As a "recovering research analyst" – her words – Sallie Krawcheck describes herself as skeptical of everything.
Krawcheck, chairwoman of the Wall Street women's group Ellevate and former head of Bank of America Corp.'s wealth management division, talked with Betty Liu in an interview with Bloomberg TV about her skepticism and her outlook for the banking industry, among many other things.
She says market volatility is not good for banks, the bear market is closer, and financial advisors are more valuable than people think.
She's concerned about what really happens when interest rates in the United States finally rise.
She discusses what women really want in their work.
She predicts what hiring might look like in the industry this year, and she admits she misses working on Wall Street.
Find out more of Krawcheck's thoughts in this partial transcript of the interview:
BETTY LIU: So how do you feel Wall Street is going to turn out this year?
SALLIE KRAWCHECK: Well how are the markets going to do this year, because that's all you ever had to know. In fact isn't it interesting, because in a year in which they did just a touch better than the markets, back in the day they would have done quite a bit better. They were high-beta stocks.
LIU: That's true.
KRAWCHECK: If markets were good, their earnings were good. That's all you had to know. And of course things are changing because there continue to be investor concerns about "Are they undercapitalized? What are the regulators going to do?" And we're closer to a bear market than we were last year. We don't know when it will be there. Every year we think we are closer, and, well, by definition we're closer, but whether one happens or not. And I think concerns about what really happens when interest rates in the United States finally rise, what will that mean.
LIU: Yes. Well, generally speaking, volatility, it's supposed to be good for banks, right? And it hasn't been.
KRAWCHECK: Yes, because it's not. It's so interesting, isn't it, because you hear about the banks. We're all set for rising interest rates. Remember 18 months ago interest rates rose and the results were poor.
LIU: Yes.
KRAWCHECK: Whether it's because their clients (had) been held back, because they were short-term ill-positioned, you never know. But you got to be careful about what you read on Page 52, Note 10, Paragraph 3, we're ready for rising rates.
LIU: Right.
