GBM Executives Offer Unfiltered Advice on Building Wealth

Senior executives at GBM outlined the behavioral and structural barriers that suppress investment participation among Mexican women, identifying emotional risk perception, lack of peer reinforcement, and deferred entry as the primary obstacles rather than financial capacity or product availability. The discussion highlighted Mexico's acute shortage of certified financial advisors, approximately 10,000 for over 77 million adults in the financial system, as a systemic constraint on wealth-building access, while noting that digital platforms have reduced minimum investment thresholds to MX$100 and made advisory services broadly accessible. For financial institutions, the findings underscore the commercial opportunity in closing Mexico's gender investment gap through financial education, accessible advisory infrastructure, and product democratization.

At the Mujeres que Construyen Patrimonio event, senior GBM executives and a financial advisor panel delivered honest and personal testimony about money, risk, fear, and the decisions that actually shape a financial life. What followed Chief Economist Miriam Acuña's keynote were two panels built on a different kind of currency: candor. Senior executives with decades of combined experience in equities, fixed income, institutional sales, and financial advisory shared the investment decisions they got wrong, the conversations they wished they had earlier, and the practical frameworks that actually work, both in the market and at home.

Learning Risk the Hard Way

Jimena Soto, Institutional Sales Vice President, GBM, opened the first panel by tracing her financial journey from a 10-year-old splitting birthday money between spending and a desk drawer, "and then the zeros disappeared from the bills," she recalled, referencing Mexico's 1993 currency redenomination, to trading equities in the early 2000s during the height of Mexico's housing boom. Early wins in some stocks, losses in others, and then the 2008 global financial crisis, which she survived professionally but not without a lesson. "The worst mistake is selling during a crash," she said. "You sell at the lowest point." Over time, her understanding of what money is actually for shifted: "Money gives you time. It gives you the ability to make decisions with a clear head when you want to change jobs. Money does not just buy things, it buys time and investment in yourself."

Carla Marino, Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income Sales, reframed the entire concept of risk. Starting conservatively, as most first-time investors do, she gradually took on more complexity not because she became less cautious, but because she understood more. "The biggest risk is investing in something you do not understand," she said. "When women talk about risk, we are often talking about an emotional risk: fear that comes from not understanding the structure, not from the instrument itself." Her prescription: take responsibility, get involved, and use the tools and platforms now available to actually learn what you are doing. "That is what reduces risk. And that is within our reach."

Regina Carrillo, Head of Basic Materials, Food and Personal Care, GBM's Equity Research team, was characteristically direct about what she would tell her 18-year-old self: take more risk with small amounts, ask more questions of the women around you, and, crucially, ask for that raise. "Many women do not get raises not because they do not deserve them, but because they do not ask," she said. Her deepest regret was not inviting her friends to open investment accounts when she was just starting out. "Why did I not tell them? We could all have learned together, demystified money, and understood that it is valid to ask for help, valid to be curious, and valid to invest MX$2,000, lose them, and start again."

Gabriela Fernández, Senior Vice President and Director of Financial Products and Investment Solutions, brought the conversation into one of the most avoided spaces in Mexican financial culture: money in a relationship. Having built economic independence before marrying, she arrived at a four-account model she now recommends to every woman considering sharing finances with a partner. Each partner maintains their own individual account, no questions asked, no justifications required. A joint account covers shared household expenses, tracked on a shared spreadsheet line by line. A third account handles children's needs. And a fourth, the most important, is a long-term savings account with a clear purpose, a defined time horizon, and a plan. "You have to know when you will need this money," she said. "That determines everything about how you invest it."

Ariela Cesarman, Head of Content and Media, GBM, closed the first panel with a confession that resonated across the room: she spent her first year working in investment banking not investing a single peso. "I said, this is too risky. What if I do not have time to follow every investment? What if I pick wrong?" Her first investment, when she finally made it, was a GBM fund. It returned 31% in its first year. "That first green number changes everything," she said. "You realize your money can work for you. And once you understand that, you want more of it."

The Role of the Advisor

The event's second panel, moderated by Ariela Cesarman alongside Fernanda de la Barrera, Aida Cueto, and Daniela Becerril, all specialists in GBM's financial advisory division, turned toward the practical side of things. What does a financial advisor actually do? Who can access one? And how do you find one?

Becerril, a private banking advisor in GBM's internal advisory team, described the role as equal parts financial planner and behavioral coach. "We are not just talking about markets and news. We are helping clients invest with purpose, aligning their objectives with a structured, personalized plan." And when markets fall? "That is when we act like psychologists. Clients get emotional. Our job is to say: remember, we built this plan for the long term. Do not make a decision today that you will regret in two years."

Mexico currently has only 10,000 certified financial advisors for the over 77 million adults included in the financial system, a figure GBM describes as completely insufficient, particularly when compared to Brazil's 70,000 or the United States' 350,000. De la Barrera pushed back against the perception that advisors are only for the wealthy. "GBM has worked to eliminate every single barrier to investment," she said. "Before, you needed a minimum of MX$1 million and an in-person interview. Today, you can open an account with MX$100 and onboard in 10 minutes." Advisory services at GBM, she added, are free of charge and accessible directly through the company's website, where users can schedule a call at their own convenience.

"Financial advice was once a privilege for the few," GBM CEO Pedro de Garay has said. "Advisors are the bridge between saving and investing, and that difference can determine whether families achieve financial freedom or face lifelong uncertainty."  The panelists' lived experience made that argument concrete in a way no statistic could: every executive on stage had, at some point, hesitated, lost money, or delayed starting. None of them regretted eventually beginning.