Lori Heinel credits her Princeton undergraduate degree in religion with helping her better perform her duties as executive vice president and global chief investment officer at State Street Global Advisors, overseeing the Boston-based firm’s $4.4 trillion in client assets.
While driven by intellectual curiosity, the grounding that academic choice provided has proven “incredibly useful” in managing SSGA’s 600-person team, and offices in environments as diverse as Saudi Arabia, Japan and India, Heinel said.
A global role demands “a lot of cultural sensitivity,” and the appreciation of cultural dynamics the study of religion fosters has helped her to “meet people where they are” and find common ground where possible.
As a “math nerd,” meanwhile, Heinel took a series of advanced math courses in parallel, and upon graduating decided she would dip her toes in the waters of Wall Street for a few years before going on to law school.
Instead, she “got the bug,” and two years stretched into four decades.
Over her past decade with SSGA, Heinel said she’s focused on “divining the future of investing” — working to revamp key product segments at the firm, including ETFs, smart beta, thematic and outcome-oriented strategies.
Her other top priority, Heinel said, is making a difference when it comes to gender diversity, with a focus on taking a more systematic approach to mentoring and supporting women in the industry.
“I thought we have to have intentionality around it,” moving beyond mentorship to “advocacy” — identifying candidates, for example, who “could be ready for stretch assignments,” Heinel said.
That approach has succeeded in lifting the proportion of women in Heinel’s top leadership team to 50% at present from 30% a few years ago, she said.