Kate Magaram

Strategy & Transformation · Financial Services

KateMagaram

I build the strategy. Then I build the engine that delivers it.

Most people do one or the other. Fifteen years across wealth management, fintech, and regulated financial services — moving from conviction to execution and seeing it through.

Kate Magaram

Connecticut · New York

01

The work I do

I develop business strategy, build conviction with senior leadership, and then stand up the execution engine from zero — creating the governance, workstreams, decision paths, and risk controls that deliver complex programs across technology, operations, compliance, and front-line distribution.

What sets this apart

I came up through corporate law (Yale, Debevoise) and management consulting (Marakon), then spent a decade leading growth and transformation inside financial institutions. I understand regulatory constraints the way operators do — not as obstacles, but as design inputs.

Where I operate

Wealth management. Digital investing. Retail financial services. Regulated distribution. B2B2C models. New business incubation inside large institutions. Programs that don’t fit neatly into an existing org chart.

How I work

I structure ambiguity. I develop differentiated strategy and then run the workstream that delivers it — and I know which one matters more at any given moment. I build bridges between legal, compliance, technology, and distribution teams who don’t always speak the same language, and then drive the decisions that actually move things forward.

02

Where I’ve done it

2020 — Present
Prudential
Financial

VP, Head of Strategy — Prudential Advisors & Global Advice

Senior leadership team. 3,000 financial advisors. Retail wealth management — goals-based investing, retirement income, and insurance delivered nationwide.

Built the strategy for a full operating model transformation through LPL Financial, then ran it as Program Manager — 30+ workstreams, securing enterprise, Risk Committee, and Board alignment for a redesign that reshaped how the business serves advisors and clients.
Launched Prudential’s first end-to-end Spanish-language client experience in 7 months without incremental resources — national advertising through digital journey to advisor connection.
2018 — 2020
Citizens Bank
Wealth Mgmt.

VP of Growth & Digital Investing Product Owner

Product owner of SpeciFi digital advisor — P&L, roadmap, and day-to-day performance. Managed the SigFig vendor relationship across product, growth strategy, and B2B2C contract governance.

Co-developed SpeciFi Save & Grow — a single account combining high-yield cash and personalized portfolios, recognized by Aite Group as Digital Initiative of the Year (Digital Wealth).
Designed a referral-enabled distribution model allowing retail bankers to refer clients to digital investing, expanding cross-sell reach within licensing constraints.
2017 — 2018
Independent
Consulting

Founder — Wealth Management & Retail Financial Services

Boutique consultancy focused on growth strategy and market entry for asset managers and RIA channels.

Engaged by the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar RIA to assess expansion into the mass affluent market — led market, brand, and financial analysis, delivered recommendation and business case, built the full implementation plan.
2014 — 2017
TIAA

Director — Enterprise Customer Experience & Direct-to-Consumer Strategy

Two successive director roles: building a new consumer business unit from scratch, then leading enterprise readiness for a major regulatory change.

First hire on the team launching TIAA’s direct-to-consumer strategy — co-developed the retail value proposition, operating model, and digital prototype for an omni-channel engagement portal, and introduced lean testing and agile design practices that didn’t exist in the organization before.
Led the enterprise Readiness program for the DOL Fiduciary Rule, ensuring 12,000+ employees were prepared to comply while protecting the customer experience — orchestrating Legal/Compliance, L&D, Marketing, and Institutional and Retail leaders.
03

The foundation

2011 — 2014
Marakon Associates
Senior Strategy Associate
Growth and business-unit strategy for Fortune 500 clients. Where I learned to think rigorously about what actually drives a business model.
2009 — 2011
Debevoise & Plimpton
Investment Management Associate
Private fund formation, investing, and joint ventures. The legal and compliance grounding I still rely on every time I sit with those teams.
04

Published & on stage

Published · Financial Planning Magazine
On the structural challenges facing digital advice providers — and what they reveal about the market.
2018
Press · Financial Planning Magazine
Quoted as subject-matter expert on retirement income and digital advice.
May 2018
Conference Track Chair & Moderator · Invest Conference
Track Leadership & Panel Moderation
Led the retail financial services track — curating the agenda, selecting speakers, and moderating sessions on the future of advice and distribution.
2018
05

Education & background

Yale Law School
JD
Brown University
BA — Economics & Public and Private Sector Organizations
Additional Leadership
Studio Finance
Advisor
Early-stage financial products incubator for the gig economy
2017–2018
Spoons Across America
Board Member
Children’s food education non-profit
2012–2018
06

Let’s think together

I’m always interested in what’s happening at the edge of wealth management — where distribution models are shifting, where regulation is creating openings, where the customer expectation has outpaced the product. If you’re working on something in that space and want someone to poke holes, ask hard questions, throw out bold ideas, and get genuinely excited about what’s possible — that’s the kind of conversation I’m always up for.