REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
September 11, 2023
Kathy Sutherland
Partner and CEO, GoldenTree Asset Management
While attending the University of Virginia, Kathy Sutherland gravitated toward courses such as organic chemistry, which still make pre-med students shudder. She graduated in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry — her father had worked as a chemical engineer, and she figured the major could give her options — but she realized while doing solo research after class that it felt a little lonely.
“I just really missed the interaction with people and was sure I wanted that interaction in a career path,” said Ms. Sutherland, partner and CEO of GoldenTree Asset Management LP.
She found it in finance. When she tried an internship in commodities, she reveled in both the research and the community. “I still felt like I was leveraging science; I just had more fun doing the finance,” Ms. Sutherland said. “You make a lot of friends, and it becomes a core part of your life.”
After college, Ms. Sutherland joined J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and worked in several positions that included portfolio management, structured credit and high yield. From 2005 to 2008, as a managing director at J.P. Morgan, Ms. Sutherland oversaw fund and structured product distribution across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
In 2008, Ms. Sutherland joined GoldenTree as a partner and head of European business development; in 2014, she became head of business development. Four years ago, Ms. Sutherland became GoldenTree’s head of business development and strategy, and in October 2022, she was named CEO.
Between Ms. Sutherland’s 2014 promotion to head of business development and now, the firm’s assets under management have grown to more than $51 billion from about $19 billion.
Ms. Sutherland says she has dedicated much of her career to mentoring because “One plus one can equal three if you have the right team structure.”
— Erin Chan Ding
.Reprinted with permission from Pensions & Investments. © 2023 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
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