Maneet Ahuja: Breaking Barriers with Forbes Iconoclast

“It’s undeniable–tectonic shifts are impacting the global markets at an accelerating pace. As a result, investors need to be more nimble than ever, ” says Maneet Ahuja, Author and Senior Editor at Forbes.

On June 12, 2023 the Forbes Iconoclast Summit, founded by Ahuja, will once again return to New York City bringing together global titans of investing to debate the most critical issues impacting the markets and economy today.

Entering its second year, the Iconoclast Summit will provide invaluable access and transparency to an industry that is facing a multitude of stressors, ranging from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and related lender shock, ongoing geopolitical tensions,  Fed tightening, and record consumer debt. The closure of three major banking entities has introduced significant risks, prompting global investors to question the implications of this event and how to navigate.

“My hope with our inaugural summit was to try to bring a fresh ‘Forbesian’ perspective to the vast landscape of financial summits amidst a backdrop of continued economic uncertainty. One of the best conversations we had at our inaugural event was with Maverick Carter, CEO of the SpringHill Company and Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management. It was such an interesting pairing because Mav is the architect for one of the most powerful athlete-driven businesses in the world, (which he built alongside LeBron James into a nearly billion-dollar company), and Marc Rowan is the relatively quiet head of Apollo Global, one of the largest private equity companies with over half a trillion dollars in assets under management. They come from completely different worlds and each had very different paths to success–yet they had so much chemistry. We were able to forge their two worlds together onstage by talking about their respective leadership styles and key lessons learned along the way,” said Ahuja.

Maneet Ahuja started her career in the early 2000s on Wall Street as an intern at the age of 17. She earned the nickname “Wall Street Maneet” while working in the financial institutions’ department of Citigroup while simultaneously completing her undergraduate degree. As the financial crisis ramped up, journalism proved a safe haven for Ahuja and she took a job at the Wall Street Journal, where she put her analytical chops to use as a junior member of the money and investing team. Ahuja soon found her stories featured on CNBC via a partnership between the media brands in the pre-News Corp era, leading to her being recruited by the network in early 2008.

A few months after landing at CNBC, Ahuja got her big break. Her first big story was working with hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital on his short thesis on Lehman Brothers amidst the financial crisis. From there, Ahuja started building her rolodex with the world’s top hedge funds, eventually co-creating Delivering Alpha, CNBC’s marquee investor summit with Institutional Investor.

Today, “Wall Street Maneet” is Senior Editor at Forbes and holds the unique honor of being the only person on the editorial team to have been featured on the renowned Forbes “30 under 30” list. As a longtime member of the Forbes family and published author of her book, Alpha Masters: Unlocking the Genius of the World’s Top Hedge Funds, Ahuja has further entrenched herself as an industry insider whose work fosters the Iconoclast Summit’s success.

For Ahuja, following trends and understanding how the market evolves with each new cycle (or crisis) is part of the job. She sees family offices growing their influence, investing big money into the development of cutting-edge technologies for biotech and research, along with innovative solutions to the world’s most intractable problems, such as climate change and poverty.

Like understanding the market, Ahuja has an eye for leaders of the next generation as part of the team that edits the 30 under 30 Finance list for Forbes. Former 30 under 30 alum Ryan Israel, named last summer as Chief Investment Officer of Pershing Square, is considered by Ahuja to be a rising star in the industry. 26-year-old Kate Dunbar, Macro Research Lead at Bridgewater is on the climb, according to Ahuja.

“A couple of years ago, it was hard to find senior-ranking women in boardrooms across Corporate America and especially on Wall Street. I think a byproduct of the current economic environment, and everything we have been through, ME TOO, etc. that if there has been somewhat of a silver lining, it’s that we’re finally seeing a rise of women coming into their power,” said Ahuja.

One of Ahuja’s goals is to get the most prominent women on Wall Street involved in Iconoclast. With the first annual summit, there was almost an even split between male and female keynote speakers. With Iconoclast 2023, Ahuja is excited to highlight her recent cover story for the annual Money Issue of Forbes, with cover subject Mellody Hobson, President and Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, as one of her main keynotes. Beyond her role at Ariel, Hobson holds the unique title of being the only black female chair of a Fortune 500 company in the country as the chair of Starbucks.

Impactful newsmakers like Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund are on slate for Iconoclast 2023. Additional speakers include Boaz Weinstein, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Saba Capital Management, global economist and Baroness, Dambisa Moyo, and Greg Fleming, President & CEO of Rockefeller Capital Management.

Forbes Iconoclast has plans to expand to EMEA this fall and will continue to shine a light on the world’s institutional investors, pension funds, family offices, and endowments in a full-sized approach. Both Ahuja and Forbes are elevating the conversation to take a deeper dive into the shifting economic environment of 2023.