Francesca McDonagh
Francesca McDonagh | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 18, 1975 Wimbledon, London, England |
| Occupation | Banking executive |
| Known for | CEO of Bank of Ireland (2017–2022), COO of Credit Suisse (2022–2023), CEO of Universal Investment (2024–present) |
Francesca Jane McDonagh (born 18 May 1975) is a banking executive of Irish and British descent. She assumed the role of CEO at the German asset management firm Universal Investment in January 2024. Prior to this, she served as Chief Operating Officer at Credit Suisse from September 2022 until September 2023, where she managed the bank’s integration following its acquisition by UBS. Before her tenure at Credit Suisse, she was the CEO of Bank of Ireland between October 2017 and August 2022.
Education
Raised in Croydon, London, McDonagh attended Coloma Comprehensive Girls’ School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of Oxford.
Career
McDonagh transitioned to Bank of Ireland after holding senior leadership positions within the HSBC Group. In October 2017, she made history as Bank of Ireland’s first female CEO, taking over from Richie Boucher. Notably, under her leadership, Bank of Ireland was the sole major Irish bank to avoid government nationalisation during the 2008 financial crisis and had repaid €6 billion out of €4.8 billion in State aid by 2013.
During the early stages of her leadership, McDonagh tackled the repercussions of the tracker mortgage controversy alongside other leaders in Ireland’s banking sector. She focused on driving technological innovation, fostering cultural change, and improving customer experience at Bank of Ireland. Additionally, she set an objective to reach gender balance within management roles by 2021. In recognition of her contributions to banking, McDonagh was honored with an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017.
In April 2022, it was announced that McDonagh would resign as CEO later that year in September. She subsequently joined Credit Suisse as head of EMEA operations before being promoted to COO in September 2023, where she led a significant cost-reduction initiative. Amidst the 2023 US banking turmoil, she played a central role in overseeing the merger process during UBS’s acquisition of Credit Suisse, facilitated by the Swiss government.
McDonagh departed Credit Suisse in September 2023 and took up her current position as CEO at Universal Investment starting January 2024.
Personal life
An Irish citizen, McDonagh was born in Wimbledon, London to an Irish father and a Greek mother. Her paternal grandfather hailed from Carraroe, County Galway, while her paternal grandmother originated from County Laois.
She lives in Italy with her spouse, who owns a French patisserie business.