BankThink

Women in Banking: Shih's UBS Success Story; Banking's Power Couples

Financial and Emotional Wealth: Kathryn Shih, CEO of UBS Wealth Management Asia Pacific, attributes her success in part to understanding that wealth is an emotional topic; she is trusted to help plan clients' lives, those of their children and for generations. "Each has gotten to where they are with a remarkable story," she tells Barron's. Shih's story is remarkable too. Assets under management have more than quintupled at her unit of Switzerland's largest bank since shebecame CEO in 2002. This year, she plans to increase that figure another 20%. At the end of 2014, UBS was the leading private bank in the Asia Pacific with $272 billion in assets under management, up 10% from a year earlier. By the end of this year's second quarter, Shih's unit had more than 1,100 relationship managers, more than double the number employed by competitors Credit Suisse and Citi Private Bank at the end of 2014.

Risky Business: Many studies have determined that women are more risk-averse based on their likelihood to engage in activities like gambling. Does this mean risk aversion is a gender trait? Whatever business journals and executives gather from these studies, Nasdaq president Adena Friedman says a conservative approach should be celebrated and replicated among business leaders. "Couldn't the interpretation of the statistics indicate that women calculate risk more carefully and more judiciously, and isn't that a good thing?" she wrote in a Fortune opinion piece. Nevertheless, innovating and risk-taking are essential to any business and Friedman stresses the need to "fight the tendency to focus all of the attention on the risk associated with a new initiative."

#TheNew10: Plans to replace Alexander Hamilton on the new $10 bill are drawing further criticism from women in the economics and finance communities. To name a couple, Abby Joseph Cohen, president of Goldman Sachs Group's Global Markets Institute, and Carmen Reinhart, a Harvard University professor of international finance, said it would be more apt to put a woman on the (more widely circulated) $20 bill. "The financial structures [Hamilton] put in place, which were inappropriately denigrated by Andrew Jackson, have stood the test of time," Cohen said. "One cannot say the same for Jackson's legacy, which includes the horrific treatment of Native Americans." The $10 bill is due for a redesign and further counterfeiting protections. The Treasury plans to release it in 2020 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment, which extended voting rights to women. Many, including Cohen, have voiced their preference to put Eleanor Roosevelt on the new bill.

Trouble with TARP: Cecil Bancorp's chief executive, Terrie Spiro, who was brought in to lead the struggling Elkton, Md., company in 2013, spoke optimistically about its future in a recent interview with American Banker, saying the company is putting the finishing touches on a plan to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program. But the $323 million-asset Cecil has been ordered by federal regulators to raise more capital or sell itself. The Federal Reserve Board issued a prompt corrective action on Aug. 7.

Partners in Life, and Banking: American Banker highlights five husband-and-wife power couples running consistently high-performing banks together, including Georgia Derrico, chairman and CEO of McLean, Va.-based Sonabank and wife of president and COO Roderick Porter; Katherine Taylor, co-chairwoman of Oakland, Calif.-based Beneficial State Bancorp and wife of co-chairman Tom Steyer; Cynthia Blankenship, vice chairman and COO of Bank of the West in Grapevine, Texas and wife of CEO Gary Blankenship; Pamela Morrison, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of New Hampshire's Optima Bank and wife of chairman and CEO Daniel Morrison; and Judy Guttau, secretary to the board and director of community reinvestment at Treynor State Bank in Treynor, Iowa and wife of president and chairman Michael Guttau.

Role Call

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati has hired Heather Russell Koenig, a Bank of New York Mellon executive, as its chief legal officer. She will join Fifth Third on Sept. 28 to oversee legal affairs, government affairs and regulatory matters.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., has hired Julz Burgess, also a former BNY Mellon exec, as head of its corporate trust group, which is organized under the institutional services division of Regions' wealth management business.

CVB Financial in Ontario, Calif., has appointed Kristina Leslie, an entertainment industry vet, to its board. Before her retirement in 2007, she was CFO of DreamWorks Animation (and led the company through its $840 million IPO in 2004). She also worked in financial and strategic planning for Viacom.

Algonquin State Bank in Illinois has promoted Karen Villaflor to president and chief operating officer. She was previously executive vice president.

New York Community Bancorp in Westbury has named Leslie Dunn, a Federal Home Loan Bank director, to its board. She previously served on the advisory board of New York Community's Ohio Savings Bank division.

First Financial Northwest in Renton, Wash., appointed Kathleen Smythe to its board on Friday. Smythe was previously a managing director at Sandler O'Neill, where she advised banks and other financial services companies.

Eagle Bancorp Montana in Helena has named Tanya Chemodurow and Shavon Cape directors of the holding company and its bank subsidiary, Opportunity Bank of Montana. Chemodurow owns a contracting company, Abatement Contractors of Montana. Cape is a co-founder of JWT Capital, a holding company that specializes in real estate and hotel development.

United Bancshares in Columbus Grove, Ohio, has found a replacement for its departing CFO Diana Englehardt. Anthony Eramo will begin Sept. 5 as CFO of the $629 million-asset company and its subsidiary, Union Bank Co. Engelhardt recently announced plans to step down after three years in the job.

MW Bancorp in Cincinnati is looking for a new chief financial officer as Jill Ulrich plans to resign on Sept. 30. She became MW's CFO in April. Previously, she was the controller for the National Bank & Trust in Wilmington, Ohio.

Beyond Banking

Baby Benefits Bonanza: Accenture is the latest company to announce more generous family leave benefits, striving to be even more accommodating to new parents and primary caregivers. The firm now allows them to work locally for the year after their return instead of having to fly off for business engagements. The move follows IBM, KKR & Co., Adobe Systems, Microsoft and Netflix in the competition to attract and retain female talent, but as Bloomberg News' Sheelah Kolhatkar points out, "the ability to be both a parent and an employee is largely dependent on the benevolence of whichever private corporation one happens to work for." Further, Anne Weisberg, senior vice president at the Families and Work Institute, says the trend in family leave policies demonstrates "a workplace culture that stresses total availability and ignores the impact that work has on women's roles at home."

A Female Mosque Isn't Built in a Day: In the English town of Bradford, Bana Gora is endeavoring to open the country's first female-run and managed mosque within the next three years. Gora, the co-founder and chief executive of the Muslim Woman's Council, said she is planning bed spaces for women, refugees and asylum seekers, as well as counseling, support services and an open forum for issues like domestic violence. Further, she wants "to have female scholar training because all the female scholars coming through the Islamic boarding schools are either getting married or not furthering their education." While she expects mostly women to fill the mosque, it will be open to everyone, as the aim is not to be divisive or controversial, but conflict is inevitable and she's already faced resistance from one female Muslim Member of Parliament who doesn't want even more gender segregation. "Because of the parochial, patriarchal views that are held by our elders, they seem pretty determined not to have female representation on their executive boards," Gora said.

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