Stephanie Braming joined William Blair Investment Management in 2004 as a portfolio manager in several areas of investment and deftly climbed the corporate ladder.
Among her earlier roles at the firm, she was portfolio manager of the $16.6 billion William Blair International Growth and the $3.5 billion William Blair International Small Cap Growth strategies. In 2017, she was appointed global head of investment management of the Chicago-based firm.
In 2021, she spearheaded the $4.2 billion acquisition of U.S. value firm ICM and expanded the firm's distribution reach into Asia with the establishment of a Singapore office.
Before joining the firm, she was a principal at Mercer Investment Consulting.
In an interview, Ms. Braming professed she "loves her job and empowering our investment teams so they can deliver results to clients and work together."
"Our purpose is to help individuals, pension funds and defined contribution plans meet their financial goals. That said, William Blair's business is largely focused on institutional investors and is global in nature. Many of our clients are sophisticated investors," Ms. Braming said.
She noted that the firm also is focused on providing mentorship to its newer and younger employees and added that William Blair also offers full tuition reimbursement and external learning for its employees.
In a letter supporting her nomination, William Blair CEO Brent Gledhill noted that: "She has curated the most diverse teams in our firm with an intentional recruiting focus and an inclusive culture that has expanded our firm's breadth of perspectives and evolved our recruiting processes to be more inclusive and attract talent that our social system would not naturally find.''
