Head of the Global Asset Managers Segment and Global Clients Division
For Donna Milrod, customer satisfaction is paramount.
In her dual role at State Street — overseeing the global clients division and now the global asset managers segment too — Milrod and her employees serve 1,077 clients, who represent more than 70% of the Boston-based company’s total assets under custody and administration and the bulk of its revenue.
Milrod created the global clients division in late 2018 to strengthen and better manage the largest and most complex relationships that State Street has. And under her leadership, 99% of those clients have been retained and the business they do with the company has grown 27%. Net promoter scores have also increased significantly.
Such success prompted the company to tap her in January 2020 to combine all of its sales and relationship management into one group. And that initiative led to a 25% increase in new business wins.
Milrod’s duties expanded again early this year to encompass the global assets managers segment, State Street’s largest business. The priority for her now is spearheading sales of State Street Alpha, the company’s flagship asset servicing platform for institutional investors and wealth managers. She is already off to a flying start, having led a landmark mandate with Invesco in April to transition its investment servicing for $1.4 trillion of assets to the Alpha platform.
One way Milrod aims to fuel sales is by finetuning Alpha for each client. “My goal is for our clients to see us as an extension of their team and build partnerships rather than just transactional relationships,” she said.
Having her heavy travel schedule at a standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic gave Milrod the chance to focus more on her husband and two sons, which, she said, has been “an absolute delight.” She recently discovered that her 16-year-old son is interested in cooking, and they have been making meals together, trying out different cuisines. “It has given me a chance to pass along family traditions that my great-grandmother passed down through the generations,” she said.
She has also recalibrated her personal priorities in general, incorporating self-care into her daily routine. “I now focus on breathing exercises, walking meetings and signing off to have dinner with my family,” she said. “This is a monumental shift, as I used to power through my day without taking moments for self-reflection; the pandemic showed how important small factors are in ensuring better mental and physical health.”
Milrod, who is on State Street’s management committee, has been on the board of the Partnership Fund for New York City since 2010. The fund invests in companies and nonprofits across the city with the goal of expanding job opportunities, a mission that took on greater urgency over the past year with the impact of COVID-19.
