Five Indian-origin women executives have made it to Barron’s prestigious annual ‘100 Most Influential Women in US Finance’ list for achieving positions of prominence in the financial services industry and helping shape its future.
Barron’s is a sister publication of the Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones and Company. “The list honours established and emerging leaders in financial services, the corporate world, nonprofit organisations, and government,” the magazine said in a press release. Indian-origin Anu Aiyengar from J.P. Morgan, Ariel Investment’s Rupal J. Bhansali, Sonal Desai of Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sach’s Meena Flynn and Savita Subramanian from Bank of America are among the 100 women who were named in the fourth annual version of the prestigious list, released last month.
Aiyengar, in her 50s, assumed the role of global head of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) at J.P. Morgan in January after serving as a co-head of the division since 2020. According to the press release, she has long credited her love of number crunching, legal contracts, and building client relationships for bringing her to the mergers-and-acquisitions sphere. Aiyengar “offers clients equal measures of expertise and steadiness when navigating challenging markets,” it said. Bhansali, 55, is the chief investment officer and portfolio manager of Ariel Investments’ global equity strategies. She is a member of the board of directors of 100 Women in Finance.
Bhansali believes that managing money is what she was born to do, and is passionate about encouraging women to work in finance. “It’s about empowering women at every stage of their career,” she was quoted as saying. Desai made history in 2018 by becoming the first woman chief investment officer in Franklin Templeton global investment fund. The 58-year-old joined the firm in 2009 after working for the International Monetary Fund, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and Thames River Capital. According to the release, she currently oversees USD 137 billion in assets.
Fylnn, 45, is a co-head of global private wealth management at Goldman Sachs Group, whose career in finance began soon after a sports injury. She joined JPMorgan Chase in 1999 and moved to Goldman Sachs the following year, becoming a partner in 2014. Today Fylnn wears several hats, including co-chairing the global inclusion and diversity committee. “We are seeing more ultrahigh-net-worth female clients at the table, managing the family’s wealth, being part of the decision making and making the money,” Flynn was quoted as saying in the press release. Subramanian, 50, the head of US equity and quantitative strategy at Bank of America, also made it to the list.
She is responsible for recommending US sector allocations for equities and determining forecasts for the S&P 500 and other major US indices. “Barron’s list reflects the varied career trajectories that have taken women to the top echelons of financially focused companies,” the press release said.
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