Crist|Kolder Associates Recruits CFO for Allstate
August 14, 2026 – Crist|Kolder Associates has recruited Christian Lown as executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Allstate Corporation. “Chris’s leadership and capital markets expertise will enable us to continue increasing Property-Liability market share and expand protection provided to customers,” said Tom Wilson, president and CEO of The Allstate Corporation.
With more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in finance and capital markets, Mr. Lown has led organizations through growth, transformation and complex market environments. He joins Allstate from CoStar Group, where he served as CFO and led finance, investor relations, business development and facilities. Mr. Lown previously served as CFO at Freddie Mac and Navient Corporation, following senior finance roles at Morgan Stanley and UBS.
“Allstate’s purpose, strategy and execution have led it to be ranked among the world’s best-managed companies,” said Mr. Lown. “I am thrilled to be joining this team.”
The Allstate Corporation is a publicly traded U.S. insurance holding company and one of the country’s largest providers of personal property and casualty insurance. Founded in 1931, Allstate primarily offers auto and homeowners insurance, along with other protection products and services through its subsidiaries and affiliated brands. The company distributes its products through agents, direct-to-consumer channels, and digital platforms, serving individuals and households across the United States.
Crist|Kolder Associates focuses on CEO, CFO, COO, board of directors and succession search for a broad range of industries. The firm has filled line management and board positions for more than 100 clients relying on what it calls “the intellectual capital” of its senior partners and professional team. Given the strength of the firm’s CFO practice, Crist|Kolder has also established a strong position in finance #2 searches, including treasurers, controllers, group CFOs, IROs, CAEs and others.
The Expanding CFO Mandate
As business complexity increases across industries, the office of the CFO is experiencing a significant transformation. Traditionally focused on financial stewardship, today’s CFO organizations are evolving into enterprise-wide strategic drivers—supporting growth, overseeing risk, enabling transformation, and acting as key partners to the CEO and board. With the CFO role increasingly viewed as a pathway to the CEO position, the structure, capabilities, and leadership within the finance function are being reshaped. This shift has important implications for how organizations design their finance teams, cultivate future leaders, and attract the next generation of CFO talent.
Related: Crist|Kolder Associates Recruits CFO for Howmet Aerospace
Clem Johnson, president of Crist|Kolder Associates, recently sat down with Hunt Scanlon Media to discuss how the CFO role has evolved from a traditional finance function into a central driver of strategy, transformation, and value creation across today’s organizations.
Crist|Kolder Places CFO at Mondelēz International
Crist|Kolder Associates has placed Amit Banati as executive vice president and chief financial officer of NASDAQ-traded Mondelēz International in Chicago. He will report directly to Dirk Van de Put, chair and CEO, and will be a member of the Mondelēz International leadership team. “Amit is a highly experienced CFO who brings a strong blend of financial leadership and commercial acumen spanning multiple consumer businesses,” Mr. Van de Put said. “His track record of delivering results and building talent across large, global businesses as a CFO, alongside his breadth of general management and emerging market experience, will provide important perspective to our leadership team. I look forward to working with him to deliver against our strategic growth agenda.” Mr. Banati most recently served as CFO of Kenvue, Inc.
“I think the best CFOs share three traits that allow them to be successful regardless of ownership structure,” Mr. Johnson said. “The first is contextual adaptability. They understand what matters when. PE rewards speed, focus, and cash discipline. Public markets reward consistency, narrative, and credibility that comes through executing reliably on the longer-term vision. As we said earlier, great CFOs are incredibly well-rounded and are the central nervous system of most organizations. As such, they can adapt as challenges arise without losing authenticity, which engenders trust in the investment thesis, whether it’s with private equity sponsors or institutional investors.”
“The second is the ability to separate signal from noise,” Mr. Johnson. “CFOs are inundated with data. The ability to cut through all of the static to find the most reliable source of truth is essential. A necessary corollary to this is the discernment to execute with imperfect or incomplete information.”
“The third is narrative fluency,” Mr. Johnson continued. “They can tell a coherent story about where they are on the value creation path, strategic trade-offs, and long-term direction, even when things go sideways in a given quarter or the data is imperfect. This combination is surprisingly rare and incredibly valuable. CFOs who possess these traits also maximize career optionality – great talent flows from PE to public and back again.”
To read the full interview, click here!
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
