12 minute read
BANKING & FINANCE
William Bahl
CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN Bahl & Gaynor
Bahl and Vere Gaynor founded the investment advisory firm in 1990. Bahl has almost 45 years in the business, working previously for Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh, Fifth Third in Cincinnati, and Northern Trust of Chicago. The employee-owned firm has more than 50 staff who help manage or advise clients with almost $17.5 billion in assets.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Florida (undergraduate), University of Michigan (MBA)
Timothy Ballinger
PRESIDENT AND CEO General Electric Credit Union
Ballinger has been with the company since 1994 and held the top job since 2015. It has expanded its membership to almost 200,000 members and has $4 billion in assets. The company is moving its corporate office to a 90,000-square-foot building it bought in Blue Ash two years ago. By year’s end, it will have added six new branch offices since last year: Oakley, Florence, Montgomery, Eastgate, South Lebanon, and West Chester.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Cincinnati (undergraduate), Xavier University (MBA), University of Delaware (master’s) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? The past year actually accented our employee communications. As the result, while the pandemic certainly didn’t provide positive feelings, our regular communications were positives for the employees.
Archie Brown
PRESIDENT AND CEO First Financial Bank
Brown became the top executive when First Financial merged with MainSource Financial of Greensburg, Indiana, in 2018. It was cited by the Federal Reserve Board for outstanding performance under the Community Reinvestment Act. The company opened three branches in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods last year, including one at Paramount Square in Walnut Hills.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Georgia (undergraduate), Xavier University (MBA) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? It changed the way the banking industry serves our clients, seemingly overnight. We made tens of thousands of outreach calls to check on consumers and business clients, created our own client relief programs, and helped facilitate the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program.
Greg Carmichael
CHAIRMAN AND CEO Fifth Third Bancorp
Carmichael leads the parent company of the largest locally based bank that had $46 billion in local deposits and more than $200 billion in total assets in 2020. Fifth Third has almost 1,100 locations in 11 states and has focused its expansion strategy on the Southeast, with plans to open 30 branches mainly in that part of the country. Tim Spence, who has been chief strategy officer since 2015, was named President in 2020.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Dayton (undergraduate), Central Michigan University (master’s)
Jim Hagerty
CEO Bartlett Wealth Management
Hagerty and President Holly Mazzocca took on new roles this year as former leader Kelley Downing became Executive Chair of the firm that’s almost doubled its assets under management to $7 billion in the last five years. Hagerty leads the management committee and is responsible for strategy, while Mazzocca leads daily operations and the company’s managing directors.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Dayton (undergraduate) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? Employees have adapted well throughout the pandemic, maintaining a very high level of professionalism and excellent client service. Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? We’ve embraced flexibility as a longterm change. Bartlett will maintain a hybrid schedule featuring on-site and work-from-home, which will make for happier and more productive colleagues.
Timothy Elsbrock
REGIONAL PRESIDENT Fifth Third Bank
Elsbrock is in charge of the Greater Cincinnati operations of the region’s largest locally based bank. He joined the company in 1987 as a corporate treasury manager and served as Senior Vice President of the Wealth & Asset Management from 2007 to 2015. He oversees retail, mortgage, and commercial banking operations in addition to investment advisors.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Cincinnati (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? People are what make Fifth Third Bank strong and I’m energized by being with our team, so not seeing everyone was hard. How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? Banks have been a beacon of hope and support for communities during the pandemic. We’re focused on the future and ensuring our region continues to grow and thrive.
Andrew Hawking
REGIONAL PRESIDENT Truist
Hawking, who’s led the regional operation of BB&T since 2015, remains in charge as the merger with Sun Trust formed Truist in late 2019 to become the 10th largest bank in the U.S. It has more than $1.5 billion in local deposits and 21 locations. Those offices and Northern Kentucky University’s arena, which the bank has naming rights, are still operating under BB&T signage.
Kay Geiger
REGIONAL PRESIDENT PNC Bank
Geiger has led regional operations of the Pittsburgh-based bank since 2008. PNC is the third-largest bank with more than $8 billion in local deposits. It has more than 60 locations in the area and announced in September that it would raise its minimum wage to $18 from $15, a move that increases pay for hundreds of local workers. Geiger began her career with Huntington and worked for U.S. Bank and LaSalle Bank before joining PNC.
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio Education: Miami University (undergraduate), Ohio State University (MBA)
Andrew Howell
PRESIDENT AND CEO Federal Home Loan Bank
Howell, who joined the bank in 1989, has led the regional wholesale operation that provides financial services to more than 650 member stockholders in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee since 2012. The Federal Home Loan Bank system was created by Congress in 1932 to support financing for local housing; the downtown-based facility is one of 11 in the U.S.
Jason Jackman
PRESIDENT Johnson Investment Counsel
Jackman is also Chief Investment Offi cer for the company, which he joined in 1993. The region’s fourth-largest money management company has more than $16 billion in assets and added nine shareholders in 2020, bringing the total to 42 among its more than 140 employees in Ohio and Michigan.
Hometown: Howell, New York; Rochester, New Hampshire; Pittsburgh Education: Wittenberg University (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? In the beginning it was the physical separation. Lately it’s setting policy for client and employee safety amid an ever-changing pandemic landscape. How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? We’ve longed for normalcy, and I think there is a bit of disappointment that this is going to be a possibly ongoing challenge.
Kevin Jones
REGIONAL PRESIDENT Huntington Bank
Jones joined Huntington in 2013 as a business development leader before taking over the Southern Ohio-Kentucky Region. The Columbus-based company is the fi fth-largest local bank with $4.2 billion in deposits. A fi ve-year, $20 billion program will provide access to capital, housing and home ownership, and community lending and investment in its markets.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Miami University (undergraduate) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? A sense of cautious optimism. We’ve worked hard to adapt to a new style of work, which means supporting our clients and each other in new ways. There’s still a lot of uncertainty, but we’re prepared to evolve to continue serving clients and our teams as safely as possible.
Arthur Kremer
PRESIDENT AND CEO Sharefax Credit Union
Kremer leads the company founded in 1960 by employees of the Ford Motor plants in Sharonville and Fairfax. The Clermont County-based operation, which has about $435 million in assets, serves more than 32,000 members and 400 companies and organizations. It opened new headquarters and a branch offi ce in Eastgate in April.
Michael Prescott
REGIONAL PRESIDENT U.S. Bank
Prescott has led the local market of the Minneapolis-based bank since 2011. U.S. Bank is No. 1 in local deposits with more than $80 billion, and it employs more than 3,000 people at its 100 locations in Greater Cincinnati. Prescott was formerly regional group president for Huntington Bank and the head of the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority before joining U.S. Bank.
Rick Ross
CEO Summit Funding Group
Summit is an equipment financing and leasing company with a portfolio of more than $4 billion in equipment lease and finance originations. It was founded by Ross, Harry Yeaggy, and Louis Beck (the latter two own Union and Guardian savings banks) in 1993. The firm focuses on the technology, material handling, and construction sectors such as cranes, forklifts, and scissor lifts. It posted $300 million in 2020 revenue.
Maribeth Rahe
PRESIDENT AND CEO Fort Washington Investment Advisors
Rahe has led the subsidiary of Western & Southern Financial Group since 2003. Fort Washington celebrated its 30th anniversary last year and manages more than $70 billion in assets for its clients. Rahe was previously President of United States Trust of New York and was featured in Vanity Fair’s “America’s Most Influential Women: 200 Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers.”
Hometown: Evanston, Illinois Education: Bowling Green State University (undergraduate), Thunderbird School of Global Management (MBA) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? Everyone feels unsettled, though that’s different for each of us. While life was far better this summer than last summer, COVID still looms over us. Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? We need to connect more effectively and frequently than ever before, but we’re encouraged by how far we’ve come this past year.
Mark Ryan
OHIO VALLEY MARKET EXECUTIVE Merrill Lynch Wealth Management
Ryan has led the local office of the division of the Bank of America subsidiary since 2016. He manages about 270 financial advisors, analysts, and investment and client associates at offices in Kenwood, Ft. Mitchell, downtown Cincinnati, and Dayton, Ohio. David Singer, managing partner of the Evelo/Singer/Sullivan Group at Merrill, was named the No. 1 wealth advisor in Ohio by Forbes magazine in March.
Jon Ramey
MARKET HEAD UBS Wealth Management
Ramey leads the company’s operations in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Indiana from its Kenwood office. In April, Allen Zaring IV and Tim Bayer joined USB to create the Families & Foundations Investment Group, and former Merrill Lynch advisor Casey Marsh moved three colleagues to the firm to form Executive Wealth Partners with UBS advisor Rick Corman.
Hometown: Crawfordsville, Indiana Education: Wright State University (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Initially it was equipping and transitioning 400 staff accustomed to working in an office location to a remote-only environment. Our firm has adopted a policy that currently allows our employees to choose whether they work remotely or in the office, which has been well-received by our workforce but presents its own unique set of challenges as we’re a client-facing business.
Jay Sigler
CEO Cinfed Credit Union
Sigler joined the company in 2002 and was named to lead the firm in 2011. Noreene Morgan was named board chair this year, replacing Leroy Miller, who served for 11 years. Cinfed, founded in 1934, has more than $625 million in assets and more than 38,000 members in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Hometown: Wooster, Ohio Education: Bowling Green State University (undergraduate and MBA) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Besides the increased number of unique situations to address due to the pandemic, the toughest challenge has been balancing the needs of our members with the well-being of our employees. Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? I have worked more collaboratively with members of my team to address all the issues associated with guiding an organization through a pandemic.
Daniel Sutton
PRESIDENT AND CEO Kemba Credit Union
Sutton, the former Chief Operating Officer, has led the company since 2018. It traces its roots to 1934, when employees organized the Kroger Employees Mutual Benefit Association. The company has added realty, insurance, and consumer resources services over the years as it’s grown to more than $1 billion in assets, serving more than 100,000 members from 10 branch offices.
Hometown: Indianapolis Education: Mount St. Joseph University (undergraduate and master’s) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? I believe they’re optimistic we’ve turned the corner and that brighter days are ahead. I imagine that they, like me, are trying to figure out the new normal. Will things ever go back to what they were pre-pandemic? And will we ever feel 100 percent safe?
Mary Svitkovich
GENERAL MANAGER / REGIONAL CO-LEADER Fidelity Investments
Svitkovich was named a Senior Vice President in 2020 and has worked for the Boston-based financial services giant for 26 years. It has more than 2,200 brokers and almost 4,700 employees in this region providing investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, and benefits outsourcing. In August, it announced that it would add more than 930 new jobs before the end of the year.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Miami University (undergraduate) Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? I’ve been making a focused effort to connect with associates more frequently since we lost the ability to catch up in the hallways or over coffee. What hasn’t changed is my commitment to our associates knowing the work they do matters every single day.
David Wallace
CEO Heritage Bank
Wallace replaced Chris Caddell, who died suddenly in April 2020, at the Erlanger-based regional bank that was founded by Arthur Caddell in 1990. In 2019, it signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights to the former U.S. Bank Arena, now Heritage Bank Center, downtown. It has $1 billion in local deposits and 17 locations in Kentucky and two in Ohio (Mason and Montgomery).
Hometown: Princeton, Kentucky Education: University of Kentucky (undergraduate), Northern Kentucky University (J.D.) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? We rose to the occasion, demonstrating agility, efficiency, consistency and great customer service to process more PPP loans for businesses based in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky than any other locally owned, independent community bank.
Barbara A. Turner President and Chief Executive Officer
Ohio National Financial Services
We salute Barbara Turner for being named to the Cincinnati 300. Thank you for your leadership and contributions to our community.
One Financial Way | Cincinnati, OH 45242 | 513.794.6100 | ohionational.com
T-700979 9-21
