Ms. French has held a variety of executive roles during her 35 years in financial services. Most recently she served as CEO of Life & Retirement/Asset Management at AIG – prior to its sale to Touchstone Investments. Before joining AIG, she was Executive Vice President, Head of Beta Solutions for OppenheimerFunds where she launched the firm’s smart beta ETF products and solutions. She also oversaw the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts and served on the firm’s Executive Committee.
Previously, she served as President of F-Squared Capital, as Senior Strategic Advisor to the CEO and President of Investment Management at BNY Mellon and Head of Private Client & Institutions at BlackRock. She spent nearly a decade at AllianceBernstein and held prior roles at mPower, Smith Barney and Chase Manhattan Bank.
Ms. French was named “Most Notable Women in Finance” by Crain’s New York in 2019. She is currently an independent Board Member for Newton Investment Mgmt. and DHB Capital. She is also a Board Member of Women in ETFs (WE, Inc.) and serves on the Board of Wake Forest University School of Business. She has also recently served as a member of the Investment Company Institute’s ETF Governance Committee and as Co-Chair of the ETF and Managed Solutions Committee for the Money Management Institute.
Ms. French received a B.S. in business management from the University of Delaware and earned her Certified Investment Management Analyst designation from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.