The most powerful woman in banking, Heidi Miller of JPMorgan Chase & Co., was asked to weigh in this week on the succession speculation games playing out at several large banking companies.
While she had little to say about her personal ambitions, Miller and other guests at the 7th Annual Most Powerful Women in Banking gala Tuesday night said the increasing number of women in senior management roles at large banking companies have laid the groundwork for more women to enter the executive suite.
“There are more women in more senior roles now than ever before,” said Miller. “It will happen in time.”
Bob Kelly, the CEO of BNY Mellon Corp. and the boss of Karen Peetz, who ranked as the second-most powerful woman in banking this year, said that when U.S. Banker magazine began the list seven years ago most of the honorees were mid-level bank employees. That’s no longer the case. “Karen runs half our bottom line,” Kelly said.
As the chief executive of treasury and securities services at JPMorgan Chase, Miller is responsible for $9 billion in annual revenue; CEO Jamie Dimon last month firmed up his succession plan by appointing a (male) investment banker as his heir apparent.
When asked if she had any ambitions to move up the ladder, Miller demurred. “I’ve got a great job.”
