Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.<br>In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for PNC’s Asset Management Group, discusses how PNC’s culture led her back to the company, adopting a servant leadership mindset when moving into managerial roles and the challenges of what she calls “purple haze” policy uncertainty.<br>“I do think we’re setting ourselves up for a really strong multi-year period, and investors need to be mindful of that in terms of portfolio positioning. It’s easy to deviate from long-term plans [with all the uncertainty],”Agati says.

PNC Executive Insights: PNC Bank Chief Investment Officer Amanda Agati discusses market uncertainty and long-term strategy

C-Speak: The Language of Executives

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** C-Speak: The Language of Executives

## Participants

- **Carolyn Jones** (Boston Business Journal)
- **Amanda Agati** (PNC Bank)

## Transcript

I'm Carolyn Jones, Market President and Publisher at the Boston Business Journal and I am pleased to be here to have a conversation today with Amanda Agati, the Chief Investment Officer of PNC Bank. Amanda, welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited for our conversation. It's great to have you on our program PNC C-Speak which we work together with PNC on and just love doing it. So I'm really excited to talk with you and learn a little bit more about you today. Just start out by telling us a little bit more about your specific role as Chief Investment Officer at PNC.

Okay, great. So I am the Chief Investment Officer for PNC's Asset Management Group. I have a team of about 185 people in what we call the AMG, the Asset Management Group Investment Office. And so what sits with me is really the centralized investment team that supports the asset management business. So to zoom out, the asset management business has about 235 billion in discretionary assets under management.

It's split about two thirds to almost three quarters private bank with the balance in institutions. And so my team is the centralized investment team that supports both client segments. I always say it takes a village. It should. Because we're an asset management business of that size. So in summary, I have my hands on a lot of things. I think you did, that's for sure. You built your career across investment banking, equity research, strategy, and now enterprise leadership.

So what moments or transitions most shaped the way you lead all those folks today? It's a great question and it's hard to isolate it to a few things. I think one thing earlier in my career was my shift from investment banking into equity research. Then for me, that was transformational in terms of how I think about markets, the economy, and the intersection of all of the things an investor really needs to know to make investment decisions.

And so I spent the lion's share of my career in equity research as a generalist, picking up new things. And you never become an expert as a generalist, right? That's not a thing. But this constant learning and passion for learning and whatever I'm going to pick up, I think has been really important training ground. I think another element is saying yes and leaning in.

And I have taken on so many different projects and opportunities that I could have never mapped out for myself. I didn't even think being a CIO was possible. Okay, that was not on the vision board. Well, that was not on a roadmap. But by saying yes, and I think leaning into, I may not have any idea how to do this thing, but I'm going to give it a shot. Right? Why not?

I think that approach, that mindset of saying yes and leaning in and picking the challenging things made a huge difference at each step of the way. And ther...

PNC Executive Insights: PNC Bank Chief Investment Officer Amanda Agati discusses market uncertainty and long-term strategy

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

PNC Executive Insights: PNC Bank Chief Investment Officer Amanda Agati discusses market uncertainty and long-term strategy

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.