Give to Gain
In less than a week, the AI scare trade has given way to the war trade. Turmoil in the Middle East has pushed oil prices sharply higher, and equity markets reacted with the subtlety of a dropped piano followed almost as quickly, by the nonchalance of a sigh and a shrug. This morning, the Dow shed roughly 800 points as the familiar sea of red washed across trading screens determined to beat the bulls backs. Investor for their part are, are scrambling for safety but the dollar, bonds and gold, traditional safe havens look anything but safe.
It’s a classic market reaction. Oil rises, inflation expectations stir, central banks reconsider their patience, and investors suddenly remember that geopolitics still has veto power over even the most sophisticated financial models. But while traders are busy recalibrating, another story is unfolding, one that has far less to do with slicks and spikes.
It’s Women’s History Month, which arrives each March with varying degrees of corporate recognition and enthusiasm. And it raises a question the financial industry still hasn’t fully answered: Where are all the women in finance?
MBA gender parity in business schools has advanced meaningfully over the past decade – women now account for over 40% of full-time MBA enrollment at leading institutions. However, progress remains uneven across regions and schools, and true parity has yet to be fully achieved.
It’s a question that appears deceptively simple. If one scans the latest leadership rankings at trade publications like in American Banker (AB), women are clearly present at top levels of management. In fact, some of the most influential figures guiding modern finance through its technological transformation happen to be women.
At the top of the AB list for the third consecutive year (2025) sits Mary Callahan Erdoes, the formidable CEO of asset and wealth management at JPMorgan Chase. Erdoes oversees one of the most powerful investment platforms in the world and is currently driving a sweeping initiative to embed artificial intelligence into how tens of thousands of employees operate. That is not a minor project.
In second place is Yie-Hsin Hung, president and CEO of State Street Investment Management. She is steering one of the largest asset managers globally through a period where private markets, exchange-traded funds, and digital infrastructure are rapidly converging. Third place goes to Abigail “Abby” Johnson at Fidelity who had the foresight nearly a decade ago to recognize that digital assets were not merely a speculative sideshow but a structural shift.
In other words, the women who are in finance are not merely participating, they are steering the ship. And yet the broader picture remains oddly imbalanced.
A quick review of the finance leaderboard on Substack, the modern salon for financial commentary, reveals how far behind women voices still are. Among the top 100 bestselling finance publications, only a handful are written by women. In the rising category, the number improves slightly but the overwhelming majority of voices shaping the public conversation about markets are still male.
The imbalance becomes even more curious when one considers the economic reality unfolding beneath it. Over the next two decades the US will experience what economists have begun calling the “Great Wealth Transfer.” Somewhere between $84 trillion and $124 trillion in assets will move from Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation to younger generations. A significant share of that capital will be controlled by women.
By some estimates, women could oversee nearly $30 trillion in assets by 2030. That shift alone has reshaped wealth management, financial advice, and the broader architecture of financial services. Firms such as Ellevest, Clever Girl Finance, HerMoney, and The Budgetnista have created financial education platforms and advisory models designed specifically for female investors, an audience that traditional Wall Street until recently, ignored.
This is not an exercise in feminist activism. It is simply market logic. Women have a sharp instinct for identifying structural gaps and building solutions around them, saw massive opportunity. That kind of instinct is what defines an entrepreneur, which may explain why globally women-owned businesses are surging.
Women’s History Month exists partly to remind all of us how often innovation happens quietly before recognition catches up. Markets, too, often operate this way.
The most important shifts rarely arrive with a bell ringing. They begin slowly, almost invisibly, before suddenly the breakout is impossible to ignore.
The 2026 International Women's Day (March 8) theme is #GiveToGain, focusing on generosity, collaboration, and investing in women to accelerate gender equality. The United Nations 2026 theme is "Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls," aiming to dismantle structural barriers and ensure legal rights.
The advancement of women and girls is everyone’s responsibility. Do your part.
