Blythe Masters - 2010 Market Watch Article

Blythe Masters was quoted in this 2010 MarketWatch article, "Commodities Business Done, JPMorgan Will Expand Elsewhere":

"For J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., buying the global component of RBS Sempra Commodities amounts to taking one task off its to-do list.   

The bank's historic strength in investment banking had long been the fixed-income business--but several years ago, its managers started to beef up equities and commodities products and trading world wide to improve the standing of J.P. Morgan with large business clients. 

With capital at hand, J.P. Morgan will continue to expand, particularly in the cash equities business along the lines of Tuesday's deal." 

"This is the last piece of the commodities business that was missing" in a three-year process that basically started from scratch, said Blythe Masters, J.P. Morgan's head of Global Commodities, in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires en route to Connecticut, where the operations J.P. Morgan is acquiring are based." 

"What we now have is a business that is complete globally, complete around asset classes" like power, gas, oil, and metals, "and complete in terms of both financial and physical services and products," Masters said.

Read the entire article here.

Commodity Derivatives May Need More Regulation, IOSCO Says

Blythe Masters was quoted in this Bloomberg article, "Commodity Derivatives May Need More Regulation, IOSCO Says'.  

The Group of 20 Nations commissioned IOSCO to produce guidelines for commodity supervision last year. The use of derivatives to manipulate the price of foodstuffs and other raw materials is of “notable concern,” according to a European Union impact study on possible rules, as it can lead to “distorted” prices that harm the real economy.

Strict position limits would be overkill, Blythe Masters, head of global commodities at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in an article distributed at the Eurofi financial forum in Wroclaw, Poland, today. She called instead for position “management” as a more effective solution.

Limits “would be a move in the wrong direction,” Masters said. “Position limits fundamentally undermine the flexibility needed to ensure that commodity markets function effectively.”


In addition to her role at JP Morgan Chase as Head of Global Commodities, Blythe Masters is Chair Emeritus of SIFMA, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.  SIFMA's mission is to bring together the shared interests of hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers in order to develop policies and practices which strengthen financial markets and encourage capital availability, job creation and economic growth while building trust and confidence in the financial industry.  The IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions) is an association of organizations that regulate the world's securities and futures markets.  


Read the entire article here.

JP Morgan's Emea Operations Shine

Blythe Masters was mentioned in this recent Financial News article, "JPMorgan's Emea Operations Shine".  The article deals primarily with JPMorgan's investment bank in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a second quarter standout, contributing a greater proportion of the bank's revenues than at any time in almost two years.  Blythe Masters' commodities unit was also singled out as a standout performer:

"Daniel Pinto, JP Morgan’s chief executive of Emea and co-head of global fixed income... ...also singled out the commodities business as a stand-out performer within the fixed-income franchise, in a quarter in which several banks, including Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital, reported disappointing results for the business. 

Pinto said: “The second-quarter results show that the full franchise is running on all cylinders. The commodities business has performed strongly this year, and we are starting to monetize the fantastic global client platform that Blythe Masters [JP Morgan’s head of global commodities] has built.  The units we’ve acquired have settled in, and we now have a great offering across physical and derivatives products.”

Read the full article here.

Blythe Masters Article: JP Morgan set to take on commodity giants with Sempra buyout

This January 2010 Business Daily Africa article detailing the purchase of RBS Sempra Commodities for an estimated $4 billion by JPMorgan Chase Commodities Business headed by Blythe Masters:

"For decades, two names have dominated the $4 trillion world of commodity and energy derivatives trading: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. If Wall Street power woman Blythe Masters has her way, a third will soon be making it a troika: JP Morgan."


"The former credit derivatives wunderkind who has built JP Morgan’s commodities business into a true global powerhouse in just three years is on the cusp of buying RBS Sempra Commodities for an estimated $4 billion, bringing an unusual but highly successful hybrid trading operation —one that carefully mixes customer-flow business with prop-trading risk — under the well-capitalised JP Morgan umbrella."

The article continues on to describe the full ramifications of the purchase, potential hurdles, and the like.

"It would be a career-crowning coup for British-born Masters, at 40 one of the most successful women on Wall Street"

"Masters, a Cambridge-educated derivatives expert and avid amateur horse rider, was drafted into commodities from the Chief Financial Officer role in early 2007 after JP Morgan’s first major foray into energy markets went awry."


Read the full article on Sempra Commodities acquisition here.

Blythe Masters on JPMorgan's EcoSecurities Buy

Blythe Masters was interviewed in this Reuters article about JPMorgan's purchase of EcoSecurities in 2009.  She stated that the purchase "was based on its large pre-2012 portfolio of carbon offsets (estimated in August at around 100 million tonnes), its post-2012 portfolio (around 125 million) and any upside associated with a surge in carbon prices."  

"Even if only the first source of value inherent in our valuation of the company, i.e. its pre-2012 portfolio, were the only thing to come forth we would end up being very happy with our acquisition," Masters said in an interview late on Monday....

Commenting on managing risk:

Masters said the acquisition would help JP Morgan clients better manage risks in fluctuating commodity prices. 

"The reason for our expanding in the carbon space is consistent with our overall thesis that commodity markets as a whole will continue to be extremely active and volatile ... as a function of economic activity and other policies," she said. 

"Carbon is just a part (of JP Morgan's business model), and an important component because of its linkages to the rest of the energy complex and to various regulatory changes going on." 

Masters said a new EcoSecurities CEO will be named soon, "and from there we will review the overall structure of the company to make sure we don't have any overlapping activities that are confusing to clients".

Read the full Blythe Masters EcoSecurities article here.

Harvard Business School's Women's Association of Greater New York

Blythe Masters has participated in events hosted by the Harvard Business School's Women's Association of Greater New York, most notably a seminar entitled 'What Does it Take to Make it?: A Discussion with JPMorgan's Women Leaders'.  This event, hosted at JP Morgan, featured the following speakers:

• Blythe Masters, Managing Director, Head of Global Commodities
• Melissa Moore, HBS '92, CEO of Treasury Services
• Jennifer Nason, Managing Director, Global Head of Technology, Media and Telecom Investment Banking

The event was hosted and moderated by Julia Kirby, Senior Editor of Harvard Business Review.

Read the full biographies of all the participants in the Discussion with JP Morgan's Women Leaders.

About HBS Women's Association of Greater New York
The HBS Women's Association of Greater New York is a charitable organization established by and for alumnae of the Harvard Business School who live and/or work in the Greater New York area.  Our mission is to provide education to alumnae and the broader community about women in leadership and to raise scholarship funds for a current HBS woman student.  Our programs facilitate the exchange of information, experiences, tools, guidance and support to enable HBS alumnae at all stages of their lives and careers to fully realize their individual personal and professional goals.   

source: http://www.hbswany.org

Blythe Masters in Daily Pennsylvanian - Businesswoman credits luck, attitude for success

Today we're reproducing an article that appeared in the Daily Pennsylvanian several years ago about Blythe Masters visiting a group of young students at the Wharton School as a part of the Musser-Schoemaker Leadership Lecture Series. 

You can read the full Blythe Masters Daily Pennsylvanian article here.

"Thirty-six-year-old British-born Blythe Masters, whose accent still echoes her origin, went from rags to riches.

The chief financial officer of JP Morgan, who credits much of her success to luck and attitude, spoke with about 60 students yesterday.

"You can't underestimate the power of luck," Masters said. "But luck is something people can help manufacture for themselves."

Masters acquired her first "grown-up job" as an intern with JP Morgan in London after she graduated from high school. English students often defer college for a year, and Masters said that she was penniless at the time and figured that the internship was a way to finance a trip she had wanted to take to Latin America.

Through this experience, she said that she "fell in love with derivatives as a concept" and has continued to work with them for most of her career.

Derivatives are used by companies to decrease risk in their investments.

"It's important to maintain passion and energy in what you do. Don't give up till you find that thing you're passionate about," she said. "For me, that thing was derivatives."

Masters' move from London to New York City in order to pursue her career was a "big, unanticipated change" at the time, she said, owing to her status as a divorced mother with a young daughter.

She didn't let that stop her as she worked her way up the corporate ladder on Wall Street with the help of many mentors.

Masters credited her opinionated and aggressive nature for her success.

"You're responsible for making yourself noticed," Masters said. "You need to habitually be engaged, doing your homework and standing up for yourself."

Dennis Yu, a senior in Wharton and the College, said that he has heard Masters speak before and considers her a dynamic orator. Yu, who is currently considering a full-time job offer from JP Morgan, felt that Masters' story was inspiring.

Wharton junior Ayeesha Sachedina was one of the organizers of this event.

"I'm glad [Masters] was honest," Sachedina said. "These events are not for recruiting but more about what [these leaders] learned through their careers."

The event was part of the Musser-Schoemaker Leadership Lecture Series, which brings in leaders from both the public and private sectors to share their secrets to success."

The Wharton School of Business was the world's first collegiate business school, established in 188.  It is the largest and one of the most published business school faculty, with 250+ standing and associate members - one of if not the top business school in the country.