Global Banking & M&As, explained
A live virtual discussion with
Anu Aiyengar
Global Head of M&A
This event took place on April 18th, 2023. Read the highlights on Linkedin here. Watch it on YouTube here
JP Morgan is the largest bank in the U.S. and the most systemically important bank in the world.
Anu Aiyengar is the head of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and the only female executive leading the franchise at a major Wall Street bank. Well, at the biggest bank, which in 2022 was also number one globally in investment banking fees.
Career
Aiyengar started her career at American Express. While interviewing for a position in 1999 at a major Wall Street investment bank, her interviewer commented “the wrong gender, wrong color, and wrong country”.
She is now a member of the Global Banking Management team at JP Morgan and serves on the Steering Committee of Women On the Move for JPMorgan Chase.
Since 1999, Anu has advised both domestic and international clients on nearly $1 trillion dollars’ worth of transactions. Transactions she advised on include LVMH on its acquisition of Tiffany, E*Trade on its sale to Morgan Stanley, and Allergan on its sale to Abbvie.
Anu was named to Barron’s “100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance” list and recognized by American Banker as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Finance”. She was also the recipient of the “Impact and Innovation Award” by Dress for Success, the “Rising Star Award” by Women’s Bond Club, and the 2022 Ascend A-list award.
Anu is involved with several initiatives across J.P. Morgan and Wall Street to recruit, mentor and develop women. Anu is often a panelist and speaker at industry events including Wall Street Women’s Forum, Women Corporate Directors, Women’s Private Equity Summit, The Asian Women in Business, and the South Asian Bar Association Leadership Awards. Anu is frequently quoted in the financial press and interviewed on CNBC and Bloomberg TV.
The discussion was moderated by George Benaroya Global CFO and Faculty at NYU SPS.
Questions Ms. Aiyengar responded. Watch her responses on YouTube here. Each question is separately tagged.
What does the Global Head of M&As at the largest bank do? Kate Ruberti
How is M&A part of a company’s growth strategy? Mahek Shah
You managed transactions worth over $1 trillion. What best practices did you see from clients on how to value and execute M&As? Sometimes companies overvalue their targets. According to the WSJ, Goodwill write-down were over $140 Billion. How does that happen? What are some of the main drivers of why buyers overpay for M&As? In this class we learn processes for large global companies and startups. What are some tips on how to buy & sell companies? George Benaroya
JP Morgan benefited from SVB’s customers moving their deposits to JP Morgan. The market cap for small and medium size banks has declined by 50%. In situations like this, not just in banking but in general, is it better to buy smaller competitors at a much lower price or let them fail and capture their business after that? Phuong Anh Do
J.P. Morgan became number one in M&As in Canada in 2022, and I saw its expansion in Saudi Arabia, where I am from. What does it take to get become number one on international markets? Moneera Alateek
Imagine a Board that has two options: to acquire a startup with growth potential or a larger legacy company with problems at a discount. What kind of research should I do to help the Board decide? Xinwei Wang
How does activism affect the overall M&A market? The WSJ points out that “Disrupting deals is a preferred tactic for activists” on the one hand and that “investors may be disappointed by the lower returns” on the other hand. Shayma Kasraoui
Our team selected Pfizer, and we created a strategic plan for their growth. We learned from Mike Gladstone, Pfizer’s FRM Global President, how they acquired companies during market declines. With inflation and rate hike challenges, it seems like a “buyer’s market,” but we struggled to find good targets since many startups have negative cash flows, and predicting pharma industry growth is complex. Do you have any advice for evaluating such businesses? Ye Tao
How big does a transaction need to be for JP Morgan to be interested? NYU students founded companies from IBM to, more recently, startups such as Etsy, and JP Morgan was the exclusive financial advisor. For those building startups, what would it take for JP Morgan to become their M&A advisor? Juan Felipe Ducruet
Despite having access to mountains of data, many experienced executives tend to make business decisions based on intuition. As an M&A veteran, do you rely more on intuition or data analytics when faced with high-stakes decisions? Zhixin Li
What is the corporate culture of JPMorgan Chase in your division? What are some best practices for “merging” company cultures when acquiring a company? Zhirun Liu
We are witnessing an increasing focus on sustainability in the financial sector as the globe continues to struggle with the critical problem of climate change. What effects do you anticipate this development to have on the investment banking industry, and how is JP Morgan addressing the rising need for sustainable financial solutions? Mahek Shah
JP Morgan invests 12 billion dollars in tech every year on technologies. What are your plans for leveraging this investment to drive growth and create value for your clients? Do you think people’s jobs are at risk due to innovations? Harsh Kakadia
What do you think about the main factors that led to the substantial decline in global M&A activity in the first quarter of 2023, and how have you experienced it? Zen Koo
As the only female executive leading the M&A franchise at the biggest bank in the U.S., what tips do you have for those who want to be hired by JP Morgan or in the investment banking industry? Jing Shen
Finance for Marketing Decisions
This is part of the Finance for Marketing Decisions class taught by Benaroya. In this class, students learn about Finance by choosing a company and acting as if they were the company’s financial executives. Each week, they decide whether to increase prices, reduce headcount, go public, and expand into new markets. Senior executives join as Guest Speakers to share how they make business and career decisions.
About the series
These talks are offered as part of the Leading Global Growth series from NYU’s School of Professional Studies, and managed in coordination with NYU SPS Integrated Marketing & Communications, within the Division of Programs in Business.