Alberta Cefis, BA’75, MBA’79, had a global mindset and sensibility long before she rose to become executive vice-president and head of global transaction banking at Scotiabank from 2006 to 2014.
“I grew up having global experience. It defined me and made me who I am,” says Cefis, who moved to Montreal from Italy with her family at age nine, but then continued to go back for four to six months each year during her teens and took courses in Europe while majoring in political science and Italian literature at McGill.
A bicontinental upbringing, along with a passion for the arts and a predilection for business, made McGill and a global banking career a natural fit. “I had one foot on each continent, being a part of two different countries and cultures. I spoke four languages and was fortunate to be able to travel easily and often to many countries in Europe. I always wanted to go to McGill because it had a strong reputation worldwide and was one of the few North American schools known across Europe,” she recalls.
As a Renaissance humanist, Cefis believes that as a complement to business education a strong grounding or engagement in the arts, culture, history, and philosophy can be a good foundation for leadership. “If you move up into leadership roles in banking and business, a broad arts and humanities education is an asset because you need to know how to communicate,” she says.
MBA opened a door into male-dominated, banking management
Cefis always knew she wanted to pursue a career in business, inspired by the example of her father, Alberto Cefis. He was trained as a civil engineer, worked for multinational companies in Italy, and then started successful businesses in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America. “My father was a great role model, who was skilled in business and a man of arts and culture by passion. My whole family was involved in different kinds of businesses, so an MBA was an obvious choice,” she says.
Although Cefis was one of only about a dozen women in her MBA class, she did not encounter or experience at Desautels the real-world gender barriers that were evident and extensive in the male-dominated banking industry in 1980. “I felt we were all equal in school, but the business world was different. It was hard to find women on the business side in banking then. They were either in non-managerial roles, or managers in areas like human resources and public affairs,” says Cefis, a strong business student, who enjoyed the program’s case study method and excelled at making presentations.
She got a foot in the door on the management track after a Desautels professor, Richard French, was asked for the names of suitable candidates for two positions at the Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). He recommended Cefis. “I chose to go with Royal because it was a job in the head office, as a manager of corporate strategy and organization, which gave me exposure to the full organization. What I loved about the banking world is these were large Canadian multinational players, and it wasn’t like working for a Canadian subsidiary of a U.S. firm,” says Cefis, who was determined to show that business performance mattered more than gender.
As a young, blonde Italian woman in her 20s, with an MBA, Cefis was decidedly different than an older generation of predominantly male managers. “Diversity was not a big thing then. Most people in banking rose through the ranks because they had started working as a teller. Those were pioneering days. I was the only woman around the table at most meetings. You did the best job you could and showed you could perform really, really well,” says Cefis, who benefited from “some fantastic male mentors at Royal and then later at Scotiabank. It wasn’t the clear path upward for women that we see now.”
Serving and supporting Desautels programs and students
She performed exceedingly well. Decades later when Cefis was running Scotiabank’s dynamic global transactions business and was a decision-maker on the CEO’s executive management committee, she chose to serve on the Desautels International Advisory Board, which is comprised of about 30 industry leaders from around the globe.
“I was on the advisory board from 2010 to 2018, and I loved it. I’m passionate about education and my alma matter. I wanted to support the Desautels students and programs by bringing the multinational perspective and sharing my experience, specialized expertise and connections in financial services and my own organization. It was interesting and encouraging to see the changes in the Faculty’s international programs and the ability for students to do semesters abroad, and I really liked working with my colleagues on the board,” she says.
Cefis also funds an annual MBA Leadership Award for students awarded: “I benefited so much from my education at McGill. It can be tough financially for students today. Providing financial support for their education is important and the scholarship has been awarded to deserving female candidates.”
She has enjoyed as well engaging directly with students through round table discussions, one-to-one mentoring in the Faculty’s MBA Mentoring Program, and as a guest speaker. In talking with students, Cefis shares some of the lessons from her own experience progressing through a wide range of positions at RBC and Scotiabank, two large and complex multinational corporate organizations.
She emphasizes to students the importance of taking risks and tackling new, diverse challenges. “Students want to know what gets you ahead and how do you become promotable. Part of the richness in large organizations is the opportunity to get experience in many different areas. Don’t just look for the next promotion. Moving laterally across the organization can give you experience in more business areas. You also need to take risks. I took risks all through my career, learning to do things differently and setting up new projects, offices, and businesses from scratch. At a certain level, technical skills are a given and leadership skills are what set you apart,” she says.
Betting big on global expansion
One of the biggest calculated risks Cefis took in her banking career was moving in 1999 from RBC, Canada’s largest bank, where she was senior vice-president, personal financial services products, to Scotiabank, then the fifth largest and now third-largest Canadian bank. She had spent 18 years in progressive leadership roles and helped to execute major projects such as RBC’s acquisition and integration of Royal Trust in 1993, as well as initiatives to advance women in management. “RBC always had a strong brand and strong reputation, and I gained valuable experience working in so many areas,” she says.
While RBC was a leading bank in North America, Cefis was excited about the ambitious global growth strategy and vision of Scotiabank’s Peter Godsoe, then chairman and CEO. “Scotiabank was Canada’s most truly international bank, which appealed to me. I was very welcomed and supported by Peter Godsoe, who was a great leader and mentor,” she says.
At Scotiabank, Cefis served as executive vice-president of retail lending services and insurance, and president and CEO of Scotia Mortgage Corp. In 2006, she set up and ran the global transaction banking (GTB) business, which grew to include employees and offices in 58 countries. GTB worldwide services to multinational and commercial businesses, governments and financial institutions included: cash, treasury management, liquidity, and global payment services; trade finance; correspondent banking; electronic banking and financial supply chain management.
She was also part of the CEO’s executive decision-making team and co-chair of the bank’s Advancement of Women Steering Committee. “I never assumed there wasn’t a qualified woman candidate for a position and put in a policy for equal numbers of men and women in management. Half of my executive team were women, and they were very capable,” she says.
Giving back to education and the arts
Since her retirement from Scotiabank in 2014 and in addition to serving and supporting Desautels, Cefis has continued her strong and passionate support of the arts. She is currently chair of the board of the National Theatre School of Canada, a director on the board of the Shaw Festival, and served as chair of the board for Opera Atelier from 2003 to 2012. Cefis is also the recipient of many awards including the Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia, from the President of the Republic of Italy, honouring individuals who nurture Italian culture and commerce. She was named to the international list of The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking (six times) and The Hall of Fame for Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.
Although Cefis retired from the corporate world, the former head of Scotia Mortgage and co-author of the book, “The Truth About Mortgages – How to Make the Most of Your Borrowing Power,” is still active in business. She is president of Alcetor Inc. and chair of the board of Alcemon Holdings Ltd., her family’s private real estate development and management company. “I promised my late father that I would get involved in the family business once I left the bank and I’m now in a strategic oversight role. I don’t see myself really retiring. No amount of playing tennis, skiing, or travelling would be enough. I want the intellectual stimulation,” she says.
An MBA from McGill and a glowing reference from a forward-looking prof opened the vault into banking management and Cefis seized the treasure. Along with the MBA scholarship that is awarded to today’s students, Cefis recently made a bequest as part of McGill’s 200 for 200 Legacy Challenge to support Desautels students in future. “I’m passionate about the university where I received my degrees and met my husband. If life gives you a lot, you give back. You try in your way to make a difference and make the world a better place,” she says.
