Bio

Kirsten Pickens serves as Managing Director and Co-Head of U.S. Distribution at FS Investments, where she oversees the firm’s National Accounts, Marketing, Investment Research and Fund Communications functions. Ms. Pickens was previously a Partner and Head of Distribution at Chiron Investment Management, the global multi-asset firm she helped launch in 2015 and which was acquired by FS Investments in 2020. Prior to joining Chiron, she was Senior Vice President and Head of National Accounts at Ivy Funds, a subsidiary of Waddell & Reed. In 2010, she was named one of Institutional Investor magazine’s “Rising Stars of Mutual Funds.” She began her financial services career as a Retirement Specialist at Vanguard. Ms. Pickens serves on the Board of the Expect Miracles Foundation, the Board of NICSA and the National Accounts Advisory Board-FUSE. She also sits on the NICSA Distribution and Product Committee and is the Co-Chair of the MMI Emerging Managers Community. In addition, she is a member of the Sales Force Marketing Committee of the Investment Company Institute and a member of the Money Management Institute. She received a BA from Arizona State University, where she majored in Justice Studies with a Pre-Law minor.