The Most Powerful Women in Finance, No. 9, Anu Aiyengar, J.P. Morgan

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Anu Aiyengar can measure the change in her role over the last year by the miles she has traveled.

As global head of advisory and M&A for J.P. Morgan , Aiyengar circled the planet in May. Her journey, which included a mix of internal and external meetings and conferences, began in southern California and touched down in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne. At every stop, she met with employees in town halls, small groups and one-on-ones.

Aiyengar has been global head of M&A at J.P. Morgan since 2023, and she still spends time advising clients on deals. But her role expanded in 2024 as part of an internal merger of the bank's investment, corporate and commercial banks. She is one of four investment banking executives on the combined bank's executive and operating committee, which also has representatives from the other business lines.

The combination has unlocked growth for the bank by connecting common clients of all three businesses, from startups to corporations with market caps measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars, Aiyengar said. And it comes at a time when clients need help navigating geopolitical risk, macroeconomic uncertainty and the impact of artificial intelligence, among other issues.

While the travel has been tiring, Aiyengar said, the new responsibilities have transformed her role and energized her. "It's a completely different job," Aiyengar said. "I can be in the exact same organization, and what I do and the number of clients I touch and the variety of the things you do and the problems you solve is just at a much different scale."

Some parts have felt familiar. As a junior banker in 2000, Aiyengar went through a merger that brought her to J.P.Morgan. The experience has helped her understand what bank employees are going through as a result of the internal combination.

"It is the absolute right thing to do to bring these three parts of the business together, but it was not without all the typical challenges that you would have in any merger," she said.

Aiyengar has spent time in employee town halls communicating the strategy and the purpose behind the combination. Aiyengar said she also pays close attention to nonverbal cues she might be giving off, knowing from her own early-career experience that changes in a manager's demeanor can unsettle staff.

Amid all the changes, Aiyengar has been leading J.P.Morgan's M&A business to new heights. According to data from Dealogic, the bank was No. 1 last year in total deals worldwide valued at more than $100 million, with 319. This year, J.P. Morgan is advising Constellation Energy on its $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine Corp. And the bank was the co-lead financial adviser to Sycamore Partners on the private equity firm's $27.3 billion deal to take pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance private.

Aiyengar is a trustee for Smith College, her alma mater, and a board member for the American Red Cross in Greater New York and Dress for Success, a nonprofit that provides professional attire and other support for women entering the workforce.