Tracy Arceci

Senior Vice President, Bank of America Business Capital

Biography:

Throughout Tracy’s 17-year career, she has been involved in the execution, structuring or restructuring of transactions totaling more than $4 billion.  Constantly working to deepen her finance knowledge and experience, Tracy has strategically positioned herself, spending time engaged in asset-based lending, middle-market lending, healthcare finance, special assets/workout, cross-border structured finance, financial restructuring and consulting.  She currently serves as a senior vice president, acting as a senior business development officer, for Bank of America’s Business Capital Group, the asset-based lending arm of the Bank. In this role she sources, structures and executes ABL opportunities ranging from $10 million to upwards of $1 billion throughout the state of Michigan and beyond.  Tracy currently serves as a board member for the Detroit Women’s Forum of the Association for Corporate Growth and the Programming Committee of the Turnaround Management Association’s Detroit Chapter.  As a former collegiate athlete, she continues to pursue her love of sports coaching youth basketball teams in Metro Detroit.  She holds both Series 7 and 63 licenses and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in finance and economics from Lake Superior State University.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry?

I would advise women just starting out in the finance industry to be confident in themselves and what they have to offer.   You have a role to play and an opportunity to add value even though you may be in a new situation or are being presented with new challenges.  It’s not necessary to be an expert within a given role or profession to be confident in what you can do and what you have to offer.  Being able to effectively project that self-confidence will make a difference for you in virtually every situation that you encounter.

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career?

I wish I had recognized that speaking up to ask for help isn’t a sign of weakness, but rather an opportunity to get stronger and smarter and better.  It can be intimidating to acknowledge that you don’t understand something or need more information or don’t know how to handle a challenging situation, and I don’t think any of us want to appear stupid or unintelligent.  I have come to realize that not asking for help when needed is essentially forfeiting an opportunity to learn and develop.

What kind of role has mentoring and/or sponsorship played in your career?

A very important one.  I have had a number of mentors, both on a formal and informal basis, throughout my career.  These individuals have helped me navigate through new organizations, allowed me to tap into their experience, gain perspective on challenges, as well as help position me for new roles and opportunities.  Additionally, direct exposure to these mentors has helped me to identify traits and characteristics that I admire and desire to cultivate within myself.  I owe them a huge debt of gratitude. 

In the past few years, I have also had the opportunity to be a mentor which is a tremendously fulfilling experience and, frankly, has benefited me probably much more so than my mentees!

What do you think the industry could do to attract and retain the best and the brightest today?

When you think about companies that are already attracting the brightest and best, it strikes me that many of these are known for having unique corporate cultures that, in some way, focus what is important to employees beyond just title and the size of the bonus pool.  As I think of the finance industry, there just aren’t many industry participants that have cultivated corporate cultures which truly stand out in this manner.  It’s one of the reasons I am so proud to work at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a firm that makes its business really personal through a deep commitment to improving the lives of its customers, its employees and the communities that it serves.  Bank of America Merrill Lynch evidences this commitment in a number of ways, but some really cool examples of this include company-sponsored volunteerism and matching gifts, a diverse array of support and affinity groups within the organization, many of which are diversity-focused, generous parental leave policies for all kinds of parents, and a commitment to having a workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve.  I think looking beyond just the immediate dollars and cents of an idea or way of doing things, and recognizing that there also exists real financial value in building cultures that develop and support the humanside of existing and potential employees, will go a long way in attracting the best and brightest to the finance industry.