Francesca McDonagh

Chief Executive Officer at Universal Investment

Panellist

Francesca McDonagh is the Group CEO of Universal Investment, a leading European fund services organisation headquartered in Germany. She is responsible for the strategic management of the Group, with a focus on transforming Universal Investment into a global leader in fund administration, Manco and AIFM services.

Francesca has held several high-profile positions in the financial services sector. Between 2017 and 2022, she was the CEO of Bank of Ireland Group, the largest commercial bank in Ireland, the first woman to lead an Irish bank. She successfully returned the bank to private ownership.

In September 2022, she joined Credit Suisse as the Group Chief Operating Officer and member of the bank’s Executive Board, playing a key role in overseeing Credit Suisse’s merger with UBS.

Francesca started her career at HSBC where she worked for 20 years with roles in investment banking, retail banking, and wealth management in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Her last role at HSBC was as Group General Manager, responsible for Retail and Wealth Management for the UK and Europe.

Francesca holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford University. She was selected to be a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. In 2017, she was recognized in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list with an OBE for services to banking.