Kristen Ann Walters

Kristen Walters is a recognized Chief Risk Officer (CRO), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and risk leader in the financial services sector across both buy-side firms (asset managers, hedge funds and asset owners) and large trading and commercial banks with breadth and depth in public and private markets. She has held leadership positions at the world’s largest asset manager (BlackRock), the world’s 2nd largest investment bank (Goldman Sachs), a top 10 global pension fund and a large, global bank-owned asset manager. Kristen’s deep risk expertise spans investment and enterprise risk management, technology, regulatory compliance and policy, investment strategy and operational platforms.

Kristen is known for her ability to develop “de novo” risk functions, to include building high-performing teams, systems, analytics, reporting and governance. She is a “hands-on” leader who integrates risk management into investment and trading strategy which allows risk to be used as a lever for growth. She also excels at providing balanced, constructive challenge to senior investors to help ensure alignment of risk and return objectives. She has effectively managed risk across multiple business cycles and financial crises and remediated high-profile risk issues on behalf of management and boards of directors. She has worked closely with industry leaders and global regulators on systemic, market, credit, liquidity, derivatives, operational, central clearing, ETF and sustainability risks and positively contributed to regulatory policies. Kristen is a thought leader in risk with numerous published papers and speaking engagements.

Kristen has engaged directly with boards over the last 12 years, including her work as CRO with the boards of Canada Pension Plan Investments and Natixis Investment Managers - two large, global investment firms. In both roles, she augmented risk governance and provided frequent analysis of top risks to the risk committee and full boards. In addition, Kristen spent 8 years as COO of BlackRock’s global risk function where she provided updates on key risks for the board risk committee and US mutual fund boards. For six years, she advised the Commodities Futures Trading Commission on risk issues affecting regulated exchanges and securities markets as a BlackRock-nominated member of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee.

Kristen has 35 years of experience in risk management across market, credit, liquidity, operational, technology, regulatory, model and third-party risk. Most recently, she was the first stand-alone CRO of Canadian Pension Plan Investments, the world’s 6th largest pension fund ($650B AUM), where she enhanced risk limits, controls, transparency and board reporting. Prior to CPP Investments, Kristen was the first stand-alone CRO of Natixis Investment Managers (NIM), with $1.4 trillion in AUM and ~25 asset management subsidiaries. At NIM, she introduced investment risk oversight, building a supporting team “de novo” during COVID. She provided critical reporting on risk and performance to senior management and the boards of both the asset manager and bank parent. Kristen also worked closely with US, European and UK regulators to remediate critical risk issues.

Prior roles included 11 years at BlackRock working directly for the CRO and founding partner to evolve BlackRock’s investment and enterprise risk frameworks, functions, systems, analytics and reporting. Kristen also worked for Goldman Sachs leading “firm-wide” market risk and provided daily analysis across the trading platform to senior management during the 2008 financial crisis. Earlier in her career she held risk roles at PIMCO, Barclays Capital and KPMG. She started her career in Supervision and Regulation at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston during the 1990s banking crisis.

Ms. Walters is a senior advisor and longstanding member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and the GARP Buy-Side CRO Forum, including work with large asset managers and US regulators on market, liquidity, systemic risk, ETF, sustainability, operational and central clearing risk initiatives. Her published papers on risk management and regulatory policy are available here.