CEO and President Jenny Johnson and Sonal Desai, Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group, are among the 100 US women in finance celebrated by weekly business newspaper Barron’s.
These two women, and many more, grace Barron’s fifth annual list of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance, which honors established and emerging leaders in financial services, the corporate world, nonprofit organizations and government. Included are senior leaders at the nation’s biggest banks, brokerages and asset managers; finance executives steering some of the largest technology companies; economists and public servants; and investors managing billions of dollars at a critical time for the economy and the financial markets.
Here are the profiles of the two Franklin Templeton leaders included in the list.
Jenny Johnson
President, Chief Executive Officer
Since Jennifer Johnson became CEO of Franklin Resources, better known as Franklin Templeton, she has been “filling out product gaps” and “building out distribution capabilities” through acquisitions, she says.
Over the past four years, Franklin has made 10 notable acquisitions, including Boston-based Putnam Investments, a deal that closed in January 2024. Putnam had $148 billion in assets under management and led Barron’s rankings of the Best Fund Families of 2023. Those 10 deals account for more than $1 trillion of Franklin’s $1.6 trillion in assets under management.
I couldn’t be more excited about closing on Putnam,” Johnson says. “They’ve had great performance, and it doubled our assets in the retirement channel, which we think is a huge growth opportunity for us.”
Johnson, 59, joined Franklin in 1988, succeeding her brother, Gregory E. Johnson, as CEO in 2020. The firm was founded by her grandfather, Rupert H. Johnson Sr., in 1947.
Sonal Desai, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Chief Investment Officer
Investors should get accustomed to bonds playing their traditional role of delivering income, says Sonal Desai, chief investment officer for fixed income at Franklin Templeton.
They’re not necessarily going to deliver massive capital gains anytime soon. September is likely the earliest the Fed will lower rates"
Desai, who took on her current role in 2018, oversees more than $200 billion. The past year has been a roller-coaster ride, she says, but her team’s focus on fundamentals is being vindicated.
Matthew Nicholls, executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Franklin Templeton, says,
We are fortunate to have such an accomplished, innovative and dedicated leader guiding our world-class Franklin Templeton fixed income team.”
Desai is a member of Franklin Resources’ executive committee, serves on the firm’s management and investment committees and is a member of Women at FT, which works to support Franklin Templeton’s female employees. She is also a member of the Barron’s Roundtable.