From Marines to Wall Street, this veteran defied the odds

Mercedes Elias approached her career on Wall Street much like her decade-long ascent through the Marine Corps. Failure wasn’t an option.

“I didn’t want my gender or race to determine any sort of path for me,” said the former captain, who last month was appointed co-chief executive officer of AmeriVet Securities Inc. -- a broker-dealer whose founder is Elton Johnson Jr., a disabled Marine and Army veteran. Elias said that after being in the Marines, “I realized that I perform better in a male-dominated industry. That’s why I decided to go into finance, plus I really liked math.”

The 36-year-old veteran, who is of Hispanic descent, never thought of quitting during officer candidate school, which included grueling tests such as six-hour hikes with 90 pounds (41 kilograms) of gear. Even before that, she bucked her father’s advice to join the Air Force, which he felt would be an easier path for a woman.

As for most women, rising to the upper ranks of male-dominated Wall Street didn’t come any easier for Elias even though she had gained crucial management and leadership skills during her military stint, which included a deployment in Afghanistan.

While she was on active duty, only 6.7% of Marines were female, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. There has been progress, however, with women making up almost 9% of the Marines as of the end 2019. A report from the Government Accountability Office shows that as of the end of fiscal 2018, women made up about 16.5% of personnel across all six branches of the U.S. military, up from 15.1% in 2004.

Combating sexism was part of her experience, with Elias saying she was asked, “Shouldn’t you be getting your nails done or something” or something similar on several occasions while at the weapons range. She is hopeful that attitudes are changing in the military and is working to move the needle forward in finance.

“Total representation of women in the military has increased over the past 10 years among both the officer corps and enlisted force, but not to the degree that we would like to see for representation at the senior grades,” said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby. “Our ability to recruit and retain female talent is critical. We will continue to take aggressive action through, for example, marketing and advertising campaigns, partnerships with community leaders, and efforts to identify and appropriately address any barriers to promotion and retention.”

AmeriVet was started in 1994 and recapitalized by South Street Securities Holdings in 2018 after Johnson had put the firm in inactive status given his deployments following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Elias was the third employee, hired in January 2019, after the rebirth of the broker, which is service-disabled veteran-owned.

100 RESUMES

Despite her seemingly quick rise at AmeriVet, Elias didn’t find it easy to break into Wall Street. During the second semester of a one-year Columbia University business certification program in 2016, she sent out about 100 resumes and didn’t get any job offers. That sent her on a detour for a few years, which included working at a dentist office, helping run a medical practice and starting a pre-med program at Fordham University. Finally, through the help of the group Veterans on Wall Street, she landed at AmeriVet. Michael Naidrich serves as co-CEO.

As with many Wall Street firms, AmeriVet’s business jumped in the last year as companies sold hoards of debt and equity, and municipalities sought fresh funding, with borrowing rates near historic lows in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The firm’s revenue has increased 10-fold since 2019.

AmeriVet participated last year in the syndicated underwriting of about $193 billion in equity, debt and public finance deals, up from $62 billion the previous year, according to the firm. Issuers often set aside a percentage of business in offerings for specialized companies to promote diversity and inclusion.

The New York-based firm has about 30 employees, with more than 50% military veterans, 30% minorities and 15% women. It’s among a small group of veteran-led brokerage firms and banks that include Academy Securities, Drexel Hamilton and Mischler Financial Group Inc.

Helping veterans gain Wall Street experience isn’t the firm’s only social justice focus. George Floyd Jr.’s videotaped murder last year also sparked a national reckoning on race, which spread from street protests to corporate America’s C-suites and boardrooms. That’s helped accelerate commitments to change, including at AmeriVet, where Elias is seeking more diversity and inclusion on the firm’s currently all-male sales and trading desk.

[More: Why aren’t there more women fund managers?]

Elias created a one-year internship program at AmeriVet that has helped launch prior military veterans into positions at bulge-bracket banks. But getting women to apply has been a challenge. To date, the firm has had only one woman enter the paid program.

“I’m trying to have our firm really be leading the way to bring other women veterans into finance -- to show them that this is something you can do,” Elias said. “I’ve been able to lift and bring along other women veterans -- sort of grab them by their shoulders and say ‘Come work in finance, it’s the same exact thing as the military, just translated into finance.”’