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Janet Cowell

Treasurer Cowell oversees nearly $74 billion in pension fund investments for the 850,000 teachers, firefighters, and public employees of North Carolina. Under her executive leadership as Treasurer, the state has maintained a triple-A Bond rating for strong financial and debt management practices, and is recognized as one of only seven states to earn the rating by the three major credit rating agencies. In addition, North Carolina has outperformed the national average for public pension funds by 32%, ranking 2nd in the United States by Standard and Poor’s in 2009.
Janet Cowell

North Carolina State Treasurer

Janet Cowell is the State Treasurer of North Carolina and is the state’s first woman to win the post. Treasurer Cowell oversees nearly $74 billion in pension fund investments for the 850,000 teachers, firefighters, and public employees of North Carolina. Under her executive leadership as Treasurer, the state has maintained a triple-A Bond rating for strong financial and debt management practices, and is recognized as one of only seven states to earn the rating by the three major credit rating agencies. In addition, North Carolina has outperformed the national average for public pension funds by 32%, ranking 2nd in the United States by Standard and Poor’s in 2009.

Born the daughter of a Methodist minister and a public school teacher in Memphis, Tennessee, Cowell grew up primarily in the Southeast until attending college at the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated with Honors and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of Business as well as a Master’s degree in International Studies from the Lauder Institute.

Cowell worked as a financial analyst with organizations including HSBC Bank and Lehman Brothers in Asia before making her home in North Carolina in 1997.

Living in Raleigh, North Carolina, she provided business consulting to various Fortune 500 companies and served as an adjunct professor at two institutions of higher learning in the state.