Jerry Kenney ’67

The virtues of risk and reward

By Kevin Hoban based on the reporting of Rebecca Lindell and Kari Richardson

[Ed. note: the following profile is based on previous interviews granted to the Kellogg School]

Being a top finance professional today is a much more complex—and potentially more rewarding—job now than it was a generation ago, according to Jerry Kenney, vice chairman emeritus and senior advisor at Merrill Lynch.

"A top finance officer is a good decision maker and a leader," Kenney says. "You're not just performing a function for your company—you're broadly defining and pursuing your company's objectives. It's excellent preparation for other career paths as well."

And he should know. The Kellogg alum has parlayed his finance degree into a long and varied career on Wall Street.

He began in New York as a research analyst at White, Weld & Co. Within four years he was managing the firm's entire research department.

But it wasn’t long before Kenney confronted his biggest career challenge. During the recession of the late 1970s, the company merged with Merrill Lynch, and Kenney became director of a succession of departments: first research, then sales, then global institutional sales, and then investment banking. He was entrusted with creating an institutional business for Merrill Lynch to help the firm go head-to-head with the top competitors in the arena.

"At the time, Merrill Lynch was the biggest retail firm but not an institutional player," Kenney says. "We were the only retail firm ultimately able to transform itself into a leading institutional firm. People asked why I stayed after the merger. It was because I liked the challenge."

In 1984, at age 43, he was made chief executive of the worldwide institutional company, a position, Kenney says, that drew particularly heavily on his finance skills. He was also named to the company's board of directors.

Merrill Lynch restructured itself after the recession in the early 1990s, and Kenney's role changed again. He became responsible for the firm's corporate strategy, M&A, business development and was charged with making all of Merrill Lynch a more global company, something he had already accomplished with the institutional businesses. He also oversaw the worldwide credit functions, securities research, corporate marketing and government relations.

Kenney held that role for 10 years before he was named vice chairman, responsible for senior client relationships. "It's been a lot of fun," Kenney says, who has reported to a succession of six CEO’s over his 30 years as a top executive officer. "I've worked all over the world, in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and I've spent a lot of time building the global aspects of the business. It's been very enjoyable and challenging.”
A key to Kenney's success has been a firm grasp of analytics, strategy and marketing—all skills honed at the Kellogg School.

"The finance officer is more integrated and involved with other areas of the company," Kenney notes. "There are far more options, challenges, and continual learning requirements…You've had all kinds of accounting, regulatory and technology changes. The finance officers are in the center of it all.”

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Posted June 2008.