The Most Powerful Women in Finance 2024

September 24, 2024 6:30 AM

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Women are at the top of some of the largest U.S. financial institutions. Mary Callahan Erdoes is the CEO of asset and wealth management at JPMorgan Chase, Abigail Johnson is the chair and CEO of Fidelity Investments, and Jenny Johnson is the president and CEO of Franklin Templeton, to name just a few. These women, along with 22 others, are on this year's Most Powerful Women in Finance list.

New additions to the finance list are Christina Minnis, head of global credit finance and head of global acquisition finance at Goldman Sachs, Kourtney Gibson, chief institutional client officer at TIAA, and Kate El-Hillow, president and chief investment office at Russell Investments.

Additionally, another new finance honoree, Martina Cheung, president of S&P Global Ratings, will become the president and CEO at S&P Global in November.

Learn more about these accomplished women and their paths to success.

Also check out:

The Most Powerful Women in Banking

The Most Powerful Women to Watch (To be released on Oct. 26.)

Top Teams (To be released on Oct. 1.)

Mary Callahan Erdoes

Chief Executive Officer of Asset & Wealth Management
JPMorgan Chase

When asked what she would tell her younger self about managing her career, Mary Callahan Erdoes would go back to the basics. Work hard and play hard. Live in the now. Become a subject matter expert in your area of focus. Most importantly, always continue learning.

"Sit in the front. Take notes. Ask questions. Dress for success and always send thank-you notes," Erdoes added. "Be a great listener and understand all sides of a discussion."

Learn more about Erdoes' advice to rising bankers and her passion for cultivating talent.

Abigail Johnson

Chairman and CEO
Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments Chairman and CEO Abigail Johnson invests her energy into making finance a more-inclusive environment.

Fidelity had a banner year in 2023 under Johnson's leadership; revenue rose by 12% in 2023 from a year earlier, to $28.2 billion. Managed and non-managed net asset flows to Fidelity's platform increased by 39% to $647 billion. The company performed well in each of its major business lines: retail brokerage, wealth management, workplace benefits, asset management and clearing and custody.

Learn about how Johnson plans to attract younger and more diverse investors.

Thasunda Brown Duckett

CEO
TIAA

Thasunda Brown Duckett has used her role as CEO of TIAA to speak out for gender equality, but it is TIAA's employment numbers that "speak volumes," she said.

More than half of the company's employees are female:57%compared to the financial services industry average of 34%. And nearly 40% of the executive leadership team at TIAA, are women.

Learn more about how Duckett is working to increase diversity in the financial services industry.

Jenny Johnson

President and CEO
Franklin Templeton

Jenny Johnson, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton, sees a potential for digital-asset investment products far beyond her company's new bitcoin ETF.

In January, the $1.6 trillion investment firm launched the Franklin Bitcoin ETF, which seeks to reflect the performance of the price of bitcoin. "That's so basic when it comes to what can ultimately be brought to the markets with blockchain," Johnson said. "Digital asset capabilities are going to be really interesting in their ability to develop new products."

Learn more about Johnson's plans to create new digital asset products.

Adena Friedman

Chair and CEO
Nasdaq

Last year under Adena Friedman, chair and CEO of Nasdaq, the company continued to build its financial technology business with a $10.5 billion acquisition and to push for diverse corporate leadership with the implementation of its board diversity rule for Nasdaq-listed companies.

With the November acquisition of Adenza, a risk management and regulatory reporting software provider, Nasdaq continued the fintech expansion that Friedman has championed since she took the CEO job in 2017.

Learn more about Friedman's plans for Nasdaq's ongoing transformation.

Yie-Hsin Hung

President and CEO
State Street Global Advisors

Part of her responsibility as CEO is to provide leadership for goals that go beyond delivering results for customers and the business, said Yie-Hsin Hung of State Street Global Advisors.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

"There is an element of not only engaging people's heads and their intellect, but also engaging people's hearts," Hung said. "Understand what we're trying to get to in terms of growth and having impact, but (also in) having an organization that lives and breathes its values."

Understand more about how Hung's leadership is helping to boost the bottom line at SSGA.

Lindsay Hans

President and Co-Head of Merrill Wealth Management
Bank of America, Merrill Wealth Management

When Lindsay Hans was about 7 years old, she would stand by the screen door in her home in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania and see her father—a financial adviser—off to work in the morning. As he left, he'd turn around and say: "Lindsay, tell me to make money."

"Make money," she'd reply.

For Hans, now president and co-head of Merrill Wealth Management, money was a comfortable topic of discussion as a child with both her father and her mother, who balanced the family's checkbook with Wite-Out and clipped coupons every Sunday.

See how Hans's parents helped influence her to pursue a career in the financial services industry.

Emily Portney

Global Head of Asset Servicing
BNY

Emily Portney has a full plate as the global head of asset servicing at BNY.

BNY's largest business unit provides custody; accounting, reporting and other fund services; along with data and platform solutions to asset owners, traditional and alternative investment managers, insurance companies, banks and broker-dealers. The group's assets under custody and administration neared $50 trillion in the second quarter, setting a record for BNY and the financial industry.

Learn more about Portney's ascent in the financial services industry.

Hanneke Smits

Global Head of Investment Management
BNY

Over the past year, financial markets have been driven by higher rates and a potential shift toward deglobalization. In response, Hanneke Smits, global head of investment management at BNY, has aligned the bank's portfolio strategies to meet evolving client needs.

This includes launching Pinpoint, a data-driven portfolio consultation service that has led to new client opportunities in Switzerland; debuting Pershing X Wove, a wealth-management platform for North American clients; and expanding a partnership with alternative credit specialist CIFC Asset Management, which allows clients around the world to access private credit exposure.

Learn more about how Smits works to meet BNY's clients' needs.

Photography for State Street. Executive leadership team head shots.

Tom Kates

Donna Milrod

Executive Vice President, Chief Product Officer and Head of State Street Digital
State Street

As an up-and-coming executive at Deutsche Bank, Donna Milrod saw firsthand how the financial services industry braced for Y2K amid fear that the new millennium would trigger widespread computer failures.

The experience came in handy as she led efforts by Boston-based State Street to prepare for T + 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission requirement for speeding up settlement times for financial transactions. It took effect in Canada and Mexico on May 27 and in the U.S. a day later.

Find out how Milrod helped State Street prepare for T + 1.

Lynn Martin

President
New York Stock Exchange Group

Like the city it's based in, the New York Stock Exchange doesn't take breaks.

This truth applies to the entire Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which acquired the NYSE in 2013, and has been reinforced for NYSE Group President Lynn Martin many times.

"At ICE, it's common for us to build new bridges while cars continue to drive across them," she said.

Learn more about how Martin upgrades NYSE's technology without skipping a beat.

Penny Pennington

Managing Partner
Edward Jones

In the face of unpredictable market changes, financial institutions need to be able to adapt and amend their course quickly and effectively—which is not always easy, especially when your "ship" has 8 million clients, 19,000 financial advisers and more than $1.7 trillion assets under management like Edward Jones.

However, Penny Pennington, who has been managing partner at the brokerage firm for five years, has navigated through the pandemic, erratic market shifts, banking crises and most recently, unprecedented inflation.

Learn about how Pennington is investing in client-facing technology and improving financial advisors' pay.

Katy Knox

President, Bank of America Private Bank
Bank of America

When Katy Knox became president of Bank of America Private Bank in 2018, she saw a need for staffing to become younger, more female and more representative of the people of color in its markets.

"We had an older workforce; our representation wasn't really where we wanted it," she said.

In the last five years, the number of women in the private bank's workforce has increased by more than 10%, as has the number of people of color.

Learn more about how Knox is building a younger and more diverse workforce at the private bank.

Sharon Yeshaya

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Morgan Stanley

Sharon Yeshaya has tried to provide stability at Morgan Stanley as the firm changed CEOs and may now face new regulations.

"We have had a change in leadership but not a change in strategy," Yeshaya said, echoing Ted Pick, who took over as CEO in January from James Gorman.

Yeshaya worked closely with Gorman, having been named his chief of staff in 2015. She later led the firm's investor relations, presiding over a division that incorporated E-Trade and Eaton Vance, a global asset management firm Morgan Stanley acquired in 2021.

Learn more about Yeshaya's career path and influence at the firm.

Kara McShane

Global Head of Commercial Real Estate, Executive Vice President and Managing Director
Wells Fargo

As global head of commercial real estate for Wells Fargo, Kara McShane faces industry disruption on a daily basis.

High interest rates have raised financing costs, leading to a decline in transaction volume for real estate. There also has been a decline in the issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Discover how McShane found opportunities to grow market share for Wells Fargo and stay a step ahead of risk.

Anu Aiyengar

Global Head of Advisory
JPMorgan Chase

In 2023, Anu Aiyengar became the only woman to oversee mergers and acquisitions at a major Wall Street bank when JPMorgan Chase named her global head of M&A. In April, she was promoted again when the New York banking giant named her global head of advisory — a newly created position.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

Aiyengar still directs M&A, but she also leads the corporate advisory and sustainable solutions and director advisory services lines of business.

Learn more about Aiyengar's newly created position at the bank and her outlook for dealmaking.

Ida Liu

Head of Citi Private Bank
Citigroup

As Citigroup undergoes a massive restructuring, Ida Liu, head of Citi Private Bank, is focused on the engagement and morale of a 3,000-employee team spread across 52 offices in 20 countries.

Liu's methods include traditional efforts such as frequent communication through emails and town halls and less conventional techniques that include inviting a nutritionist to advise on eating and a doctor to discuss sleep. She organized a competitive bake sale at the London branch and once invited a Buddhist monk to discuss guided meditation.

Learn more about Liu's unique leadership style.

Anna Marrs

Group President, Global Commercial Services and Credit and Fraud Risk
American Express

Anna Marrs is group president of global commercial services and credit and fraud risk at American Express. She heads a team of 6,500 people and is responsible for the company's B2B payments, working capital, AP automation, and spend management businesses, which serve millions of commercial clients around the world. In sum, this is the company's second-largest business by revenue and accounts for about 25% of American Express's total revenue.

See more about Marrs's role and responsibilities at the financial services giant.

Martina Cheung

President, S&P Global Ratings
S&P Global

Before joining S&P Global in 2010 as vice president of operations for the ratings division, Martina Cheung worked as a management consultant.

The work gave her opportunities to advise clients on strategy, transformation and growth, but also a chance to lead. This year, Cheung is taking on her biggest leadership role yet.

On November 1, she is slated to become president and CEO of New York City-based S&P Global. She is succeeding Doug Peterson, who has been CEO of the ratings and research company since 2013.

Learn more about Cheung's ascent at S&P.

Samara Epstein Cohen

Chief Investment Officer of ETFs and Index Investments
Blackrock

When doing a lot of public speaking, a background in theater comes in handy.

Samara Epstein Cohen, Blackrock's first chief investment officer of ETFs and index investments, holds a bachelor's in theater arts from the University of Pennsylvania. In the last year, she's spoken at more industry events and has been a guest on panels, podcasts, and news outlets like CNBC and Bloomberg.

Find out more about how Cohen's skill at public speaking has benefited her career in finance.

Christina Minnis

Head of Global Credit Finance and Head of Global Acquisition Finance
Goldman Sachs

Christina Minnis needed a village to rise to the rank of head of global credit finance and head of global acquisition finance at Goldman Sachs.

"While there weren't as many senior women to look up to when starting my career, I identified them and modeled after them," Minnis said of her early days in finance when she was a working mom. "I've relied on support when needed, and that has made me a better leader today."

Learn more about how Minnis managed a high-level career in finance while raising three children.

Michal Katz

Head of Investment and Corporate Banking
Mizuho Americas

Despite a steady two-year decline in mergers-and-acquisitions activity, Michal Katz, head of investment and corporate banking at Mizuho Americas, saw an opportunity in the business for her investment bank.

When the bank acquired the Greenhill M&A advisory firm for $550 million last December, deal volume had been dropping after hitting record levels in 2021.

Learn how Katz seized on an opportunity to double down on M&A when others were backing down.

Kourtney Gibson

Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Institutional Client Officer
TIAA

Kourtney Gibson is passionate about making sure that every American has a reliable retirement income.

As senior executive vice president and chief institutional client officer at TIAA, Gibson oversees the company's core retirement business. She heads up the development and distribution of strategies and services for about 15,000 institutional clients and millions of in-plan participants, in a business segment that accounts for $740 billion of TIAA's $1.28 trillion in assets under management.

Read about her plans to encourage everyday Americans to think and act more proactively about retirement.

Kate El-Hillow

President and Chief Investment Officer
Russell Investments

"My style tends to be pretty transparent and candid," said Kate El-Hillow, president and chief investment officer of Russell Investments.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

In 2021, El-Hillow left Goldman Sachs to lead the Seattle-based private company's entire investment division. Amid a pandemic followed by historic climbs in inflation, then interest rates, she pushed for a broader set of clients, including more insurance companies and government financial institutions.

Learn how El-Hillow diversified what clients invest in and how she helped the company reassess its approach to risk budgeting.

Maria Hackley

Global Head of the Industrials Group
Citigroup

When Maria Hackley started recruiting talent at Georgetown University early in her career at Citigroup, impressing her managers was an accidental result.

"Part of one's success is the incremental things that one does outside of their day job that help senior leaders meet their goals," Hackley explained.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

It was the early 1990s and Hackley was a coverage banker at Citi. In her free time, she flew from New York City to Washington, D.C. seeking new talent among the women, Latinos and members of the LGBTQ community at her alma mater.

Discover how Hackley helped Citi diversify its ranks over the last 30 years.