Finance Leaders Share Their Resolutions for 2021

Ann Cairns
Executive vice chairman, Mastercard Inc.

(Bloomberg Markets) -- Morning ritual when working from home?

Up around 6:30 to 7 a.m. for a cup of tea. Down in the lift to walk Bessie, our spaniel, whom we adopted in lockdown.

What has brought you joy this year?

Spending unexpected time with our 26-year-old daughter, Sophie.

What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?

Speaking at a conference in Beijing in the morning, South Africa at lunchtime, and New York in the afternoon.

What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?

Get a haircut immediately beforehand and be more chilled out about it. What can you do? Not much.

What is your resolution for 2021?

Help as many women as I can inside and outside my company. Have a real impact on women’s success in business through the 30% Club and Mastercard.

Philipp Hildebrand
Vice chairman, BlackRock Inc.

Morning ritual when working from home?

Coffee, meditation, workout.

What has brought you joy this year?

My girls, the city of Florence, and Tuscany.

What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?

Helping Larry Fink and BlackRock partners drive our firmwide strategic pivot toward sustainability.

What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?

I would love to have all our children under the same roof.

What is your resolution for 2021?

Stay focused on what really matters.

Benoît Cœuré
Head of Innovation Hub, Bank for International Settlements

Morning ritual when working from home?

I have a nice balcony overlooking trees in Basel, and whatever the weather, the first thing I do is to sip an espresso there, watching squirrels chase each other—and recapping and prioritizing for the day.

What has brought you joy this year?

Being able to spend time at home in the French Alps this summer.

What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?

When I moved to Basel last January to join the Bank for International Settlements’ new Innovation Hub, the hub’s head count was exactly three—one in Basel and two in Hong Kong. We’re now more than 20.

What is your resolution for 2021?

To keep developing the Innovation Hub and expand on the BIS’s core areas of expertise—that is, payments, digital currency, and so on.

Lacqua is co-anchor of Bloomberg Surveillance and host of Leaders With Lacqua.

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