Christina Bresani, William Blair

Throughout her 19-year career in investment banking, Christina Bresani has worked on 70 deals worth more than $175 billion. Before joining William Blair in 2017, Bresani was with UBS, where she focused on the healthcare and financial services sectors.

Bresani worked on a number of deals in 2017, most of them while she was at UBS. Among them: Chicago Board Options Exchange’s $3.4 billion acquisition of Bats Global Markets; TIAA’s $2.5 billion acquisition of EverBank Financial Corp, and First Horizon National Corp.’s acquisition of Capital Bank Financial Corp.

As to the current status of women in M&A, Bresani says “The investment banking industry, as a whole, has started to do a much better job of helping women advance in their careers, and I’m proud to say that William Blair, is at the forefront of this effort. Over the last five years,” she adds, “the number of women professionals in our investment banking group has increased by more than 70 percent.”

Bresani also has some advice for women who are considering a career in the field. “I think some women, when thinking about the challenges of balancing family and career goals, tend to take themselves out of the game, rather than trying to find a way to make things work,” she observes. “Women need to believe in themselves and know that careers and specific roles don’t have to be shaped the same way they always have been. Bringing creativity to your role and figuring out how to make it work in the context of your life is very do-able. Don’t talk yourself out of something before you even try!”

Bresani received her B.A. from Wellesley College.