Yie-Hsin Hung entered the financial services sector after earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard University. Her first stop after college: investment banking.
Although she enjoyed "the fast-paced environment and the opportunity to work on complex, high-stakes transactions" in investment banking, Hung eventually desired work that was "more enduring and purpose-driven." She found work as the CEO of New York Life Investments from 2015 to 2022 and today as president and CEO of State Street Investment Management, formerly State Street Global Advisors. She's been head of the world's fourth largest investment management firm since 2022.
"What I love about the investment management industry is that it's not just about numbers — it's about helping individuals and institutions achieve their financial goals," Hung said. "Whether it's retirement security, funding education or growing a business, the impact is tangible and personal. That proximity to real outcomes is what makes the work so meaningful to me."
That meaningful work has helped produce meaningful results for State Street Corp.'s investment management arm. Hung has focused on growing the company's EMEA and APAC businesses, expanding the company's presence in private markets and ETF servicing, and launching new segments for wealth services and data monetization in her role as co-head of strategy oversight for parent company State Street.
Hung also has helped roll out and improve its proxy voting choice program. She said it's a "groundbreaking initiative" that lets investors determine how shares held in funds that they own are voted on. Now in its second year, the program gives clients a choice of 11 different voting policies. The program, available in the U.S., the United Kingdom and the European Union, saw a 63% jump in usage within U.S. ETFs and U.S. mutual funds from 2024 to 2025, Hung said.
Another initiative Hung launched this past year is the Sustainability Stewardship Service, an opt-in offering that lets institutional clients select a stewardship policy to engage with State Street's portfolio companies on sustainability issues, Hung said.
"Clients have different views on sustainability, and by offering innovative solutions that allow for greater alignment, we're helping them invest in ways that reflect their values — regardless of regional sentiment or regulatory complexity," she said.
Although Hung believes investment management is about more than numbers, she knows that numbers matter. Under her leadership, State Street Investment Management enjoyed a record-breaking year in 2024. AUM climbed 15% year-over-year, hitting a record-setting $4.7 trillion by the end of 2024. (As of June 30, total AUM stood at $5.1 trillion.) Furthermore, the investment management arm attracted $146 billion in new assets last year and notched a 13% year-over-year rise in revenue, reaching a record-high of $2.3 billion.
ETF growth contributed to last year's healthy financials. The SPDR ETF suite gained $109 billion in net inflows, helping bring ETF AUM to $1.6 trillion. And the two-decade-old flagship Gold ETF collected nearly $2 billion in net new assets. On the institutional side, the EMEA business achieved record-high net inflows of $66 billion in 2024.
Last year's launch of 80 new products further lifted the performance of State Street's investment management arm.
As Hung looks toward even more growth at State Street Investment Management, she and her team are addressing the challenge of serving next-generation investors — investors who, she noted, are digitally native, appreciate transparency and expect personalized experiences. To appeal to these investors, the business unit has forged partnerships with investment platforms in Australia, India, Europe and the United Kingdom, and continues its U.S. collaboration with PensionBee, an online provider of IRAs.
Meanwhile, State Street Investment Management is amplifying its brand through the "Getting There Starts Here" campaign, which launched in 2024, as the business' first major retail-focused promotion. The campaign aims to "democratize" investing.
The "Getting There Starts Here" initiative has featured several "bold activations," Hung said. They include staging a Times Square takeover, ringing the Nasdaq closing bell, setting a Guinness World Record for the most people to ring a bell in one hour and hosting a surprise public concert by pop star Gwen Stefani.
In leading myriad growth initiatives at State Street Investment Management, Hung said she has immersed herself in the "enduring and purpose-driven" work she once longed to do — while also keeping a close eye on the bottom line.
"It's a privilege to work in a field where performance is measurable, impact is real and growth is always possible," Hung said.
