Excess Returns · Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton, shared that her experience managing a credit card department in the 1990s provided early insights into predicting consumer behavior through data, similar to today's focus on AI. She noted that analyzing credit card data offered valuable trends on consumer spending, which is crucial in a consumer-driven economy.
“And I ran the credit card department. And I learned that data could predict people's behavior. Something that we're all now focusing on with AI.”
“But the credit card industry were really leaders in that.”
“I literally sat down with our Bloomberg rep and said, show me what data you have on spending and credit card data. I want to understand what Bloomberg has.”