Global Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions
Anu Aiyengar must be used to breaking barriers by now, having amassed a string of firsts throughout her career. Her latest appointment notches up two more.
As global co-head of mergers and acquisitions at J.P. Morgan, she is the only woman and only person of color to ever hold that position in the company.
Early on, Aiyengar, who immigrated from India, was told during a job interview on Wall Street that she had three strikes against her: “wrong color, wrong gender, wrong country,” an incident she recounted for
She credits being an undergrad at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, with helping equip her — more than just academically — to navigate effectively in business, even when she finds herself being the only person in the room who looks like she does.
“Because I had my education in an all-women’s environment, I was less filtered in what I said. I wasn't waiting for permission to speak and I wasn't self-editing in my head,” she said. “If I had something to say, I just said it.”
She joined the investment banking arm of J.P. Morgan Chase in 1999 and has been there ever since, becoming head of M&A for North America in 2015 and getting promoted to her current role in early 2020.
As for business, hers is booming. “It’s been a very healthy M&A market, with volumes over $500 billion at a monthly level for most of this year,” Aiyengar said.
For the first half of 2021, J.P. Morgan ranked second in global volume league tables, the company said, citing data from Dealogic. Aiyengar’s global M&A business advised on 325 transactions, which accounted for $887 billion in announced volume, it said.
