets, and distribution teams to: (1) Identify outputs required from each workstream, (2) assess which outputs are dependent on inputs from multiple teams, and (3) identify and resolve bottlenecks to move forward.
- Product: Analysis on strategy selection, ETF product and fee structure, pricing, competitor analysis, fund board approvals
- Marketing & Branding: Internal and external marketing and public relations messaging for firm and strategy level positioning within ETF industry across mediums (collateral, website design/content, video scripts/design, press release, podcast, blog, sponsored articles)
- Technology: Back-end infrastructure to support portfolio management and website data feeds to meet regulatory requirements
- Operations: Assess existing fund admin and custody capabilities to accommodate ETFs
- Investment Team: Education on investment strategy & process, ETF creation/redemption operational process education and integration
- Capital Markets: Lead market maker selection, set up authorized participant (AP) agreements, creation/redemption basket size and publication
- Distribution: Internal ETF education, identifying target client segments and prioritization in outreach
client solutions
Consultative approach to fundraising for institutional and wealth buy side clients to develop and deliver investment solutions.
CHALLENGE:
RESULTS:
CHALLENGE:
- How to establish trust within wealth and institutional client segments while navigating a multi-asset manager’s broad investment product offering.
RESULTS:
- Drove growth in new Offshore Wealth business from $7bn to $20bn in 5 years as founding team member.
- Enabled institutional asset growth of $3bn over 2-year period through strategic sales for $27bn book of business.
APPROACH:
- Build trust and credibility with clients by (1) drawing out their business and investing priorities/challenges, while (2) showcasing how the firm can add value.
- A holistic, portfolio-driven approach, positioning the firm’s portfolio analysis capabilities as an extension of the client. For example, identifying a target asset allocation weight based on set of risk, return, concentration parameters, then showing the portfolio impact of implementation with a specific firm strategy.
- Engage investment teams to build custom investment solutions to meet institutional client needs.
- Help clients navigate where active or passive investments are best suited to achieve portfolio objectives, and selecting the appropriate ETF domicile (UCITS, US domiciled and/or Mexican cross-listed) to meet exposure, liquidity, tax, and fee objectives (particularly in the offshore wealth client segment).
subject matter expert
Strong ability to learn and deliver subject matter expertise to institutional and wealth clients.
CHALLENGE:
RESULTS:
CHALLENGE:
- How to gather assets in targeted investment vehicle or asset class across client segments.
RESULTS:
- Enabled iShares Factor ETF platform asset growth of $50bn (137%) from $36bn to $86bn over 2 years in partnership with distribution teams.
APPROACH:
- Factors encompass Momentum, Value, Quality, Small Size, and Minimum Volatility styles of investing.
- Enabled and educated distribution team to identify specific institutional and wealth target clients for Factor ETFs.
- Created a list of screening questions used to assess how a client’s investment approach is compatible with factor-focused strategies. Enabled the creation of a filtered target list of prospective investors.
- Built factor ETF investment use cases, portfolio positioning ideas and outlined potential funding sources for a factor ETF allocation.
- Identified and shared factor market views and performance insights positioned in the context of the firm's macro outlook.
- Prepared in-depth competitor ETF analysis on index construction, the screens used to capture factors, and the impact these differences have on the composition of investment holdings.
In the PRESS
Click image for details
Image credits: NYSE, Neuberger Berman, Getty Images
Success Story Results: (1) NB Active ETF business launch in April 2022, followed by commodity mutual fund to ETF conversion in October 2022. (2) BlackRock Offshore Wealth, $7bn to $20bn AUM growth from Jan 2012- May 2017. (3) NB US Institutional, $3bn team AUM growth from September 2019-December 2021. iShares Factor ETFs, $36bn to $86bn AUM growth from June 2017-August 2019, includes Momentum, Value, Quality, Minimum Volatility, and Small Size non-market cap weighted ETFs, excludes dividend ETF strategies.