Women CFOs in Banking and Finance

December 30, 2022 11:48 AM

The eight women on this list hold the top financial position at their banks and financial institutions. Ashley Comstock at Vectra Bank Colorado was one of the youngest women in banking to become a chief financial officer, while Irene Oh at East West Bank is one of the few Asian American women to be the CFO of a publicly traded American bank.

The list is presented in alphabetical order.

Kate Burke, CFO and COO

AllianceBernstein
Assets: $778 billion

In June, AllianceBernstein appointed Kate Burke to take over the role of chief financial officer in addition to her role as chief operating officer. Burke now oversees finance, strategy and responsibility, and will continue to oversee all corporate functions. She was in charge of the firm's headquarters move to Nashville and now lives in Tennessee.

Read her full profile.

Ashley Comstock, EVP and CFO

Vectra Bank Colorado
Assets:$3.5 billion

After a stint at Deloitte in audit management, Ashley Comstock said that she "fell in love with banking" when she joined Vectra Bank in 2012. During her 10-year career at Vectra—a Denver-based division of Zions Bancorp—she has been promoted three times, and assumed the position of its chief financial officer at just 33 years old.

Read her full profile.

Hope Dmuchowski, CFO

First Horizon
Assets:$89 billion

Hope Dmuchowski joined First Horizon in November 2021 from Truist Bank, where she was the head of financial planning and analysis and management reporting. She helped First Horizon achieve $100 million in cost savings and $45 million in revenues as a result of the merger with IberiaBank. Dmuchowski is playing a leading role in TD Bank's acquisition of First Horizon. The merger, which is currently being scrutinized by federal regulators, would create a top-six bank in the U.S. by assets.

Read her Top Team profile.

Peggy Esparza, CFO

Texas Trust Credit Union
Assets: $2 billion

Peggy Esparza became chief financial officer with no transition time when Texas Trust Credit Union's previous CFO took leave. "I was already overseeing the implementation of a new budgeting system as we entered a second pandemic year," said Esparza, who entered the workforce 27 years ago with, in her words, "no professional ambition or desire to attend college" — and has since become CFO with a master's degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Read her full profile.

Kavita Mahtani, CFO, Americas

HSBC North America Holdings
Assets: $241 billion

Last year, HSBC USA — as part of a three-year transformation to cut costs and streamline processes — made the decision to exit its U.S. mass market retail banking business. This ultimately meant selling 80 East Coast branches to Citizens Bank, and another 10 branches on the West Coast to Cathay Bank. Kavita Mahtani, CFO of the Americas for HSBC, played a crucial role in making these sales happen.

Read her full profile.

Irene Oh, CFO

East West Bank
Assets: $61 billion

Irene Oh has been the executive vice president and chief financial officer of East West Bank in Pasadena, California, since 2010. She is one of the few Asian American women, as well as one of the youngest women, to be the CFO of a publicly traded American bank. Under her leadership, the bank's total assets grew from $20 billion to $61 billion as of the end of 2021.

Read her full profile.

Emily Portney, CFO

BNY Mellon
Assets:$444 billion

Having run both businesses and client-relationship organizations, Emily Portney, chief financial officer of BNY Mellon, brings a well-rounded vision to her oversight of the firm's finance functions, which include tax, treasury, capital management and investor relations — where she regularly articulates and advocates the value of the franchise to the public.

Read her full profile.

Susan Williams, VP and CFO

WeStreet Credit Union
Assets: $930 million

Susan Williams learned how to solve complex problems in past roles in a variety of finance jobs at banks — and one other credit union — before joining WeStreet a decade ago. She put those skills to the test over the last year, leading the credit union's move into the less-common area of issuing secondary capital (subordinated debt). The option, available to low income-designated credit unions, required deep research, educating her board and creating new policies. It paid off. "We placed $10 million in capital to invest in infrastructure to support affordable housing in the Tulsa area," she said.

Read her full profile.