National Banking Practice Executive for Wealth Management
Northern Trust had a wholesale designation and no infrastructure for making Small Business Administration loans when the COVID-19 crisis hit last year — but it had plenty of small-business customers desperate for help.
So Glenda Pedroso, the national banking practice executive for wealth management, spearheaded a way to roll out the Paycheck Protection Program to those customers, identifying a third-party SBA lender that would partner with Northern Trust to process applications.
This is one reason that in 2020, a year marked by deep economic crisis, Pedroso led her team to execute $16.9 billion of lending overall, up 9% from the previous year. Northern Trust described that as industry-leading growth, exceeding the peers it measures itself against.
To get there, Pedroso also had her team, which helps companies and individuals with complex loan products, concentrate on developing holistic advisory relationships with strong borrowers. Efforts focused on private equity subscription facilities, privately owned businesses and commercial real estate, along with specialty lending for aircraft and yachts.
After three decades in the banking and wealth management industry, Pedroso said the pandemic has taught her “the importance of balancing crisis management with ‘business as usual’ responsibilities.”
As a mother of three, she is particularly mindful of the challenges women face balancing work and home lives. Pedroso said she believes working moms may benefit from the lessons learned — and workplace changes effected — by the crisis.
If corporate America wants more women in the senior ranks, it needs to take note of how so many smoothly juggled Zoom school and video meetings, she said, calling for bold hiring decisions that highlight diversity not only of thought, but also of work environments.
Pedroso, who is on the executive leadership team for the wealth management business, is the highest-ranking Latina in the history of Northern Trust.
