State Street’s Tayfun Veysel Incekara on breaking barriers in finance

Tayfun Veysel Incekara, Managing Director and UK Head of Compliance at State Street Global Advisors spoke to myGwork about diversity and inclusion in the modern business landscape. From his upbringing in Belgium to finding confidence in his identity in London, Tayfun offers some personal insights into his experience as an Asian gay man navigating life in the community.

Could you tell us a bit about your background and career journey leading up to your current position at State Street?

I work for State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of State Street, as the Managing Director and UK Head of Compliance. My career has made lots of twists and turns. My main compliance career was built up in roles at Barclays Global Investors, JPMorgan Asset Management and most recently, Artisan Partners. I love compliance (which I know is an odd thing to say) but the main reasons are that it presents an awesome intellectual challenge which requires someone to deeply understand what the business does and wants to do in the future, but also what the corresponding regulatory requirements are.

Compliance is ultimately a people’s function. It is about building relationships with individuals so that you can become their trusted advisors on regulatory matters but also in times of need. It’s a great department for someone that wants to get to know a business all the way through from operations to sales, from investments to balance sheet, from training junior staff all the way up to the board room.

Can you tell us a bit about your childhood – where did you grow up; did you have any hobbies?

I grew up in Antwerp in Belgium and came to London when I was 16 years old. My mum is from Hong Kong and my dad, who died when I was 2 months old, was from Ankara in Turkey. My mum remarried a Chinese manwhen I was 6, , a person I now call “dad”, and I have 2 younger sisters that are Chinese. In Belgium, my parents had a restaurant called “Moon Star”. It is closed now as my parents became too old to run it, but in its heydays, it was really successful!

I have fond memories of my childhood, but Belgium is a small country, and I was one of the few non-white people in my school, which came with a fair number of challenges. I tended to get on better with the teachers than with the other children as I was not always safe to be who I was.

Can you share your personal journey with the LGBTQ+ community?

I remember considering whether I was gay when I was 11. My parents confronted me with some magazines they found in my room, and I explained that I was thinking I might be bisexual (even though I knew I was gay) but that I had decided I would try dating girls. They were relieved. Additionally, various micro and macro aggressions towards the queer community from family members created an atmosphere where it was not safe for me to come out.

I started hatching a plan to come to London to study Law – and it worked! My mum was over the moon when I told her I wanted to be a lawyer (either Accountancy or Doctor would have also been acceptable options). At 16 I was told that if I could find a school in London that would accept me, I could come over. In 1996, I travelled on my own to London and enrolled in a college in Harrow.

One day I was out in Soho, and someone approached me for a chat. We chatted for hours about nothing and somehow it ended up with him kissing me. I was surprised, it was unlike anything I had felt before and I felt a clarity around my sexuality that I had not experienced up to that moment. I could not stop thinking about it. I ended up dating this person for a while until they had to move to Canada, and I’m still in touch with them!

So, for me, London is synonymous with freedom. London was where I had no more imposed after-school commitments, no more working in the restaurant and also, I got to be who I wanted to be.

Now, the LGBTQ+ community is not always an easy place for Asian gay men either. There are a lot of stereotypes that mean that people brush you aside without really ever getting to know you. In those days you did not have Grindr or anything like that, but it was still possible for people to say to your face that they do not like Asian men. I used to wonder why that was the case – how come that members of the LGBTQ+ community that most likely have experienced discrimination and unfair treatment themselves, would be capable of treating others in the same way? I found my answer to that in an unlikely place.

After I broke up with a long-term boyfriend, I found myself very numb to the world. The world was less colourful and most importantly, I cared about it less. I went to a therapist for help, which started a long journey of individual therapy with different therapists, group therapy, various retreats, ultimately leading to me studying therapy myself at the Minster Centre as well as starting a PhD programme at the New School of Psychotherapy in Existential Psychotherapy.

So, my answer for why LGBTQ+ people can treat others badly is that the response to unfair treatment is not necessary some form of enlightenment. The most typical response to being treated a particular way is that we learn that is the way to treat people. And often our trauma, if left unresolved, can remain in the way of us experiencing the life that we want.

What has been a standout moment in your career so far?

Joining State Street has been a real adventure. I remember starting my corporate career at another financial company thinking that nobody in the boardroom or senior management was like me, non-white and gay. This meant that nobody’s journey was like mine in a recognisable way. I started at State Street as a Managing Director and the highlight was walking through the door to a town hall where my picture was up on a massive screen to congratulate me on my career achievement to becoming a Managing Director at State Street. It was emotional for me because I knew after having studied therapy, having climbed the corporate ladder, that representation matters, and I got an opportunity to represent people like me.

How does State Street strive for inclusivity and provide an open space for LGBTQ+ employees?

State Street is a wonderful organisation that allows people to be who they are and celebrate our differences. Diversity and inclusivity are great for employees but also for the organisation, and its clients. The more intricate your diversity is, the more chances there are that you can fuel your next project with lived experiences.  Inclusivity is key to that. We have a great pride network at State Street and I am also a member of the Race and Ethnicity network. I try to be active so in the past year I have organised things like Festive LGBTQ+ Gingerbread house decorating to Kindness and Equality meditations, from being on panels to talk about the benefits of psychotherapy to hosting coffee mornings to talk about LGBTQ+ lived experiences. It feels safe to be who you are in State Street and that is because of all the hard work that others have put in. I am grateful for that.

Throughout your career, have you noticed any developments in attitudes towards the importance of diversity and inclusion?

Yes. I did not come out at work until I started working for a financial organization where I met someone in another line of business that was out and seemed to do okay. It’s hard coming out at work and the complexity is that it’s not one moment, but many repetitive conversations. People used to assume you were straight, so there was always this awkward pause to handle after someone asked, “why don’t you have a girlfriend Tay”? These days, I let people know I am gay in the interview process. My rationale is that if is not a place where gay people can thrive, it is not a place where I can work. There is a lot of privilege in that statement of course – it’s only after I was able to build out my knowledge and experience that I feel I could take that stance.

What immediate improvements would you like to see being made for LGBTQ+ equality in the future – both in the workplace, and wider society?

In the next few years, diversity, ethnicity and inclusion programmes will have to figure out how to exist alongside political forces that would like to see these programmes run differently or perhaps not at all. I have gained from such programmes to help find my community. For me, that means it is even more important for me to show up. I have to be visibly part of my communities and remain vocal about the things that I or those around me are experiencing. I have attained a senior position in an investment firm, now is the time for me to make sure I am able to use my privilege for the good of others.

State Street is a proud partner of myGwork, the LGBTQ+ business community. Find out more about LGBTQ+ friendly job opportunities at State Street.