Dive Brief:
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USAA, which provides insurance, banking and retirement solutions to military members and veterans, named Jeff Wallace its new CFO on Tuesday. "It's a tremendous honor to join the USAA team," Wallace said in a statement. "Our mission is inspiring, as are the talented employees in the Chief Financial Office, and I am eager to begin working with them in serving USAA and our membership."
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Wallace joins San Antonio, Texas-based USAA from Bank of America, where he most recently served as the CFO of the Consumer Banking and Global Wealth and Investment Management business. In the role, he led the re-engineering of Bank of America's financial systems, forecasting and planning processes. Wallace brings "significant financial knowledge and leadership, industry experience and strong advocacy for developing individuals and teams," USAA CEO Wayne Peacock said in the release.
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Wallace succeeds former CFO Laura Bishop, who announced her retirement in February, following nearly two decades at USAA.
Dive Insight:
"USAA's mission-driven approach to business is very appealing," Wallace wrote in an email. "Although the pandemic creates unique challenges, my experience leading large finance teams through significant market and economic difficulties should serve me well at USAA.
Wallace's background in banking and investments has given him "significant experience streamlining work processes and simplifying organization strategies, as well as working with federal regulators," the company said.
He began his career as vice president of finance at Fidelity Investments, before serving as CFO of Americas Asset Management for Deutsche Bank. Later, he moved to the CFO role of the independent brokerage group within Wachovia Securities, before landing at Bank of America, where, for 13 years, he served in a variety of roles, including controller, CFO of global technology and operations, and CFO of global infrastructure.
Wallace also brings experience with diversity and inclusion efforts; he served as a member of the Corporate Advisory Board for nonprofit Association of Latino Professionals for America.
Wallace has had a fully virtual onboarding, but said USAA's brand, reputation and mission focus "consistently and clearly came through" in his conversations with others in the company. "I can't tell you how eager I am to meet with everyone in person as soon as I'm able to," he added.
One of Wallace's top priorities in the new role will be to engage with his team as frequently as possible, he wrote. "We'll leverage video technology to continue to foster a sense of community within the CFO organization."