Sue Thompson of Women in ETFs - The Keys to Leadership and Much More

Feb 11, 2025

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Today, Rusty and Robyn are joined by Sue Thompson, co-founder of Women in ETFs. Sue Thompson is a strategic, dynamic Financial Services Executive who has distinguished herself by commercializing new trends in the financial services industry. Her expertise spans investment management distribution, strategy, competitive landscape, finance, marketing, digital innovation and technology. Sue's experience at the top 3 ETF issuers gave her a unique perspective to push the envelope in strategy and distribution, ensuring that the firms where she worked were at the forefront of the industry. The organizations benefited from her ability to discern and capitalize on market trends, fostering innovation and driving growth in a competitive landscape. With a focus on collaborative success, she empowered her teams to deliver exceptional results.

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) recruited Sue as Head of Americas Distribution in 2018 to staunch ETF market share losses. Her strategy was to overhaul distribution, focus on lower cost solutions, and deepen client loyalty and advocacy. She defined a clear vision, restructured the distribution teams, leveraged data and established a Client Advisory Council. During her tenure, assets more than doubled, increasing from $500B to over $1 trillion AUM and employee satisfaction also doubled during that time. Prior to her role at SSGA, Sue was a Managing Director at Blackrock, where she led the RIA and Asset Manager teams. She led the firm’s investment in the RIA business and helped the Aladdin business in developing technology solutions for RIAs. During her tenure, the iShares business grew from $350B AUM to over $1 trillion. Sue co-founded Women in ETFs and is currently a board member emeritus. She has also served on the Board of Governors of the Money Management Institute as well as on the Franklin Templeton ETF board. She's been named as one of the most influential women in U.S. Finance by Barron's magazine since the inception of the list in 2020 through 2023.

Key Takeaways

[03:38] - Sue’s professional background, career highlights and what she’s up to now
[06:23] - What were some of the most pivotal moments in Sue’s career and how did they shape the leader she is today?
[07:32] - How has Sue’s collaborative approach to leadership evolved over the years?
[09:57] - What frameworks or approaches does Sue use when she’s faced with very difficult decisions as a leader?
[12:47] - How has the ETF industry evolved since Sue started and what does she see as some of the most significant milestones in its history?
[15:56] - What does Sue think are some of the most exciting trends in the ETF space and how does she think financial advisors should position themselves to take advantage of these?
[18:13] - What misconceptions or barriers still need to be addressed in the ETF space?
[19:42] - What did Sue discover as she searched for a financial advisor and what does her selection process look like?
[25:27] - Outside of the traits she has already mentioned, what values does she think are very important and not important for financial advisors?
[27:43] - How would Sue describe her investment philosophy and how has this philosophy changed over the years? Also, does Sue believe that a shared philosophy is one of the key factors for selecting the right financial advisor?
[34:28] - What advice would Sue give to women aspiring to leadership roles in financial services?
[37:22] - How can firms encourage more women financial advisors to join and thrive in this field?
[39:08] - What impact does Sue hope to have both on the financial industry as a whole and the individuals she has worked with?
[40:50] - What is currently Sue’s favorite investment idea?

Quotes

[08:01] - “What you find, when you start to work with people, is there are very few people you work with that aren’t trying to do their best. Most people come to work and they try to do their best everyday. So, when they fail, it’s not because they’re necessarily…bad at something…it’s because they have one particular strength that they lean on and they overplay that. ” ~ Sue Thompson

[19:58] - “I think that we are so used to, in a post-covid world, things like Zoom calls and video conferencing, that I don’t necessarily think that you need to be co-located with your advisor any longer…So I think that advisors who have got it in their head ‘oh well, my world is Cleveland,’ and they don’t want to think beyond that, I think they do themselves a disservice…[for many people] it’s more important to find the right advisor.” ~ Sue Thompson

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