January 2024
A Mentor for All: Joan Batchelder
Joan Batchelder’s enduring legacy at MFS, her commitment to clients and her view that leadership and risk management were synonymous with collaboration, impacted not only her colleagues and the firm but the entire industry.
“In life, every once in a while, one person comes in, and you meet them, and they change who you are, what you’re all about, your character, and they impact you in a way that’s indelible,” said former MFS CEO Rob Manning. “And to me, Joan [Batchelder] was that person in my life.”
As a senior fixed-income investment professional at MFS, Joan Batchelder’s impact as both a leader and a mentor was profound in shaping the firm MFS is today. Batchelder’s legacy exemplifies wisdom, purpose, a collaborative spirit and the deep insight needed to think long term.
Before joining MFS in 1978, Batchelder’s journey in a male-dominated industry wasn’t easy. When she was a young woman working as a bond analyst for Keystone Investments in the 1960s, Batchelder had to be escorted through back entrances into business meetings in Boston men’s clubs. Once, she was completely barred from entering an analysts’ meeting in New York.1 The research director at her previous employer noted that the reason he hired her as their first woman stock analyst was simply because “Girls would be cheaper.”2
She never let the obstacles she faced in her career slow her down. If anything, they motivated her to push forward, even harder. She actively sought to undo the common biases that kept women from getting leadership positions in the financial industry. She observed that bonds actually “turned out to be a great business for women, because your results were quantifiable.”3
As the manager of MFS’ new high-yield bond fund, Massachusetts Financial High Income Trust, Batchelder kept her office door open for everyone — women employees, young recruits, colleagues and peers. Former Chief Investment Strategist James Swanson once said of her that “She was just smarter than anyone else in the room, and people wanted to know her opinion. … I think she did it through sheer force of her smarts and wanting to get the story right.”
Joan Batchelder’s impact as both a leader and a mentor was profound in shaping the firm MFS is today. Batchelder’s legacy exemplifies wisdom, purpose, a collaborative spirit and the deep insight needed to think long term.
She knew what mattered and what was just noise. She remained calm under pressure and asked the necessary hard questions to protect MFS clients and shareholders. She instructed her team to ignore the headlines, visit companies and see what was happening in the real world — to find opportunity in adversity. She was behind MFS choosing to focus on companies’ credit ratings over interest rates — ushering in a new system and philosophy for risk management that remains an industry standard in fixed-income investing.4
Getting it right wasn’t about her opinion. She had no interest in egos and little patience for those who put their own needs above those of their colleagues or clients. She believed mutual respect and collaboration were essential to make the right long-term investment decisions, everyone working together to identify all potential risks.5
During her 23 years at MFS, Batchelder showed an uncanny ability to find and cultivate the next generation of leaders, such as former CEO Rob Manning, former Chief Investment Strategist Jim Swanson, current CEO Mike Roberge and current President Carol Geremia.
She became the head of fixed income in 1998, and her tenacity, grit, intelligence and passion left a mark, not only on her colleagues and the firm, but also on the entire industry.
Please note: Not all of the funds included in this material may be available for sale in your country.
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