Kellogg K-Suite: Anne Clarke Wolff, Independence Point Advisors

By: Pari Ahuja, Staff Writer Are you building a personal brand and is it portable?

                                                                                           —Anne Clarke Wolff, Class of 1989

There is nothing traditional or ordinary about Anne—not in 1989 and definitely not now! One of the few people who went into an MBA directly out of her undergrad, Anne defines her experience at Kellogg as unique and different.

Anne Clarke Wolff, from the Independence Point Advisors website

For one, she started in the Evening program but later transferred to the Full-Time program in her second year. She was quick to realize the power of going to a school like Kellogg—it opened doors she hadn’t even considered, and she wanted to experience those opportunities full-time. Despite Kellogg’s reputation at the time for churning out brand, she set her sights on banking. Her goal was to get the max exposure to finance and accounting, having studied English and Economics as an undergraduate at Colby College in Maine. She was one of few people who wasn’t there to learn marketing. “Working on ALPO Dog food at 1 a.m.—I didn’t want to do that—someone else did but not me! I wanted to work on things that I read about in The Wall Street Journal.”

Anne’s efforts in recruiting won her quite a few offers, and she decided to start her career at Salomon Brothers in New York. What really mattered to her was the diversity of people that Salomon offered. Anne realized, even at a young age, that the multiplicity in opinion mattered.

Within nine years, Anne made it to the elusive Managing Director title. She enjoyed three very different roles at Salomon from Investment Banking to Debt Capital Markets and then ultimately leading Corporate Banking.

When her final boss left and she didn’t agree with the new management, she knew it was time to move on. She was fortunate to get great advice from a certain ‘Mr. Dimon’ down at the JP Morgan office and decided that it was time for something new. She spent two years at JPM before moving to Bank of America when an opportunity knocked on her door to lead and build their global Corporate Banking team. Ten years with the company passed in the blink of an eye before she started her next—and current—adventure: founding Independence Point Advisors (IPA), a women led investment banking firm. 

I was curious to hear Anne’s point of view on transitioning from corporate baddie to entrepreneurial novice. Her response evoked a little chuckle and a lot of surprise. “You know, Pari, there was more diversity in experience at Salomon in 1989 than any other role when I left in 2020.” In her experience, what drove success in transactions is the diversity of thought and feedback. Anne founded IPA so she could create the environment where providing the best advice to clients is the biggest priority.

Anne was the keynote speaker at the Emerging Leader in Finance dinner last year and that was the first time I interacted with her. She truly had the most charismatic presence in the room. She has been trying to stay more connected with the Kellogg community, recently hiring a summer intern with the hope of continuing to strengthen her relationship with the new classes.

In conversation with her former mentee, Katie Sheline 2Y ‘26, I realized the influence of Anne’s leadership. Katie worked most of her career under Anne’s leadership at IPA and raves about her mentorship.

Anne never waited for doors to open for her; instead, she built them with the help of others. As she has skyrocketed in her career, she is now holding those doors open for all of us—and nothing is more Kellogg than that! Read More From the Kellogg K-Suite: Bo Schultz, from the MLB to VP at Erie Street Partners