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Alison Wagner began her career at Macquarie as a graduate and is now Division Director and Agricultural Commodities Trader in our Commodities and Global Markets Group. Her 11-year career with Macquarie has taken her around the globe, including Singapore, London, New York and Sydney. Alison recently returned to work after 12 months maternity leave and is keen to spread the word that it’s possible to take maternity leave and grow a family, while building a successful trading career.
Alison Wagner is a Division Director and Agricultural Commodities Trader within Macquarie’s Commodities and Global Markets Group.
Alison says she always wanted a career that would play on her strengths in maths, and finance was a logical choice. But it was completing her honours thesis on options modelling for her Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance in 2012 that drew her to trading.
When applying for graduate roles, she was immediately attracted to the interesting work and friendly culture at Macquarie.
“I had several interviews and they were all so relaxed and made me feel comfortable,” Alison says. “It showed me that Macquarie treats you as an individual and has a great culture.”
Macquarie’s Agricultural Commodities team was also a drawcard and aligned with her passion for the industry.
“I grew up on a farm and attended an agricultural high school,” she says. “Agriculture is such an interesting area. It’s tangible and it’s necessary for food and life.”
Alison joined Macquarie’s Sydney office as a graduate Analyst in 2012. Not long after, she was given the opportunity to take her career beyond the borders of Australia.
“I knew when I was hired, I’d be joining a trading hub and was excited to have an opportunity to work in the Singapore office after just six months training in Sydney,” she explains.
“I’d always wanted to work overseas and experience something different, so I saw it as an incredible opportunity.”
Alison spent two years on the trading desk in Singapore, where she worked across both Base Metals and Agriculture, and was promoted to Executive.
On her return to Sydney, she chose to stick with her passion for agricultural commodities, and was again promoted to Manager and retained her Singapore working hours.
“Singapore and Sydney work closely together as an Asia Pacific hub,” Alison explains.
We are a global team with London and New York, and while we sit in different locations to cover markets trading in different time zones, we collaborate closely.”
With the support of her manager, Alison was also given the opportunity to work in London and New York to gain more global experience. In 2017, she spent three months working with the Agricultural Commodities team in Macquarie’s London office, followed by a two month stay in New York the following year.
“It expanded my knowledge beyond Asian markets and allowed me to build strong relationships with the team globally,” Alison says. “New York was a real highlight, because it’s a hub for agricultural traders.”
In 2018, Alison was promoted to Senior Manager and was instrumental in growing Macquarie’s agricultural commodities trading business in the Asia Pacific, leading the team since in 2019, and being made Associate Director in 2020.
Alison acknowledges that women have historically been underrepresented in trading roles within financial services and wants that to change. This inspired her to serve as an active member of Macquarie Group’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee.
“I’ve enjoyed helping more women back themselves to see finance and trading as a great career path,” Alison says.
“Over 11 years I’ve watched the culture shift, and Macquarie’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has been a big part of that.”
In 2022, Alison took 12 months maternity leave.
“One of my biggest fears was having kids while working in a trading role,” Alison says. “I worried that it could impact my career because an awful lot changes in the markets in 12 months.”
Alison says the reality is that she’s been well supported and her career only changed in a positive way.
“Macquarie’s response was fantastic. I felt so supported by my team and managers,” she explains. “I was actually promoted to Division Director while I was on maternity leave.”
In 2023, Alison took advantage of a phased return to work, using 12 days of additional leave over the first 12 weeks. “It made the transition easier,” Alison says.
On returning to work, Alison was able to utilise Macquarie’s approach to hybrid work. “The markets run five days so I wanted to continue working full time. But I work flexibly to balance work and family, with half the time from home and half in the office.”
Alison also sits on the Commodities and Global Markets Career Advisory Panel and is passionate about leveraging her own experience to help others.
I’m keen to spread the word that it is possible to work in trading, take maternity leave, then come back and pick up your career where you left off.”
Alison says trading commodities of any kind requires a strong attention to detail, resilience, decisiveness, an optimistic attitude and excellent research skills.
“We deal with things that are grown - like foods and crop so it depends very heavily on supply and demand, as well as the weather,” she says. “The goods also have a short shelf life, they degrade, compared to other commodities like metals, which can be stored.”
“We specialise in exotic derivatives over agricultural products,” Alison explains. “We add value with tenures, or exotic structures, but helping the client manage their price risk is the end goal.”
Alison also enjoys constantly learning in her role.
“It teaches you a lot about the world,” she says. “For example, most countries don’t produce all their own food, so we learn about all the food chains across the world and where everything comes from and how it's supplied.”
Alison credits her team with much of their success in the market.
“A lot comes down to the culture within the team, and more widely at Macquarie,” she says. “It’s down to earth and a lot of fun.”
“We all work well together to create a fantastic business.”
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