WSFS Financial recently found one, as did Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Southern First Bancshares, Horizon Bancorp, BancFirst Corp. and
The circumstances around the search for a new CFO are specific to each of those banks, as well as several others that have recently announced changes related to the finance chief function. Collectively, however, they point to one thing: Turnover among bank CFOs appears to be rising.
What had been a slow burn is picking up pace as banks face not only retirement and burnout scenarios, but
"There has definitely been an uptick" in bank CFO turnover, said Scott Simmons, co-managing partner at Crist|Kolder Associates, a Chicago-area executive search firm that places CEOs, CFOs and other C-suite executives in banking and other industries. "There are no obvious patterns as to why … but what I can tell you is there's immense pressure on these banks, and there's a lot of pressure on the management team to either perform or buy, or be bought."
CFOs play a big role at banks. They are often viewed as the No. 2 executive — in charge of financial planning, cash flow, budget and various investments. They deal with regulators, analysts and investors, and they take center stage during quarterly earnings calls.
And they often move into the CEO job. U.S. Bancorp CEO Andy Cecere was the Minneapolis-based company's CFO for eight years before eventually being promoted in 2017. In Pittsburgh, PNC Financial Services Group hired now-CEO Bill Demchak as its CFO in 2002. René Jones, the CEO of Buffalo, New York–based M&T Bank, was the company's CFO for 11 years.
The departures of CFOs are impacting companies other than just banks. CFO turnover has been rising among all public companies since 2019, and it hit a three-year high during the first quarter of this year, according to a report from Russell Reynolds Associates, a management consulting firm.
CFOs in 2023 remained "flight risks," the firm said in a separate report, as turnover at S&P 500 companies reached 17.4% last year, just shy of a record-setting percentage in 2021.
It has been a particularly active spring for bank CFO changes. WSFS in Wilmington, Delaware, announced in May that David Burg, a former Citigroup executive, would join the $20.6 billion-asset company in August as its next CFO.
Also in May, Berkshire Hills in Boston elevated its chief accounting officer, Brett Brbovic, to CFO, following the departure of David Rosato, who stepped down "to pursue other interests," the $12.1 billion-asset company said in a press release. CEO Nitin Mhatre said in an email that Brbovic "is a strong Berkshire leader who worked closely with David during his tenure on the important initiatives put into place" and has "the added benefit of deep institutional knowledge" of the bank.
Southern First in Greensville, South Carolina, recently hired Chris Zych as its CFO. Zych was previously the director of corporate development and investor relations at United Community Bank. At Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Indiana, John Stewart took on the finance chief role, succeeding Mark Secor, who became chief administration officer. And at BankFirst in Oklahoma City, CFO Kevin Lawrence resigned and was replaced by Hannah Andrus, who came to the $12.6 billion-asset bank from Ernst & Young.
At banks of all sizes, merger-and-acquisition deals have led to some of the turnover. So, too, have changes in the CEO chair, since new chief executives often want to bring in their own CFOs. In other cases, CFOs have stepped away for new opportunities or for personal reasons. Retirements appear to have driven a good portion of the activity.
For example, at Webster Financial in Stamford, Connecticut, CFO Glenn MacInnes plans to retire after 13 years in the role. The $76.2 billion-asset company is conducting "a robust search process" and looking at both internal and external candidates, it said in a February press release.
So far, the "response has been great" in terms of job candidates, many of whom "come with a variety of skills and … and big bank experience," according to a Webster spokesperson.
Lagging financial performance is also likely contributing to some of the turnover. Some banks have struggled to achieve profitability in a higher rate environment or have found themselves in troubled waters with loan portfolios that are heavily concentrated in one asset class.
The
"Craig brings proven experience in navigating challenging financial environments, including raising capital and delivering profitable results," Joseph Otting, who became New York Community's CEO on April 1, said in a press release.
Such qualities may be attractive to banks that are on the hunt for a different kind of finance chief, recruiters said. Traditional accounting skills are still important, but some banks are keen to find a CFO with "strategic finance" chops, said Ted Rosinus, a managing director at Stephens who does mergers-and-acquisitions work. That is, someone who knows his or her way around capital management, liquidity, mergers and acquisitions and building relationships with regulators.
"There's a desire for CFOs to have more of a strategic finance background," Rosinus said. "It's not just someone who knows the accounting rules. Those people are important, but certainly there are several institutions, clients of mine, who want the tip of the spear to be someone who can think strategically about balance sheet positioning, capital deployment and, if they're publicly traded, be capable and have credibility with institutional investors, plus a fairly sophisticated acumen in M&A and deal structuring."
Simmons agreed. "Banks want CFOs who have been in situations with a lot of moving parts and a lot of change and unstable situations. That experience is really important today."
But "it's a hard job to be CFO … and it's different now than it used to be," said Chris Marinac, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott. Investors and analysts are demanding more data, regulatory requirements are higher, and the job has drawn much more scrutiny, he said.
That's leading some CFOs to retire or move into another industry, Marinac said. And it's leading some banks to rethink who they want in the job, and to hire accordingly, he added.
"The CFO used to be a functional job: 'I'm in charge of the numbers, and I'll get them to you and the public every quarter,'" Marinac said. "Now it's much more holistic. It's just a bigger job today."
That's true for both larger banks and smaller ones, said Michele Gil, managing partner at Chrisman & Co. The Long Angeles-based search firm's clients include many community banks.
Gil said she's seeing "a small uptick" in bank CFO turnover, especially as a result of retirements.
"The finance function touches everything in the bank," shesaid. "It goes beyond just reporting. It's now about, 'How do we create internal partnerships … and have conversations that are much more strategic, and what levers can you pull because we want to do this or that initiative?'"
CFO recruiter Jeremy Zeman is the managing partner of Caldwell Partners' consumer and commercial banking practice. So far this year, he has had "double the CFO work" for both public and privately held bank clients, which range in size from $6 billion of assets to $20 billion, he said.
Zeman has five bank CFO searches on his plate at the moment, though two of them now have placements. The pool of candidates is "fairly sparse," given the increase in turnover, he said.
"The question is, 'Does the supply meet the demand?' And I would say it's become stressed," Zeman said. "That's not to say there isn't supply out there; you just have to think creatively."
"You have to think about individuals who might be able to work another five to seven years, especially if it's a turnaround situation," he added. Or "you might want a grizzled vet who's been through a few cycles and can pull out a playbook."
