Annika Falkengren

Born in 1962 in Thailand, where her father was a diplomat, Falkengren honed her independence at Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Laeroverket, one of three national boarding schools in Sweden. After graduating from Stockholm University with a Bachelor of Science in economics in 1987, she got a trainee job at SEB. She’s never worked anywhere else. Falkengren has experienced the bank -- founded by the Wallenberg dynasty of financiers -- from inside a branch office to its trading floor and up through its management. She became global head of fixed income in 1995, global head of trading in 1997 and head of the merchant banking unit in 2000. She said a firm will do better if it draws on both men and women for key roles.