State Street Nearing CEO Transition, as Hooley Retires

Ron O’Hanley, president and COO, will take the reins on Jan. 1 for the asset manager.

Fearless Girl now faces the New York Stock Exchange. (Photo: State Street Global Advisors)

State Street CEO Jay Hooley will retire in two weeks, after 30-plus years with the asset manager and eight years as its leader.

The CEO slot will be filled on Jan. 1 by Ron O’Hanley, who became State Street’s president and COO a year ago, when news of the succession plans were first announced.  He was tapped as State Street’s vice chairman in early 2017.

“Our most significant differentiator at State Street will always be our people, and my greatest source of pride over the past eight years has been to lead this talented 36,000-strong team,” said Hooley, in a statement last year. “I am very confident that Ron has the right qualities, expertise and vision to lead the next phase of State Street’s growth.”

State Street had nearly $34 trillion in assets under custody and administration and roughly $3 trillion of assets under management as of Sept. 30, including $28 billion of assets in SPDR products sold by State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors.

Before joining State Street in 2015, O’Hanley was president of Asset Management & Corporate Services for Fidelity Investments. Earlier, he spent 13 years in leadership positions at Mellon Bank and Bank of New York Mellon, including the role of CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Management.

O’Hanley’s roles as president and CEO of State Street Global Advisors were taken on by Cyrus Taraporevala a year ago.

Other Leadership News

Earlier this week, State Street appointed Donna M. Milrod to lead a newly formed Global Clients Division, which will focus on cross-enterprise solutions for the company’s global and most complex clients.

She will report to Andrew Erickson, head of State Street’s Global Services business, and join State Street’s Management Committee, the company’s most senior strategy and policy-making team.

Milrod has 25 years of experience in financial services. She most recently was a senior advisor to both Broadridge and McKinsey & Company.

“The industry is going through enormous change. I am excited to be joining State Street, who is uniquely positioned to help clients navigate through this change. I look forward to working together with our clients to enhance our relationships,” Milrod said in a statement.

In September, State Street said it had voted against more than 500 chairs of nominating committees on boards without women in each of the last two proxy seasons; in 2020 in the U.S., U.K. and Australia and 2021 in Japan and Canada, the bank plans to vote against all members of a company’s nominating committee.

Of 1,228 companies worldwide identified that lack a female board member, 301 have brought on woman and 28 have committed to do so, the bank said.

State Street moved to boost diversity in 2017 and unveiled the Fearless Girl statue on Wall Street.