- WIB PH
Huntington Bancshares' CEO Stephen Steinour makes few decisions without first consulting his chief risk officer, Helga Houston.
September 22 -
In a milestone for our annual reputation survey, eight regional banks achieved 'excellent' scores, partly because of a renewed focus on doing what's best for the customer, even at the expense of their bottom lines. Big banks lost some of the momentum they had, but none remain in the 'weak' zone.
June 25 -
On top of dealing with cyber threats and other potential dangers to banks, CROs are deeply involved these days in discussions over investing in new products and business lines.
July 5
Helga Houston
Chief Risk Officer, Huntington Bancshares
More is expected of all chief risk officers these days given the heightened regulatory scrutiny across the industry. But Helga Houston's responsibilities extend beyond those of most CROs.
Case in point: Houston chairs the committee that evaluates new products and services at Huntington Bancshares. Her job is to ensure whatever products Huntington plans to introduce are consistent with its risk appetite and its philosophy to treat customers fairly.
Houston also helped create a new customer advocacy team. Its goal is to facilitate quick responses to complaints and improve the customer experience.
"Since joining Huntington in 2011, Helga has focused on continuously improving our risk management results through her involvement in practically every issue that can affect Huntington's mission and reputation," Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Steinour says.
Houston also has more familiar duties, such as running Huntington's enterprise risk management program and overseeing its annual stress tests.
The results speak for themselves. This year the Columbus, Ohio, company showed a lower level of cumulative loan losses than any of the 16 other regional banks required to undergo the stress tests.
On the customer front, Huntington has ranked No. 1 in its region for customer satisfaction for two years running, according to J.D. Power. It also enjoys a strong reputation, our annual Survey of Bank Reputations shows.
