Thasunda Brown Duckett, the chief executive officer of Chase Consumer Banking, a JPMorgan division, is heading over to The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund or TIAA, as chief executive officer and president.
Duckett, 47, will be heading the $1.3 trillion investment management fund. She is one of the few prominent black Fortune 500 CEOs on Wall Street.
Thasunda Duckett will replace Roger Ferguson, who will retire in May after 13 years in the CEO post. The investment industry is in a sort of upheaval with tightening margins due to low cost, safe investments and small investors driving the market.
Thasunda Duckett to head TIAA
At Chase, Thasunda Brown Duckett was in charge of a network of 4,900 branches, $600 billion in deposits, 25 million customers, and 40,000 employees. She spent 16 years at the bank where her earlier stints included handling its auto lending operations and mortgage division. Under her, the bank undertook its first major branch expansion in 10 years to add 400 new branches in 20 new markets over five years. Duckett also launched Advancing Black Pathways, a charitable effort that promotes economic development in black communities.
She also drove Chase’s development of new tools, products, and adoption of digital engagement, which led to the bank’s ranking as #1 in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power, #1 for its mobile app, and the #1 most visited online portal among U.S. retail banks.
She has been active in pushing women’s causes in the financial world and was a sponsor of the bank’s Fellowship Initiative, which offers young men of color academic and social support to help them achieve personal and professional success.
Thasunda Duckett will replace Roger Ferguson, who will retire in May after 13 years in the CEO post. The investment industry is in a sort of upheaval with tightening margins due to low cost, safe investments and small investors driving the market.
TIAA, which Andrew Carnegie started as an investment fund focused on teacher retirement plans, has now diversified in other areas. “I am extraordinarily grateful for the opportunity to lead a company that has helped millions of people retire with enough to live in dignity and excited about the opportunity to help TIAA chart its next 100 years,” Duckett said in a statement.
JPMorgan’s rich history of making CEOs
Mike Mayo, bank analyst at Wells Fargo, called the appointment “another data point showing that JPMorgan is a CEO manufacturing machine.” Many banks, including Barclays, Standard Chartered, and Wells Fargo have CEOs who once worked in JPMorgan.
James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, said about her appointment: “I’d like to congratulate Thasunda on her appointment to this important new role. She is an outstanding leader and role model, and we will miss her.” JPMorgan’s consumer and community banking division had more than $50bn in revenue and $8 billion in net income in 2020.
She also drove Chase’s development of new tools, products, and adoption of digital engagement, which led to the bank’s ranking as #1 in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power, #1 for its mobile app, and the #1 most visited online portal among U.S. retail banks.
Duckett is the third Black woman to be a full-time Fortune 500 CEO. Mary Winston served as interim CEO of Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Ursula Burns headed Xerox. Roger W. Ferguson Jr. is one of five Black CEOs in the Fortune 500. Duckett is TIAA’s first female CEO and its third Black CEO.
In 2019, she was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful “Women to Watch.” American Banker magazine called her the 7th Most Powerful Woman in Banking, and she also figured in Black Enterprise magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Corporate America list.
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