Allison Dukes' career took an unexpected turn in 2009.
After climbing the ranks as an investment banker with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, she became a managing director, overseeing originations for syndicated finance. Then the financial crisis hit.
SunTrust survived the collapse of the subprime mortgage bubble, but its exposure to the Florida housing market left it deeply wounded. To remain viable it had to overhaul its balance sheet and needed someone to spearhead that effort.
"I raised my hand," Dukes told American Banker. "And, honestly, people thought I was a little crazy."
Dukes had no experience working in bank finance. The position would mean a pay cut and no guarantee that she would return to investment banking once the dust settled. But she credits the experience with setting the course for the rest of her career.
"I would have never been asked to be CFO later had I not done that," Dukes said.
The shift also provided something even rarer for Dukes: more time with her family. With a toddler at home and a second child on the way, she was beginning to feel the crush of being on the road four nights a week. The balance sheet manager position, while demanding in its own right, offered predictability.
"I would be able to get home at night. I may still be working when I was there, but at least I knew I was getting home," Dukes said. "It gave me just a little more control over where I would be every day, and that was incredibly valuable at that time."
Dukes went on to lead SunTrust's private wealth management group, then its commercial and business banking unit before becoming CFO in 2018. From there she helped orchestrate the merger of equals between SunTrust and BB&T, a $28 billion transaction that created Truist.
Dukes then found herself at another pivotal moment. The bank was transitioning to its new headquarters in Charlotte, but she wanted to remain in Atlanta with her family and her charitable endeavors. After two decades with SunTrust she left to try something new.
A wide open job search took her to Invesco — and, unknowingly, into another crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic was just getting underway as she became the firm's CFO. Her first day on the job was spent negotiating collateral calls. Four days later, the company was fully remote.
Dukes described 2020 as the hardest year of her life. She came into the role intent on deleveraging the bank, but its debt issues came to a head almost immediately. Invesco had to cut its dividend 45 days in. Its share price plummeted. But, Dukes — drawing on her previous crisis experience — was able to steer through the storm.
Eventually she was able to shrink the balance sheet from $39.4 billion in 2020 to $27.4 billion today, dropping $2 billion of total debt while doubling the firm's assets under management to $2.2 trillion.
"I'm grateful for the challenges. I'm grateful for the things I might not have chosen, whether it's a financial crisis or a merger that created a big fork in the road to force me to make some really big decisions. When the hard stuff comes your way, it's an opportunity to emerge stronger, better, more thoughtful, more mature and just a better leader," Dukes said. "What I try to do now is help others see their defining moments in their careers, the moments when their trajectories can be altered in a really positive way and help them embrace those challenges."
