The 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance: 11-15

11. Nicole Arnaboldi
Vice Chair For Asset Management, Credit Suisse

Nicole Arnaboldi has a strong track record in bringing private equity and alternative investment choices to clients. But her group also regularly rakes in honors for more traditional fare, like its bond funds in the European market, which were singled out this year for merit by the likes of Lipper and Morningstar. A big move this year was the launch of a liquid alternatives fund, which comes with looser terms on capital lock-ups versus most hedge funds.

Arnaboldi also devotes time to mentoring female talent at Credit Suisse, and directs the recruiting of women for her division.

A mother of four, she strongly advocates the use of flex scheduling to accommodate female executives. "As for barriers, I think some are self imposed," she said in an interview with TheGlassHammer.com. "But firms also have a responsibility. How do they retain women when the bulk of childcare responsibilities, in our society, falls on women? … How can firms support and provide opportunities for women?"

12. Elizabeth Crain
Chief Operating Officer, Moelis & Co.

Moelis & Co. had barely gotten its first foreign office, in London, off the ground when Elizabeth Crain began spearheading the fast expansion of the New York-based investment bank into Hong Kong, Beijing and Germany.

Now she's looking into options for pushing into France, India and Brazil. The possibilities include a de novo office or an acquisition, thanks to a $93 million strategic investment by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. that Crain helped evaluate. It wouldn't be Crain's first global build-out; she played a critical role in the expansion of the investment banking platform for UBS before leaving to help star UBS banker Ken Moelis get his namesake firm off the ground five years ago.

Crain's 20-year career in financial services includes jobs as a principal with Morgan Stanley Capital Partners and as an investment banker with Merrill Lynch. She is an active mentor and a member of 100 Women in Hedge Funds, a global organization supporting educational programming and philanthropy.

13. Charlotte McLaughlin
President And CEO, PNC Capital Markets

With 25% year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter, PNC Capital Markets and its president and CEO, Charlotte McLaughlin, already had the makings of a good year despite a tough market. But after parent company PNC Financial Services' acquisition of RBC Bank in March for a stronger Southeast footprint, and PNC Capital's aggressive marketing and cross-selling plans, that may be an understatement by yearend.

McLaughlin has found new focal points for sales efforts, and they're paying off handsomely. The derivatives group, for example, has focused on building customized solutions for clients seeking to hedge their interest-rate exposure. The group's sales are up 73 percent over 2011 levels, making it the fastest growing of all of McLaughlin's lines of business. McLaughlin has been central to building the capital markets broker-dealer group, with increased activity in originating mortgage-backed securities and underwriting municipal bonds. There's also the financial institutions group led by McLaughlin, where revenue is outpacing last year's as clients, which are generally awash in liquidity right now, seek to hedge their interest-rate risk.