CAROLINE A. CRENSHAW

A long-time staff attorney in the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations and its Division of Investment Management, Caroline A. Crenshaw was appointed by President Donald Trump to the Securities and Exchange Commission and unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2020. Among the areas of particular interest for her are ensuring the expansion of access to public markets, enhancing ESG disclosure and making sure that the shift from defined-benefit to defined-contribution retirement plans works well for those using the plans. In the first area, Crenshaw says that with record private-market inflows, “the issue has been framed that investors need access to private markets, but it’s really more that private companies are searching for investor access.”

For truly wide access, she wants the best opportunities to be available in public markets. On ESG, Crenshaw believes the commission “needs to provide the rules of the road so information is accessible, usable and comparable.”

And in the retirement area, her interest is making sure the products available in DC plans are appropriate and that indexes are working properly. Away from the SEC, Crenshaw serves as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

— Evan Cooper