The Consulting Report is pleased to announce The Top 25 Financial Services Consultants and Leaders of 2024. Financial services are integral to the functioning of modern economies, serving as the essential framework that supports businesses in achieving their growth objectives and financial health. Financial services consultants play a pivotal role in this ecosystem, serving as trusted advisors to banks, insurance companies, investment firms and other financial related entities. From navigating complex financial landscapes to securing essential funding and making prudent investment decisions, these leaders offer unique insight and strategic guidance to meet the diverse needs of their clients.
Among this year’s awardees, Michael Abbott, the Senior Managing Director and Global Banking Lead at Accenture, stands out as a visionary shaping the future of banking through digital transformation. Priya Bajoria, Senior Vice President of Financial Services at Publicis Sapient, is pioneering the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to revolutionize the banking experience for customers. Finally, Ken Joseph, Managing Director of Financial Services Compliance and Regulation at Kroll, is at the forefront of navigating complex regulatory landscapes, providing invaluable guidance to clients in the financial services industry.
Following a methodical nomination process and careful assessment of each candidate's career track record and industry contributions, we proudly present The Top 25 Financial Services Consultants and Leaders of 2024.
1. Michael Abbott
Firm: Accenture
Title: Senior Managing Director, Global Banking Lead
Michael is a Senior Managing Director and Global Banking Lead at Accenture. He is responsible for Accenture’s overall vision and strategy for banking, including investment priorities, client offering development, and ecosystem partnerships. With more than 25 years of experience in the banking industry, Michael is committed to helping banks develop and execute new strategies that identify and capitalize on the opportunities of industry disruption.
2. Sankar Krishnan
Firm: Capgemini
Title: Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Capital Markets
Sankar Krishnan is Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Capital Markets at Capgemini. He is also responsible for strategy and corporate development. Krishnan has held a variety of roles at Capgemini, including Global Account Executive for a leading Bulge Bracket and Head of Business Development for North America and the UK.
Prior to joining Capgemini, Krishnan was a career Corporate and Transaction Services Banker with Citigroup and Standard Chartered Bank, where he spent over two decades in a variety of roles across North America, the UK, Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. Capgemini's leadership in Digital Asset initiatives and Capital Markets capabilities including pre-trade, post-trade, T+1, T+0, reg reporting, advisory and consulting on new ROI models for transforming TradFI to Institutional DeFi and CBDC Wholesale and retail design with "interoperability" at the core make him a differentiator with their peers as evidenced by the industry and analyst awards powering executional initiatives with blockchain, cloud and data as enablers through ecosystem partnerships.
3. Simon Kent
Firm: Kearney
Title: Senior Partner and Global Lead, Financial Services
Simon Kent is a Senior Partner at Kearney where he is co-Chair of the Global Partner Selection Committee and Global Lead for Financial Services. He is based in London and has 30 years of experience working across the global financial services market. He is passionate about building successful teams and developing talent and is an active coach and sponsor who aims to make work enjoyable for all involved.
Kent works with clients across a range of strategic transformation topics including corporate strategy, growth, efficiency, ESG, and digital transformation. In addition, he has supported clients in launching a range of new fintech and challenger banks. He holds an honors bachelor’s degree in economics and politics from Newcastle University.
4. Ola Engebretsen
Firm: Kearney
Title: Partner
Ola Engebretsen has worked in financial services for nearly 25 years, helping clients use technology to transform and grow their business. He has a strong passion for serving clients across the world, inspiring them to take new ground and break away from the status quo. Engebretsen’s expertise includes driving large-scale transformation programs with large banks, insurance companies and payment providers, focusing on developing solutions that are new to the world to drive more disruptive change than just incremental improvements. He enjoys the process of working with executives and management teams to make change happen for each client, from idea to impact. Engebretsen is significantly influenced by working with retail, putting the customer at the center of the transformation, and working backwards from their needs.
Engebretsen initially joined Kearney as a consultant in 2000 and is now a senior leader in the firm. Lately, he has expanded Kearney’s work in experience lead transformation across front, middle, and back office. Engebretsen holds a master’s degree in economics and business from the Stockholm School of Economics.
5. Satish Avhad
Firm: Wipro
Title: Consulting Partner, Global Head of Wealth Management
With 18 years of experience in financial services, Satish Avhad stands as a towering figure in the realm of wealth management, exemplifying leadership and expertise that have propelled his wealth practice to global prominence and established him as top talent in the industry. His unparalleled knack for navigating the complex waters of global financial markets has allowed him to steer his team through challenges and opportunities alike, consistently delivering results that surpass expectations. Satish's visionary approach to wealth management has not only driven substantial growth for his firms but has also established new benchmarks for success worldwide.
Since May 2022, Satish has served as a Management Consulting Partner at Wipro Limited, the India-based multinational consulting giant. He leads the Wealth Management practice for Domain and Consulting globally, responsible for the WM practice vision and strategy. Satish is expanding the practice by collaborating with global wealth management firms, supporting them in their digital transformation journeys, major platform implementations, and data-driven initiatives, including AI and GenAI.
Before joining Wipro, Satish spent nine years with EY in their Wealth and Asset Management group. There, he led teams, managed strategic technology projects, and served as a subject matter expert across the front, middle, and back-office operations of leading global financial firms. His roles have included Program Management and Product Management, and he has successfully executed platform implementations, including Blackrock Aladdin, Charles River CRIMS, SEI SWP, and Trust 3000. Satish has also ideated and developed AI-based solutions leveraging predictive analytics, natural language processing, and machine learning models. He earned his MBA in finance, a bachelor's degree in computer science, and a bachelor's degree in law from Mumbai University.
6. Ken Joseph, Esq.
Firm: Kroll
Title: Managing Director, Financial Services Compliance and Regulation
Ken Joseph is a Managing Director and Head of the Financial Services Compliance and Regulation Practice for the Americas at Kroll, based in the New York office. From 2018 to 2020, he served as Global Leader of Kroll’s Disputes Consulting Practice. He is also a fellow of the Kroll Institute, providing thought leadership on a variety of financial services and regulatory matters, as well as head of the firm’s cryptocurrency task force.
Joseph focuses on serving clients who need informed and proven strategies to successfully navigate a broad spectrum of threats arising from investigations, compliance examinations, litigation and crisis scenarios. He has provided expert testimony and reports on various regulatory compliance and enforcement matters, counseled on multiple high-profile investigations, advised SEC-registered entities on ESG policies and practices, conducted due diligence in the context of M&A transactions, and guided innovators on various digital currency structures and proposed offerings.
He has a unique combination of front-line expertise and experience in US securities law, regulatory compliance, and corporate governance, and has served with distinction for a total of over 21 years in the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
7. Sujata Banerjee
Firm: Infosys
Title: Partner
Sujata is part of the leadership team in the financial services practice at Infosys Consulting with extensive experience in banking and consulting in the areas of regulatory compliance, consumer and corporate banking, and capital markets. She leads the digital risk advisory practice with a focus on Financial Crime transformation.
She serves as a senior client advisor, nurturing client relationships and leading delivery of large business transformation programs, leveraging smart automation, AI and digitization to drive superior experience and operational efficiency. As a compliance digital advisory leader, she builds innovative solution offerings and go to market strategy, provides subject matter expertise and showcases Infosys thought leadership. She manages and mentors teams of consultants across the practice and engagements. She also plays an active role in the Infosys Global Consulting Diversity Council leadership. Sujata earned an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering from Punjab Engineering College, and an MBA in finance from the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.
8. John Behringer
Firm: RSM US
Title: Partner, Financial Institutions Sector Leader
John Behringer is a seasoned financial services executive with a successful track record in numerous enterprise leadership roles. John is a trusted advisor to the C-suite and boards of multiple financial institutions, publicly and privately held, on a range of topics including regulatory matters, digital transformation, acquisitions, fintech partnerships, digital assets, IPOs and growth strategies. Clients value the practical insights John brings from his 25 years of experience, focused on serving the financial services industry across audit, tax and consulting roles with large global and national public accounting and consulting firms. He currently serves as the Financial Institutions Sector Leader for North America alongside his role as the Risk Consulting Financial Services Industry Leader for RSM in North America.
In his Financial Institutions leadership role, he is responsible for driving collaboration across all lines of business to ensure growth and profitability targets are met while serving on the Financial Services combined leadership team, responsible for the overall success of the Financial Services industry practice. Behringer is responsible for all aspects of the Risk Consulting Financial Services practice, leading a multi-disciplinary group of over 300 professionals delivering first, second and third line of defense consulting services to the financial institutions, capital markets, insurance, specialty finance and asset management sectors. Behringe earned an MBA from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an undergraduate degree in accountancy from Northern Illinois University.
9. Colleen Corwell
Firm: Kroll
Title: Managing Director
Colleen Corwell is a Managing Director in Kroll’s Financial Services Compliance and Regulation practice, based in New York. Corwell leverages more than 20 years of experience in assisting industry firms navigate complex regulations by serving as in-house and outsourced Chief Compliance Officer for more than 20 firms, including registered investment advisors, investment companies and broker-dealers.
Prior to joining Kroll, Corwell worked as a Consultant at ACA, where she advised both small and large firms, including Fortune 500 companies on complex regulations. Before that, she held the title of Managing Director at Foreside Financial. Corwell has also held senior-level positions at Alaric Compliance, Ameriprise, Capital One and ING, and she was on the advisory board for BasisCode. Corwell has also been the lead on numerous SEC and FINRA examinations and has a deep knowledge of a wide range of investment products, including private equity, private credit and real estate funds, registered investment companies, business development companies, private placements and retail asset management products.
Corwell holds a bachelor’s degree from The College of William and Mary and an MBA from Touro University. Corwell has also completed the Corporate Governance Program at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 55, 63, 79 and 99 registrations and the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist certification.
10. Nageswar Cherukupalli
Firm: Cognizant
Title: Senior Vice President
Nageswar Cherukupalli has more than 28 years of experience across multiple leadership roles and manages relationships with marquee financial services clients. Cherukupalli is currently a Senior Vice President at Cognizant. He is responsible for strategic initiatives that includes engaging with startup ecosystem and driving growth for financial services segment.
Previously, He was part of the global financial services executive leadership team at Infosys, with expertise spanning across various business competencies, including sales, strategy, consulting, marketing, and general management.
Cherukupalli has partnered with prominent financial services organizations to drive large-scale transformations and innovation at the intersection of business and technology. He is consistently focused on bringing unique cutting-edge solutions through collaborating across his network, including a wide ecosystem of analysts, advisors, experts, startups (fintech), and established industry players.
Cherukupalli is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and holds a Bachelors of Technology in electronics and communication. He has keen interest in content, culture, creativity and collaboration, in addition to being a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. He has written many blogs and spoken at multiple financial services, product and technology events.
11. Mike Lee
Firm: EY
Title: Global Wealth and Asset Management Leader
Mike Lee has been a major figure in EY’s clients operation in the wealth and asset management spheres. Boasting a 30-year track record of leadership excellence, Lee specializes in directing agile teams that help financial services clients adapt to new and changing circumstances.
His work with EY frequently takes him around the world, which enables him to build a diverse perspective leading to the development and launch of groundbreaking new strategies. Lee is widely known as a thought leader on the key issues facing the wealth and asset management industry.
12. Priya Bajoria
Firm: Publicis Sapient
Title: Senior Vice President, Financial Services
Priya Bajoria leads the Financial Services business for the US East Coast and Canada at Publicis Sapient, a premier consulting firm. She partners with banks and wealth management clients to help drive transformation by leveraging digital technologies to better serve their end-customers and ensure future success. Bajoria leads cross-functional teams across strategy consulting, product, design, engineering and data capabilities to win and deliver solutions.
These teams have helped their clients adopt cloud computing and artificial intelligence to derive meaningful insights from data, modernize legacy systems and create a personalized experience for consumers thereby generating enhanced business value. Bajoria serves on the FS unit's executive leadership team and the PS Growth Team, focusing on empowering its global employee base to drive growth.
Prior to joining PS, Bajoria was at Infosys for two decades, leading the growth of the Capital Markets Practice and building out the FS Solutions Consulting Practice. Bajoria started her career as an investment banker with Merrill Lynch in Asia and brings a unique perspective the Financial Services and the IT and Consulting industries. Bajoria holds MBA and computer science degrees from leading universities in India and has completed global leadership and entrepreneurship programs at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
13. Richard Winston
Firm: Slalom
Title: Global Financial Services Lead
Richard Winston is a Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Services at Slalom, overseeing strategic direction and driving innovative growth, partnerships, and community across all segments. With over three decades of experience, he's been at the forefront of integrating technology and ingenuity to redefine possibilities in the sector. Winston’s commitment to excellence and innovation has positioned him as a thought leader in the industry, championing strategies that not only drive operational efficiency and competitive edge but also foster significant growth. His expertise spans strategic innovation, digital transformation, regulatory compliance, and customer experience enhancement, making him a pivotal figure in crafting business and operating models that are both resilient and forward-thinking.
Before his current role, Winston began his career in Financial Services at Accenture where he gained invaluable insights into the power of technology in transforming traditional financial services. In addition to Accenture and Slalom, Winston also worked with Finxact, a next-gen core banking provider and AWS in a Financial Services global industry role. Winston holds a bachelor’s degree in information processing from the University of Texas.
14. Jeremy Swan
Firm: CohnReznick LLP
Title: Managing Principal, Financial Services and Financial Sponsors Industry
Jeremy Swan is the Managing Principal of CohnReznick’s Financial Sponsors and Financial Services Industry Practice and a co-leader of the firm’s Private Equity Services practice. With over 25 years of experience advising alternative investment managers and both emerging and large multinational portfolio companies, Jeremy works with clients as both an investment banker and a consultant. He has expertise in alternative investment fund operations, mergers and acquisitions, IPO readiness, financing transactions, post-acquisition integration, and due diligence.
Jeremy serves as the lead and relationship partner for many of CohnReznick’s largest alternative asset manager clients, managing teams across service lines and geographies. Prior to joining CohnReznick, Jeremy was a director of a global business consulting firm and a leader in the firm’s private equity, due diligence, and IPO readiness practices. Before entering consulting, Jeremy spent over a decade as an investment banker focused on financial sponsor transactions, executing over $90 billion of debt, equity, and M&A transactions. Jeremy graduated with an honors degree in economics from Hamilton College and completed the General Course program at the London School of Economics.
15. Mark Houston
Firm: BDO USA
Title: Managing Director
Mark Houston has more than 25 years of corporate finance advisory experience and serves as the national leader for BDO’s Financial Institutions and Specialty Finance practice. Mark’s experience includes capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, turnaround, and restructuring experience as well as operational and performance improvement. He has advised financial institutions, private debt funds, private equity funds and companies across a diverse range of industries both domestically and internationally.
16. Bob Cummings
Firm: Grant Thornton LLP
Title: Managing Director, Financial Management
Bob Cummings is a Managing Director in Grant Thornton’s Financial Management Practice providing services to global property and casualty as well as life and health insurance industry clients. Cummings has over 20 years of experience focused on business process management and performance optimization, finance transformation, enterprise risk management, and internal control remediation within the insurance industry.
17. Grace Klopcic
Firm: McKinsey and Company
Title: Partner
Grace Klopcic is Co-Leader of McKinsey’s payments modernization group. In this capacity, she helps executives keep pace with changes in technology and customer behavior. Since joining McKinsey in 2007, Klopcic helps financial services and e-commerce companies explore new opportunities and achieve stronger revenue growth and operating efficiencies. Her work includes setting digital payments strategy, improving digital marketing, pursuing innovation, and investing in strategic partnerships.
18. Albertha Charles
Firm: PwC UK
Title: Partner
Albertha Charles is the Asset and Wealth Management Leader at PwC UK. Charles is a Deals partner with over 20 years of experience in Financial Services, specializing in AWM and Insurance. She has held multiple leadership roles in the firm, including leading the firm’s UK Financial Services Valuations since 2019. Charles advises clients on the value of their businesses and the implications of potential strategic options as well as opportunities for value creation and growth.
19. Mikaela Boyd
Firm: Bain and Company
Title: Partner
Mikaela Boyd serves as the Americas Leader for Bain and Company’s Financial Services practice and the Global Leader of the firm’s Innovation and Business Building efforts. With a focus on payments, banking, and retirement within the financial services sector, Mikaela has spearheaded engagements covering corporate strategy, growth strategy, performance enhancement, cost reduction, operational model redesign, organizational restructuring, and large-scale transformation initiatives.
20. Peter Rothwell
Firm: KPMG UK
Title: Partner and Head of Banking
Peter Rothwell is the Banking Sector Lead for KPMG UK. During his 15 years with KPMG, he has advised banks on treasury, risk and regulatory matters and performed critical reviews of front to back operating models for risk management and middle office in trading businesses, identifying weaknesses and potential vulnerabilities and recommending actions for remediation. He also regularly advises clients on governance arrangements, including those between Group and Division or Legal Entity level.
21. Michael Pisano
Firm: Protiviti
Title: Managing Director
Michael Pisano is a Managing Director in Protiviti’s National Financial Services practice and Protiviti’s Insurance Industry Internal Audit leader. Pisano focuses on insurance and has almost 20 years of audit, management consulting, and project experience.
22. Samuel Golden
Firm: Alvarez and Marsal
Title: Managing Director
Samuel Golden is a Managing Director and Senior Advisor of Alvarez and Marsal Financial Industry Advisory Services in Houston. He is the founder of A&M’s Financial Industry practice and served as CEO and Co-CEO prior to transitioning to his current position in 2017.
23. Beth Costa
Firm: Oliver Wyman
Title: Partner
Beth Costa is a payments industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience as a payments consultant and industry practitioner. Costa is a partner in the firm’s Payments practice and Retail Banking practice in the Americas. She specializes in payment products, with an emphasis on payment networks and solutions, online banking, e-commerce, mobile payments, loyalty and rewards, ACH, and EBPP.
24. Florian Forst
Firm: Arthur D. Little
Title: Partner, Head of Financial Services
Based in Munich, Florian Forst is a Partner at Arthur D. Little. He is a member of the global Financial Services Core Management Team and Head of Financial Services Central Europe. He has over 20 years of experience advising Financial Services senior executives and decision-makers in strategic changes.
25. Jason Hill
Firm: PA Consulting
Title: Partner
Jason Hill is a Partner and Head of Banking and Asset Management at PA Consulting. Hill leads disruptive change and innovation initiatives, with a focus on retail and commercial banking strategies, new proposition, growth strategy and transformation assignments, and helping new banking entrants. He also leads PA's work across sustainable finance in banking.
