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Cindy Levy

Senior PartnerLondon

Helps global financial firms on multiyear agendas related to strategy, transactions, organization, risk management, culture, and climate transition

Cindy is based in McKinsey’s London office and previously led our global Risk & Resilience and Financial Services Practices in the United Kingdom. Since joining McKinsey in 1992, she has gained extensive experience in helping financial institutions address their most complex business challenges with a particular focus on strategy, corporate finance, enterprise risk management, and culture. Cindy led the firm’s acquisitions of Vivid Economics and Risk Dynamics. Between 2021–24, she was an elected member of McKinsey’s board (Shareholders Council) and cochair of the senior partner election committee. Cindy currently coleads McKinsey’s geopolitics strategy team, as well as the firm’s global climate finance agenda and initiatives.  

Examples of Cindy’s recent client work include the following:

  • advising a major UK bank on their full portfolio and product strategy by determining several acquisitions, disposals, and collaborative priorities
  • delivering multiple commercial strategy engagements for banks across trading, investment banking, corporate, and commercial banking
  • delivering a bank-wide data and advanced analytics strategy for a leading global bank
  • providing multiple due diligence, portfolio-company strategies, and exit preparations for multiple private equity and infrastructure investing groups across sectors including leisure, solar energy, care homes, motorway service stations, retail, agriculture, and construction
  • leading multiple strategy efforts for a major global asset manager, including group strategy, financial management information systems and metrics, technology strategy, and organization
  • supporting multiple banks on risk and capital-related engagements across Europe, the Middle East, Singapore, and the United States
  • leading enterprise risk transformations for multiple global banks focusing on risk appetite, governance, new emerging risks, risk culture, model management, and validation
  • directing McKinsey’s multiyear support to critical climate-finance initiatives, including the Task Force for Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, the Portfolio Alignment Team, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, and the COP28 Presidential Action Agenda.  

Cindy is a frequent speaker at international conferences on financial services and climate finance and contributes regularly to McKinsey’s publications. Her insights on risk management have been featured in The Economist and other publications.

Before joining McKinsey, Cindy was a corporate finance analyst at Goldman Sachs, where she worked on a range of M&A, debt, and equity-financing transactions.

Published work

Climate Transition Impact Framework: Essential elements for an equitable and inclusive transition,” McKinsey & Company, December 2023

Cloud-powered technologies for sustainability,” McKinsey & Company, November 2023

Delivering impact from US green bank financing, McKinsey & Company, April 2023

Turning commitments into action on the 1.5⁰ pathway,” McKinsey & Company, December 2022

NatWest Chairman Sir Howard Davies on operational resilience in banking,” McKinsey & Company, April 2022

Aligning portfolios with climate goals: A new approach for financial institutions,” McKinsey & Company, November 2021

Putting carbon markets to work on the path to net zero,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021

A blueprint for scaling voluntary carbon markets to meet the climate challenge,” McKinsey & Company, January 2021

The emerging resilients: Achieving ‘escape velocity’,” McKinsey & Company, October 2020

Banking system resilience in the time of COVID-19,” McKinsey & Company, July 2020

Coronavirus: 15 emerging themes for boards and executive teams,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020

Creating the bank enterprise risk management function of the future,” McKinsey & Company, March 2020

Stress testing for nonfinancial companies,” McKinsey & Company, June 2017

“So many stress tests; so little insight,” McKinsey Working Papers on Risk, May 2012

Wearing varifocals: A new perspective on risk organization effectiveness and efficiency,” (PDF–1.46 MB), McKinsey & Company, March 2012

Taking control of organizational risk culture,” (PDF–388 KB), McKinsey Working Papers on Risk, February 2010

“Better operational-risk management for banks,” McKinsey Quarterly, August 2006

“Managing operational risk in banking,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2005

Past experience

Goldman Sachs
Corporate finance Analyst

Education

Stanford University
MBA

Harvard University
AB, economics