Heidi Miller is arguably the highest-profile woman in banking,
so when she speaks, people take notice.
Take her keynote address at this year’s NACHA Payments
conference, where the chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase
& Co. Treasury and Securities Services outlined “dangers”—not
just challenges or roadblocks—facing the automated clearing
house network. Miller used her pulpit to protest the high-risk,
high-dollar transactions going through the network, and to urge
limits on the much-anticipated same-day ACH capabilities coming into play next year. The talk “didn’t pull any punches” on burgeoning problems, wrote Glenbrook Partners consultant Erin
McCune in a company blog posting.
“She did challenge the audience,” concurs NACHA president and
CEO Janet Estep. But Miller also “encouraged innovation in a number
of ways—technology, but also innovation in pricing, [and] in how we
deal with risk.”
Miller’s major speech got attention, and not just because JPMorgan
Chase, as the largest-volume ACH originator, has a big stake in the matter. She’s also in the inner circle of JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO
Jamie Dimon, and the captain of the division Dimon credits as one of the
key earnings drivers—the “Warren Buffett businesses”—at what is regarded as the healthiest of the nation’s big banks. Miller’s division, which
provides complex transactional, custodial-asset and information services
for corporate and government clients, has been a rock-steady performer
for most of this decade, and now generates $9 billion a year in revenue.
The sheen wore off a bit this year, as the TSS division dealt with the
challenges of a domestic slowdown in core areas like securities lending
and foreign exchange, according to Miller. TSS’ second-quarter revenues
declined 6 percent year-over-year, to $1.9 billion. However, her department’s influence in the organization has been bolstered by continued
overseas expansion. Hotspots included Asia, the Middle East and Europe,
where TSS acquired the holdings of a Swedish global custodial firm,
Nordea, and its $290 billion of assets under management.
“The world is a much more diversified place,” Miller says, “and I think
last year has shown that while some regions continue to deal with recession, other regions are starting to come out of it earlier.” Growth rates in Asia
are twice that of the U.S., she says.
The worldwide securities
arm of TSS, which handles
leading global hedge funds,
mutual funds and pension
funds, now has $13.7 trillion
in assets under management.
That global expansion also included a boost in international
clearing and settlement via new
1HEIDI MILLER
CEO
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. TREASURY AND SECURITIES SERVICES
multi-currency capabilities inherited through JPMorgan Chase’s takeover
of failing Bear Stearns last year.
There’s still new stateside work taking shape. In January, her division’s worldwide securities arm was chosen as the custodian in the Federal Reserve’s plan to purchase $500 billion of mortgage securities backed
by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. The bank also merged
its brokerage business into TSS in September to form a new combined
prime brokerage and custody solutions group for both hedge funds and
asset managers seeking a custodial safety
net for capital. Miller’s group had previously formed a joint venture with
the investment side of JPMorgan
Chase to partner on derivatives offerings. “There are traditional
prime brokerage accounts, hedge
funds and the like, who were very
happy to be dealing with a large
player like JPMorgan,” says Miller.
Even outside of the world of
high finance, Miller carries a high
profile. She’s a board director at General Mills, and serves as a trustee at her
alma mater, Princeton—a position
that has her crossing paths with
such fellow trustees as
columnist George
Will, Google CEO
Eric Schmidt and
new Supreme
Court Justice
Sonia So-tomayor.—
Glen Fest
Age:
56
Favorite pastimes:
Gardening and yoga
Children:
Two (ages 19 & 24)
Last book read:
In Fed We Trust
Last movie seen:
“District 9”
Charity most active in:
Conservation International
One thing on “bucket” list:
Travel to Antarctica
Top non-business concern:
Health care
