Leaving her professional home to join Jeffrey Gundlach in the launching of DoubleLine Capital was a career-defining moment for Bonnie Baha, the director and founder of the firm's global developed credit unit.
"Here I was at a firm that I loved [TCW Group], where I had been for almost two decades, where they had treated me well... and I voluntarily walked away from a very high paying job," Baha recalls.
"Most rational human beings would say, 'What's wrong with you?'"
But there was no time for self-doubt. Her role at a then-fledgling DoubleLine immediately thrust her into the responsibility to recreate the same successes she had as the head of the corporate bond group and corporate credit research team during her 19 years at TCW.
All, of course, under the pressure of working directly for Gundlach, a bond titan well-known for his bombastic style.
"It is safe to say that kind of an experience would be a watershed moment for any human being on the planet," Baha says with a laugh.
Today Baha works with DoubleLine's global developed credit team managing the firm's investments in fixed and floating rate corporate and sovereign fixed-income assets issued within developed market economies.
Outside of work, she has lectured students interested in investment careers at Columbia University, spoken on a panel about women in fixed income for the Fixed Income Society of New York, and was also scheduled as the featured speaker at the CFA Institute's 69th annual conference in Montreal, Quebec.
"I think it's important to have as much diversity as you possibly can, and not just gender diversity, but certainly ethnic diversity, as well," she says.
"We are all a product of our experiences and bringing in those types of insights is only additive. That's not just for our business, but any business."
Baha notes that, "many business associates have had a positive impact on my life and career." Nevertheless, she says her parents have been her greatest influence, having taught her the value of tenacity.
