Fifth Third CEO Tim Spence adds chairman title

Emily Elconin/Bloomberg

Several Fifth Third Bancorp executives will have new responsibilities after ringing in the new year.

The moves included naming Tim Spence, CEO of the Cincinnati, Ohio, bank, as chairman starting Jan. 2, Fifth Third announced on Tuesday. He joined Fifth Third in 2015 and was named CEO last year.

Spence is replacing Nick Akins, who will continue as the bank's lead independent director, according to the statement.

The bank's board members also approved the promotion of Chief Financial Officer Jamie Leonard to chief operating officer. Since joining Fifth Third in 1999, Leonard has served in various financial leadership positions, including as CFO and chief risk officer. With his new duties, he will oversee consumer lending and retail banking at the $213 billion-asset institution. 

Replacing Leonard as CFO will be Bryan Preston, who has worked at Fifth Third for nearly two decades and currently serves as the bank's treasurer. Brennen Willingham will take the treasurer position after serving as the bank's managing director for capital, liquidity and corporate development. 

All of these changes will also take effect on Jan. 2. 

Shuffling the leadership roster seems "logical" for Fifth Third and "validates" the bank's direction, Scott Siefers, a managing director at Piper Sandler, wrote in an analyst note.

The bank's executive leadership under Spence is continuing to execute on a vision for Fifth Third that began during the tenure of former CEO Greg Carmichael, who retired from Fifth Third in July 2022, Siefers said in an interview.

In recent years, Fifth Third has managed a healthy risk profile while positioning itself against rising interest rates and limiting higher expenses, he added.

Consumer lending

Fifth Third eyes loan growth following strong 3Q credit performance

October 19, 2023 10:45 PM

The bank is continuing to grow its market share and branch network by expanding in the Southeast U.S. while capitalizing on digital-banking trends by acquiring fintech companies, including Big Data Healthcare, Dividend Finance and Provide, according to Siefers.

During the third quarter, Fifth Third limited net charge-offs in its consumer banking business to $60 million, which was an uptick of just three basis points from the second quarter. It achieved that by focusing on lending to homeowners, a segment that's less impacted by high inflation, the company said.

The bank has also managed to curb its exposure to commercial real estate, with higher-risk and delinquent loans in that portfolio improving during the third quarter.

"Across the board, they get high marks for the transformation that Fifth Third has undergone over the last several years," Siefers said. "The bank has gone in a lot of different directions, which has set the company up for success, no matter the externalities."