Jen Roth, BSBA ’03, was in high school when she decided to pursue a career in finance. It wasn’t an aspiration rooted in familiarity. Her parents weren’t in the industry — Mark and Linda Kivitz, both JD ’76, met at WashU Law — and she didn’t have a lot of exposure at her all-girls private school.
“For some reason, I always thought of finance as this cool industry in New York City, which, coming from a suburb of Philly, seemed like a pie-in-the-sky, exciting place,” Roth says.
Getting accepted into Olin Business School put her plan in motion, and a summer internship at Goldman Sachs in New York City before her senior year marked another step forward. Roth returned to the investment bank in 2003 after graduation and has been there ever since, moving up the ranks and becoming a partner in 2020.
Roth now serves as the global co-head of Emerging Market and Foreign Exchange International Sales and head of Latin America Equities Distribution. Asset managers and hedge funds go through Roth’s teams when they want to execute a trade in an emerging market or foreign exchange product. Her teams, which include about 150 people, are scattered across the globe.
Roth travels regularly to meet with team members and clients. She says interacting with people from different cultures “is, hands down, the most energizing part of my job.” She also enjoys having the opportunity to learn something new every day.
Roth’s interest in emerging markets was sparked at WashU, where she triple-majored in finance, international business and Spanish. She also spent a semester studying in Madrid. In hindsight, these decisions may appear to have been a master plan leading to her current career. In reality, “it was a lot more random than that,” she says.
She credits her Olin coursework, as well as her time as a teaching assistant, for establishing foundational business skills that set her up for successful on-the-job training as an analyst. Courses like “Management 101” taught her how to multitask, make presentations and speak thoughtfully in a group.
“You learned about the aspects of business, but you also learned about teamwork and about how different companies solve problems,” she says.
Roth now lives in Westchester County outside of New York City with her husband, James, whom she met at Goldman, and their three kids.
“Being a graduate of WashU is a valuable currency … Don’t forget to use it.”
Jen Roth, BSBA ’03
She has climbed the ladder in an industry that was still what she calls a “boys’ club” when she entered it. Today, Roth is passionate about participating in the Women’s Network, an inclusion network at Goldman. She has leadership roles in two subsets of the group, serving as co-head of the firm-wide Americas Women’s Network and as partner sponsor for the Global Banking and Market-Public Women’s Network. “I want to give back and show people that they can have similar experiences and success as I have,” she says.
Roth extends her mentorship to WashU students who intern at Goldman and enjoys helping other Bears who reach out. She knows she’s not alone in her willingness to assist.
“I really believe that WashU alumni want to help one another,” she says. It’s a benefit she referenced during her address to graduating students at the university’s Recognition Ceremony last December. “Being a graduate of WashU is a valuable currency,” she said in her speech. “Don’t forget to use it.”
