At CAPIS, we put relationships first. We think of our team as a family, which is why it is important for us to get to know each member and shine a spotlight on them. We spoke with Jannette Vasquez, VP, Manager of Client Services, who has worked at CAPIS for 20 years. Take a look at our conversation below to learn about how she came to work at CAPIS, and some of the biggest challenges and successes she’s experienced over the past two decades, as well as her long-standing desire to keep the record straight. 

[Note: This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.]

Q: What piqued your interest in finance? How did you find yourself at CAPIS? 

I didn’t have a large market background before CAPIS. Accounting-type work interested me, not so much finance and trading. The company I had been working for went through layoffs — I was an event planner for a property management company, and they weren’t doing great. A friend of mine worked at CAPIS in the trading group at the time and they were able to help make the connection. 

Jannette Vasquez

I expressed to CAPIS’ CFO that when I used to balance my checkbook, *laughs*, I wanted to find every penny. If I was off two cents from the bank, I’d find it. I enjoyed doing that. I think that’s what got me the job. He wanted someone that detail-oriented.

Q: What is your favorite part of your daily routine? 

I know it sounds boring to some, but I really do enjoy reconciling differences. In my everyday work this would include trade reconciliation and statement balancing — with our focus on getting it exactly right for the client, I really enjoy that part of the day. I like helping people, be they clients or coworkers. 

Q: Were you always wired that way?  

I definitely was not that way with numbers as a kid, but things always had to be accurate, at least as I perceived it. If I remembered a story a certain way while someone else was retelling it, and they had something wrong — details, the chronological order — it would bother me.

Q: What’s been the most drastic change you’ve seen from clients and their needs in the past year?

From my perspective, I haven’t seen a huge, dramatic change. It’s been the way I’ve had to work that has to change. Clients still need the [trade-related] reports we provide, need to know the soft dollars being paid, and need their questions answered, although you do have to make more of an effort to reach out over the telephone. 

Q: Could you describe a challenging situation that you’ve found yourself in that you realize now has been formative/essential to your career growth? 

Being laid off before CAPIS — I generally excelled in my positions and would always get increased responsibilities wherever I was working. Getting laid off was a new feeling, but it allowed me to get into a position that I am more happy in, that’s more fulfilling.

Event planning wasn’t my thing. It was fun for a while but it didn’t fulfill me like [the work at CAPIS does]. I started in accounting and moved into a sales assistant role and I don’t know if I would have made that move if it wasn’t to go work for Dave [Choate]. We’re similar in the outcomes we want from servicing clients. 

[It’s part of this] family element at CAPIS. Many people are brought in through referrals. I don’t know if that is the secret sauce. My daughter actually works in operations. CAPIS doen’t shy away from allowing family members, but they don’t hesitate to let them know if it’s not working out, too. 

Q: What are your interests outside of work? 

I like to read. I’m trying to do that more instead of going on [social media]. Right now, I’m reading “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez. I started it once before and didn’t get a chance to finish it, but it’s an interesting look at a Spanish family through multiple generations. 

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