This is a profile image of Cristina Catania

Cristina Catania

Senior PartnerMilan

Coleads the Risk & Resilience Practice, advising financial institutions on strategy, transformation, sustainability and ESG.

Cristina is the global co-convener and European lead for the Risk & Resilience Practice.

Previously she was the co-convener of McKinsey’s work in wealth and asset management at European and global level and the head of sustainability work in the banking sector. She was also a core leader of the Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Cristina focuses on serving financial institutions throughout Europe across a broad range of services with an emphasis on large transformations in banking and a specialization in asset and wealth management, mainly on strategy and finance topics. She also has extensive experience in sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) transformation.

Examples of Cristina’s recent experience include the following:

  • designing the ESG transformation strategy of a leading European banking group
  • defining the ESG scoring assessment for a corporate bank
  • supporting the post-merger integration and international growth strategy between two European wealth management companies
  • three-year strategic plan of a digital wealth manager
  • integration of the sustainable investing principles for a leading asset manager
  • design and implementation of an innovative value-based budgeting approach and reporting system for two large European banks
  • industrial plan and coordination of the IPO process for a leading private bank
  • multiple strategic due diligences and M&A scouting for leading private equity funds and international banks

Cristina rejoined McKinsey in 2015 after a two-year experience as head of CEO staff in a large banking group. She first joined McKinsey in 2005 after a period of academic research and an experience in a major investing and wealth management organization.

Published work

Resilience pulse check: Harnessing collaboration to navigate a volatile world, McKinsey & Company, January 2025

Faster, smarter, bolder: How midtenure CFOs shift into a higher gear,” McKinsey & Company, May 2024

European private banking: Resilient models for uncertain times,” McKinsey & Company, January 2023

After a strong 2021, European private banking faces headwinds,” McKinsey & Company, July 2022

Wake up and see the women: Wealth management’s underserved segment,” McKinsey & Company, June 2022

Past experience

Intesa Sanpaolo
Head of CEO staff

Education

Bocconi University
MSc, Macroeconomics and Econometrics
Degree in Economics and Social Sciences