Polly Hackett

Vice President, Bank of America Business Capital, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch

40 Under 40 Category: Underwriting

Biography:

Polly Hackett is a vice president at Bank of America Business Capital at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  

Based in New York City, Hackett is responsible for underwriting new secured credit facilities for mid-size to large corporate companies. Previous to her current role, Hackett was based in London, England in a similar role, focusing specifically on European-headquartered companies.  She started her career at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2011 through the Global Commercial Banking Analyst Program based in New York City.

During her career, Hackett has executed a range of financings supporting leveraged buyouts, mergers/acquisitions, refinancing and recapitalizations for both U.S. and European corporate and financial sponsor clients.  Hackett, in her five years’ experience, has gained significant industry knowledge and skills well beyond that one would expect from her tenor. She has embraced learning all aspects of the business and has become a well-regarded product expert in a remarkably short time. Hackett has shown a limitless thirst for knowledge and a tireless work ethic, sacrificing many evenings and weekends for the good of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Within Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Hackett is a member of LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Development) for Women. This employee network is dedicated to promoting professional women’s development to help grow, attract and retain successful women throughout the bank. It provides women with leadership, development and career broadening opportunities and tools through a variety of means including information and education, advocacy, and networking. Hackett also sits on the Global Commercial Banking Diversity and Inclusion Council, for which she co-chairs a committee focused on the recruitment and retention of diverse talent.  She was named an APEX (Achievement of Performance Excellence) award winner in 2013 and 2015.

Hackett holds a B.S in corporate finance and corporate law from Boston University School of Management (2011). In her free time, she enjoys traveling, yoga, skiing and spending time with her four siblings.  She currently lives in Manhattan.

When she was told she had been selected as one of SFNet’s 40 Under 40, Polly said, “Receiving this recognition from the SFNet is an enormous honor.  I feel privileged to be a part of a team that I respect deeply.  The BABC leadership team never fails to challenge and trust me in situations that might seem out of my depth – for this I am continually grateful.”  

Her nominator, senior vice president, Michael Lemiszko, said, “From day one, Polly has embraced the multitude of challenges that come with structuring and leading many large, syndicated and difficult transactions. She has become one of the most talented underwriters at BAML in a very short time frame through tireless application of her skills to her position. Polly has never shown any hesitancy to deal with top levels of both the internal organization and clients. She is a skilled negotiator, working many transactions in a fashion favorable to BAML.”