Meet the Five Indian Women Who Made it to the '100 Most Influential Women in US Finance'

By: WE Staff

Five Indian females in the finance industry have made it to Barron's List of "100 Most Influential Women in US Finance". This list is published by the panel of editors and writers of Barron which is based upon external and Barron's nominations. This list honors those women who have gained prominent positions in finance and influence within the financial services sector and firms that support it.

This is the fourth annual list of Barron which is published realizing the names of the top emerging leader’s leaders in financial services, nonprofit organizations, the corporate world, and the government.

Among the other top names, there were 5 names of those female business leaders who belong to India. The name included Anu Aiyengar of J.P. Morgan, Rupal J. Bhansali of Ariel Investment, Sonal Desai of Franklin Templeton, Savita Subramanian of Bank of America, and Meena Flynn of Goldman Sachs.

Anu Aiyengar

Anu Aiyengar is a J.P. Morgan investment banker and Senior Managing Director. Anu has an expertise of over 25 years in the financial sector and has guided several high-profile mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in a variety of industries which includes healthcare, consumer and retail, and also in technology.

She has held several executive positions at J.P. Morgan's mergers and acquisitions businesses. She has been named as one of the most powerful women in finance and was recognized in the "100 Most Influential Women in Finance" by the Finance News.

She is also a major supporter of women's leadership programs and is an advocate for workplace diversity and inclusion. Anu is a member of the board of directors of Catalyst which is a global nonprofit organization that promotes gender equality in the workplace. She has been awarded the "Impact and Innovation Award"- Dress for Success.

Sonal Desai

The Indian-American economist, Sonal Desai is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Franklin Templeton's fixed-income division. With more than two decades of financial sector expertise, she is a popular face for her skills in macroeconomic analysis and global bond markets.

Before becoming the CIO at Franklin, Sonal has handed multiple positions of leadership in the firm's fixed-income sector. She also served as a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before she joined Franklin Templeton.

Sonal frequently comments on Ecom and financial matters. She has been featured in many publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNBC. She is a Ph.D. scholar in economics at Northwestern University and completed her bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Mumbai.

Meena Flynn

Meena Flynn is a scholar of economics and began her career at J.P. Morgan's Chase in the year 1999. After working there for a year, she joined Goldman Sachs in 2000. She served there as an analyst in Private Wealth Management (PWM) for several years and in 2014, she was promoted to partner in the firm and has been assigned with a variety of duties which includes co-chairing the global inclusion and diversity committee.

Rupal J. Bhansali

An Indian-American investor and fund manager, Rupal J. Bhansali is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the International and Global Equities at Ariel Investments. She has been working for 30 years in the financial industry and is a well-known face for her expertise in global equities, risk management, and macroeconomic analysis.

Rupal began her journey at Soros Fund Management and handled a number of high-profile financial services and organizations which includes Oppenheimer Capital, Invesco, and MacKay Shields. She is also an author along with her work at Ariel Investments. She has published multiple books on investing and financial markets, "Non-Consensus Investing: Being Right When Everyone Else Is Wrong".

She has also achieved the FSA Credential award from the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB).

Savita Subramanian

An American Equity strategist, Savita Subramanian presently works at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the Head of US Equity and Quantitative Strategy. With more than 20 years of expertise in the financial business, this 50-year-old lady is well known for her skills in equity research, quantitative analysis, and asset allocation.

She joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the year 2022 and has handled multiple roles of leadership in the company's equity research division. Presently she looks after a team of analysts who provides Institutional and Individual investors with research and investing guidance.

She has been named in Fortune's list of the Most Powerful Women in Business in 2020 for her splendid contributions to the financial industry.