Special Program Root Tag

She had neither the time nor the resources to install a state-of-the-art customer relationship management system, but Associated Banc-Corp's Donna Smith still pulled off major infrastructure improvements her company needed to close the gap with rivals in the middle-market lending arena.

With Morgan Stanley taking over sole ownership of the Smith Barney franchise, Ruth Porat's already heady Street influence has grown even more authoritative.

Lisa Carnoy, who started at Merrill Lynch in 1994, has emerged as a strategist behind some of the largest IPO and block-trade deals since the financial crisis, through her Global Capital Markets team at Bank of America.

Under Barbara Byrne, Barclays' investment banking division finished the first half of 2013 in the top three on Dealogic's league tables for U.S. mergers and acquisitions and global debt capital markets, and it was a bookrunner on seven of the 10 largest initial public offerings.

Running the securities side of the house with co-head Pablo Salame, Isabelle Ealet helped Goldman Sachs' institutional client services division generate net revenue of $9.5 billion in the first half of 2013 while also focusing on compliance issues.

The color is still going to be orange, but there's a lot changing at ING U.S. Retirement Services under CEO Maliz Beams.

Margaret Keane has spent the last two years readying GE Capital Retail Finance for the virtual worlds of its digitally active customers. So far, so good: customers now generate 4 million mobile logins a month and about 10 percent of them use mobile devices exclusively for account interaction.

A new chapter possibly awaits Nicole Arnaboldi. The 28-year investment banking veteran could soon be leading a spin-off unit servicing the assets of Credit Suisse affiliate DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, which in July was reported to be in talks to be sold by its parent.

Cost control is a mantra for Charlotte McLaughlin, who prods her PNC Capital Markets managers and employees to be as sparing as possible when it comes to business expenses. The result is a flattening expense structure that is producing an improved efficiency ratio as revenues rise.

For the second year in a row, Candace Browning saw her Bank of America Merrill Lynch team ranked the top global research firm by Institutional Investor, based on surveys of buy-side firms on which Wall Street analysts provided the most helpful insights in a dozen countries and regions.

The structured finance and securitization businesses that Julie Caperton runs at Wells Fargo are some of the most complex businesses in the company — and some of the most profitable.

It's not often that a Wall Street research firm turns to the CIA, but Wells Fargo's Diane Schumaker-Krieg is always intent on finding an edge.

Risk was the main order of business for Suni Harford last year. In her role directing sales, trading and origination for Citigroup's global securities and banking unit, she was charged with identifying franchise risk issues for each product line.

Staying positive, empowering people and being a risk-taker who makes a difference are guideposts that have steered Fidelity Investments' Kathleen Murphy through a 25-year career in financial services and benefits.

For three consecutive years, HSBC has ranked first in Bloomberg's Latin American bonds league table under the guidance of Katia Bouazza, who has earned one of the highest profiles of any investment banker, male or female, in the region.

Two years ago, JPMorgan Chase asked Catherine Keating to transfer her private bank experience over to the institutional investment side of the house. She's delivered not only with solid numbers but has done so by incorporating a key aspect of private banking: segmentation.

For Liz Myers and team at J.P. Morgan, the first half of the year was dominated by large IPOs, with the firm underwriting 20 transactions that raised more than $1 billion apiece, including the $5 billion offering from the insurance subsidiary of Banco de Brazil.

With its announced purchase of the Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group, Grosvenor Capital Management will not just nearly double its assets under management, it also will gain the services of one of the most high-profile names in private equity and fund-of-funds management in Kelly Williams.

With a prime role in two global exchange mergers last year, Caroline Silver has no problem with name recognition in the sector. As Michael Overlander, the CEO of derivatives broker Sucden Financial told Bloomberg last year, "Her name should be changed to Caroline Gold."

In addition to being an industry giant with many opportunities to run large business lines, Wells Fargo takes a studied approach to leadership development, with special emphasis on women and other diversity candidates who have been traditionally underrepresented in the financial services sector.