Photo: JOE VERICKER / PHOTOBUREAU
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aura Chittick has always had a keen interest in finance, with a healthy appreciation for the depth and breadth of where a career in the industry could take a person. It’s an approach that has led her to become one of the more trusted advisers to sports leagues when it comes to capital-raising solutions.
Laura Chittick
JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Executive Director
Working in JPMorgan’s corporate client banking group, Chittick — who has been with the bank for the past decade — has developed an expertise in complex financial structures and the development of securitized products and debt. She’s worked with clients in industries from consumer goods to health care, but in recent years she has been applying that knowledge to the sports industry, helping to raise and manage more than $5 billion for league finance programs and other debt issuance in the sector. Projects she has worked on include helping to launch the NHL’s leaguewide club finance program last year, the NBA’s leaguewide team finance program, and a settlement for the NBA in the decades-long media rights matter involving the Spirits of St. Louis ABA franchise.
“It’s a very enjoyable client base, full of very smart, thoughtful people,” Chittick said. “My job is to bring them our expertise, so we try to be helpful to them in any way we can.”
It’s also drawn Chittick more into the world of sports, something she’s enjoying with her two children, ages 6 and 9.
“The combination of my work and my kids just being at the beginning of that development of being a fan and understanding sports makes it even more fun,” she said. “I’m thrilled that I can say this is my job.”
— Ian Thomas
- Notable professional achievement: There’s no one moment. I work very hard for all of my clients. I walk to work thinking about what I can do for them and walk home thinking about what more I’ll do for them after I put my kids to bed. Finance can be an exhausting job, but the perspective you gain over the years is invaluable.
- Biggest professional disappointment: There’s no one moment on the downside either. I don’t like to lose.
- Best advice received: Don’t let failures break your confidence. Focus on what you can learn from them and move on.
- Causes supported: Coalition for the Homeless’ Camp Homeward Bound; Columbia University’s Community Impact.
- Woman in sports business I’d most like to meet: Jeanie Buss, president and part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. I’d like to hear about her most challenging decisions, whether directly related to the Lakers or as the representative to the NBA board of governors.
- Most memorable sporting event attended: U.S. Open (tennis).
- If my colleagues were asked to describe me, they would say I: Am tenacious, deliberate and much less serious than their first impression.
