Partner and managing director, principal strategic investments team
The investments that Rana Yared's team makes in startups help Goldman Sachs in two ways: Besides earning a profit, the company also uses a lot of the technology the startups develop as part of its internal digital transformation.
One example of this dual benefit is Kensho, a developer of artificial intelligence for financial analysis. Goldman was an early investor in the company, which was recently bought by S&P Global for more than $550 million. Goldman uses Kensho's technology in its equities division.
Another example is the electronic trading venue Tradeweb. Goldman was an early investor in the company, which went public in early April and raised $1.1 billion.
Yared, 35, was one of the youngest to ever be named a partner at Goldman when she achieved that coveted status last year.
She is among the 15 women selected for our inaugural
Overall the team Yared oversees in New York and London has invested about $1.4 billion in 80 companies. Yared is on the board of eight of them.
Two U.K. investments — Nutmeg, a robo-adviser, and Bud, a combination of a personal financial manager and open banking marketplace — will be important to Goldman as it builds its consumer bank in that country, she said.
Other investments went to NYSHEX (it's digitizing the containerized freight industry to provide certainty and collateral to shippers and carriers), Veem (payments tech) and Nav (credit education for small businesses).
"Fintech investing is core to our business," Yared said, adding that Goldman has been involved in it for 20 years.
"Rana is, and has always been, on an accelerated track at Goldman Sachs, driven by her tireless work ethic, deep functional skills, and a strong commercial intuition." — Stephanie Cohen, chief strategy officer
And even though she works for a very large bank, Yared said she always thinks of the little guy.
"It's easy to forget that the whole industry is to the benefit of individuals — pensioners, main street people," she said. "We're very passionate about keeping that in mind as we invest."
Nominating executive:
What she says: “Rana is, and has always been, on an accelerated track at Goldman Sachs, driven by her tireless work ethic, deep functional skills, and a strong commercial intuition, as well as her deep external and internal relationships," Cohen wrote in nominating Yared for the
