Tarang Gupta hosts Samara Cohen, the Chief Investment Officer of ETFs and Index Investments at BlackRock. BlackRock is a global asset manager and technology provider and one of the world’s leading providers of investment, advisory and risk management solutions. In this episode you will hear about: - What Samara’s role as the CIO entails - How ETFs have evolved from their early days - Building high performance teams - Different types of investors that invest in BlackRock’s ETFs - Increasing participation of self-directed investors in public markets - Samara’s outlook on managing personal and professional commitments - And much more! About Samara Cohen Samara Cohen, Senior Managing Director, is the Chief Investment Officer of the ETF and Index Investments (EII) business for BlackRock and a member of the firm's Global Executive Committee. As the first ever CIO for EII, Samara manages the teams responsible for delivering the market quality and investment integrity of BlackRock’s 2,700+ index funds and ETFs. She also serves on the Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Steering Committee and on the board of the BlackRock Foundation. Samara was named to Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in Finance last year. She earned a BS Econ in Finance from the Wharton School and a BA in Theatre Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. About ETFs and iShares An ETF is a technology that can wrap all kinds of investments. They are a simple way for people to access the world’s financial markets in a diversified way. ETFs are similar to mutual funds in that they invest in a basket of securities, such as stocks or bonds. Similar to a stock, ETFs can be traded whenever the markets are open, which makes them different from mutual funds. Ultimately, what ETFs are doing are democratizing investing – providing convenient and affordable access for millions to the capital markets. BlackRock’s ETF and index business is about $2.3 trillion in AUM across over 2,700+ funds globally. Worldwide, 120 million people have an average of $50,000 invested in iShares ETF and index funds. In the US alone, 25 million people own an iShares ETF. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100