Meredith Adler did not want to be a secretary.
"I had no idea what I wanted to do. I certainly wasn't practical,” the Barclays analyst says.
"I was interested in psychology but I found [it] very mechanistic. Then I got interested in religion and I had a chance to go around the world my senior year in college if I was willing to study religion" at Boston University. After graduation, she planned to return to psychology, but a lack of funds prompted her to take a job in Citibank's microcredit trading program instead.
Adler opted to further her education at New York University's Stern School of Business at night – “I had no interest in business, I just wanted a job and I knew I didn’t want to be a secretary.”
Adler was one of the first inductees in last year’s inaugural Institutional Investor All-America Research Team Hall of Fame, which honors those analysts who have earned ten or more first-place finishes in their respective sectors.
She debuted on the All-America Research Team in 1999 as a runner-up in Retailing/Food & Drug Chains and 2011 was her 13th appearance – including ten straight years at No. 1.
Institutional Investor Senior Writer Julie Segal spoke with Adler about her career and the changing role of the research analyst.