Anne Richards

Now in her fifth year as head of Fidelity International, Richards oversees $745 billion in assets (as of June 30). The veteran financial executive has recently seen her industry plunged into all sorts of instability: global inflation and rising interest rates; this spring’s banking industry upheaval; and what Richards has called a “structural shift” away from traditional exchanges and toward more private ownership of companies and other assets, including digital currencies. Fidelity has responded by expanding its range of investment vehicles, with an initial focus on real estate and private credit. Richards, who was honored with a damehood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2021, has also occasionally provided public advice to her fellow chief executives: “The fragility of the post-pandemic economy, combined with the fractured nature of global politics, makes business models more susceptible to further unexpected shocks,” she wrote in an August Financial Times op-ed. “These conditions, when mixed into an environment of price instability, increase the risks of a corporate misstep and deepen its potential impact.”