Chartered financial analyst (CFA) and attorney Crystal Lin was greatly influenced by her mother, a single parent and company executive who would often take her young daughter to work, where the growing Ms. Lin witnessed and quickly developed an affinity for how business operates. As an adult, Ms. Lin prepared herself educationally and professionally for more than two decades, culminating in her current role as the managing director of global fixed income research at Manulife Investment Management in Needham, Massachusetts. Her industry knowledge covers overall financial analysis as well as analyzing financial statements, the market, fundamental credit, and global commodities such as metals, mining, and energy—and more.
Ms. Lin joined Manulife Investment Management in 2011 as an analyst and advanced to managing director several years ago. Proficient in conducting financial research for many years, she covers nearly 200 companies in the energy commodity space. If any of the companies has news, she helps to decide how the event impacts the company’s portfolio, responds and analyzes whether to buy or sell and why, communicates the decision to the team, and then she makes a final determination on how to proceed. She also reviews the company’s portfolio to see what investments and more they can optimize, all while continually learning to expand her expertise for her clients.
Before her time with Manulife Investment Management, Ms. Lin worked at BNP Paribas, where she was a portfolio manager in 2011 and a global credit analyst in the commodities group from 2005 to 2010. Prior to that, she was an investment banker for GMP Securities in Toronto, Canada, from 2004 to 2005 and global structured finance and tax consultant at KPMG in Australia between 2001 and 2003. Bolstering her professional qualifications and background early on, Ms. Lin became a chartered accountant in Australia in 2003, earned her CFA designation in 2004 in the United States, and worked as an attorney at law in New York in 2005. In 2000, she completed a bachelor’s degree, with honors, in commerce and in law from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Today, Ms. Lin maintains professional memberships in the New York State Bar Association, the CFA Society Boston, and the Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc. Her parallel philanthropic efforts include supporting the Martin Luther King Scholarship program at John Hancock, mentoring children who are underprivileged in Boston, and participating in the efforts of a school parents’ group. Her personal time is spent cherishing and prioritizing her family in addition to enjoying photography, traveling, cooking, concerts, and reading.
Born and raised in Beijing, China, Ms. Lin says she is proud to be a Chinese woman who broke into the mostly white and male investment industry in the United States as an immigrant. As she has steadily reached new career heights, she says she has observed the challenges faced by women, especially those from other countries. Relishing a competitive spirit, and as an immigrant with extensive global experience, she believes she can serve as a role model to offer support and guidance to young women who have diverse backgrounds working in the industry. She also seeks to attract and inspire more women to work in financial professions and foster more diversity, equity, and inclusion inside and outside of her company. Peering into the possibilities of her own future, Ms. Lin expects to continue her current rising career path, yet she is open to exploring new and different opportunities.
Ms. Lin credits her success to her family and upbringing, recalling how they all emerged from a turbulent time in China. She grew up with her mother and grandparents, who were from a wealthy family before the revolution, she says, after which their finances ultimately disappeared. Forced to start again and work their way back up in a new society, Ms. Lin says her family believed in themselves despite the difficulties and hardships. Their strength of character instilled in her the same personal values that she and her husband impart to their two sons.
