- The Marquee Banking Conference Speakers
- The Macro and Strategist Voices
- The Policy and Regulatory Voices
- The Operator Voices Outside the Top Five Banks
- The Cross-Category Picks
- How to Read This List
- What These Banking Conference Speakers Charge in 2026
- The Question of Repeat Bookings
- How to Use This List With a Bureau or Direct
- The Bottom Line
Picking the right banking conference speakers is one of the harder shortlists in events. The audience reads earnings transcripts for fun, the keynote slot has to compete with three breakout tracks programmed by the same team, and the cost of putting the wrong voice on the main stage is six rows of laptops opening at minute eight. This is the 25-name list we are pulling from in 2026.
We have grouped these banking conference speakers by the role they play on a roster, not just by name recognition. A great event programs across the categories: at least one operator voice, at least one macro voice, at least one strategist, and at least one cross-category surprise. Use the list to seed your own shortlist, then narrow against budget and date.
The Marquee Banking Conference Speakers
The names at the top of the league table. They move the registration page, and they tend to have the schedules to match.
1. Jamie Dimon. JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO. Available rarely outside JPMorgan-hosted events, but when he speaks externally he sets the agenda for the next 90 days of banking commentary. Best fit: industry-defining flagship events.
2. Brian Moynihan. Bank of America Chairman and CEO. Strong on consumer-bank scale, regulatory pressure, and the operating realities of running a national franchise. A patient, operator’s voice on stage.
3. Mary Erdoes. JPMorgan Asset and Wealth Management CEO. The most credible single voice on private banking and ultra-high-net-worth wealth management. Particularly strong at family office and RIA summits.
4. Ben Bernanke. Former Fed Chair and Nobel laureate. The institutional voice on monetary policy, Fed mechanics, and crisis decision-making. Rare on the circuit but disproportionately impactful when he says yes.
5. Sallie Krawcheck. Ellevest CEO, former Citi and Bank of America wealth chief. The defining voice on women in finance, gender lens investing, and wealth-management leadership. Books out 9 months ahead.
The Macro and Strategist Voices
Where most banking conferences anchor the morning. These are the speakers who can read a room of 1,200 bankers and adjust their argument by minute three.
6. Mohamed El-Erian. Allianz Chief Economic Adviser, President of Queens’ College Cambridge. The most-quoted single voice on global macro. Strong on Fed policy, dollar dynamics, and the structural shifts in fixed income markets.
7. Liz Ann Sonders. Charles Schwab Chief Investment Strategist. One of the most consistently re-booked banking conference speakers in the U.S. Disciplined chartwork, calm delivery, and a real point of view.
8. Howard Marks. Oaktree Capital Co-Founder. Bank audiences love Marks for his memos and his directness. Best in fireside formats.
9. Cathie Wood. ARK Invest Founder and CEO. Polarizing, which is exactly why programmers book her. Strong on disruptive innovation, AI infrastructure, and structural growth themes.
10. Carol Roth. Former investment banker, author, commentator. The strongest contrarian voice on the small business and main street side of banking.
11. Anthony Scaramucci. SkyBridge Capital Founder and Managing Partner. Sharp, funny, and a credible voice on the institutional crypto and alternatives space.
12. Ron Insana. Senior CNBC Analyst, Contrast Capital. A 35-year veteran of market commentary. Particularly effective as a moderator or fireside partner.
The Policy and Regulatory Voices
Banking events that program a regulatory or policy slot reliably end up with higher post-event satisfaction scores. Every chief risk officer, general counsel, and chief compliance officer in the room is hungry for it.
13. Janet Yellen. Former Treasury Secretary and Fed Chair. Rare on the speaking circuit but unmatched institutional credibility on monetary policy and Treasury operations.
14. Sheila Bair. Former FDIC Chair, currently a senior fellow at the Center for Financial Stability. The defining voice on bank resolution, deposit insurance, and the post-2008 regulatory framework.
15. Aaron Klein. Brookings senior fellow. The most quoted academic voice on payments policy and consumer financial protection.
16. Hester Peirce. SEC Commissioner. The clearest voice on crypto regulation and securities-law modernization. Schedules tightly but books real banking events.
The Operator Voices Outside the Top Five Banks
For regional banking events and middle-market conferences, the marquee bank CEO names rarely fit the audience. These speakers do.
17. Karen Lynch. Former CVS Health CEO. The leading voice on retail-financial services adjacencies and consumer health-and-wealth crossover.
18. Kelly Coffey. CEO of City National Bank. Strong on private banking, ultra-high-net-worth client strategy, and the entertainment industry banking franchise.
19. Greg Becker. Former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank. A complicated booking, but his post-2023 reflections on what actually happened inside SVB are the most credible firsthand account in circulation.
20. Bill McNabb. Former Vanguard CEO and Chairman. The defining operational voice on the asset management industry’s structural shift to passive.
The Cross-Category Picks
Every strong banking conference roster includes a wildcard. These are the names that make the morning post-event email a substantive one.
21. Niall Ferguson. Hoover Institution senior fellow, historian. Strong on financial history, geopolitics, and the long-arc context that bank executives rarely get from their morning research.
22. Andrew Ross Sorkin. CNBC Squawk Box co-anchor, founder of DealBook. The strongest single moderator on the circuit for banking events.
23. Annie Duke. Former professional poker player, decision-science author. The most credible voice on judgment under uncertainty for banking and investment audiences.
24. Daniel Pink. Author and behavioral science writer. Particularly strong for relationship-banking and advisor-training audiences.
25. Ray Dalio. Bridgewater Founder. Books rarely outside his own platform but when he does, he is a programming centerpiece, not a slot.
| Category | Best Audience Fit | Typical Format |
|---|---|---|
| Marquee bank CEOs | Industry flagship, top-50 client events | Fireside, 25 to 30 minutes |
| Macro economists | Morning keynote, all-hands kickoff | Mainstage, 35 to 45 minutes |
| Strategists and CIOs | Investment outlook sessions | Mainstage with charts, 30 to 40 minutes |
| Policy and regulatory voices | CRO, GC, compliance summits | Closed-door briefing or panel |
| Cross-category wildcards | Closing keynote, evening program | Mainstage or fireside, 30 minutes |
How to Read This List
Marquee names are not always the right call. Our internal data on banking conferences over the last two years shows that wildcard speakers (the Annie Dukes and Niall Fergusons of the lineup) consistently score the highest on post-event audience surveys, even though they rarely top the registration page. The trick is balance. One marquee voice for the headline, two working voices for substance, one wildcard for the closing slot.
For a deeper read on how to scope, fee, and contract any of these names, see our companion financial services speakers booking guide. For broader macro and economic perspectives across the conference circuit, browse our economy archive, and for the full speaker roster see our speaker library.
What These Banking Conference Speakers Charge in 2026
Fees in the list above span a wide range. The marquee bank CEOs (Dimon, Moynihan, Erdoes) rarely take external speaking engagements at all, and when they do the engagement is usually pro bono or tied to a charitable commitment, not a fee schedule. Former Fed and Treasury principals (Bernanke, Yellen) are routinely in the $200k to $400k range. Active asset-manager and macro voices (El-Erian, Sonders, Marks, Wood) cluster $50k to $150k. The strategist and former-CIO category sits $40k to $90k. The cross-category wildcards (Ferguson, Sorkin, Duke, Pink) range $35k to $95k. The post-2024 enforcement environment has not materially changed pricing, contrary to what some bureaus argue.
The Question of Repeat Bookings
One of the most common questions we get from banking conference programmers is whether a speaker who has done the circuit for years is still worth booking. The honest answer is that it depends on the speaker’s discipline. Some banking conference speakers refresh their argument every six months and remain genuinely current (Sonders, El-Erian, Marks). Others have given the same talk with rotating slide art for three or four years (we will not name names, but the pattern is well-known inside the bureau community). The diligence is straightforward: pull two clips, one from this quarter and one from 18 months ago, and check whether the actual argument has moved. If it has not, the speaker is recycling and your audience will know.
How to Use This List With a Bureau or Direct
Eight of the 25 names above can be approached directly through their offices or research-firm communications teams. The other 17 sit behind speakers’ bureaus, sometimes with multiple bureaus competing for the same date. Going direct does not always lower the fee, and bureaus add real value on contract negotiation, A/V riders, and confidentiality terms. The right move is to know which path each name requires and budget the right amount of lead time. Marquee names need six to nine months. Working voices need three to five.
The Bottom Line
The 25 names above are a starting point, not a finish line. The right shortlist for your event depends on your audience’s strategic question, your room size, your fee envelope, and the speakers you have already programmed in the last 24 months. We track all of that.
Tell us about your banking event and we will send a tailored shortlist of speakers within 24 hours.
