DHR Places Chief Trust Officer at BMO Private Bank
November 17, 2017 – DHR International has recruited former Fifth Third Bank executive Amy Griman as chief trust officer of BMO Private Bank in Chicago. Leading the search was Carol Hartman, the search firm’s managing partner of financial services North America, along with partner Melissa Hatfield.
“BMO Private Bank was seeking a leader who could create a culture of growth and client service,” said Ms. Hartman. “Candidates found this to be an attractive role because its scope, specific mandates for this person and the culture and reputation of the organization.”
Ms. Griman brings with her a wealth of experience in financial services. She previously served as regional trust director overseeing Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee for Firth Bank. She also held the role of investment advisors market executive and wealth planner for several years with Fifth Third where she acted as a relationship manager and fiduciary advisor for trust administration and estate planning.
Previously, Ms. Griman worked for 15 years for JPMorgan Private Wealth (formerly Bank One Trust Company) in Indianapolis, first as vice president and trust officer, then estate settlement director, and finally as market director for the Indianapolis division. She also served as a regional team leader and financial planning specialist for Merrill Lynch, where she led a six-person team for the Midwest region. In 2000, she began her career as an associate attorney for Galbraith & McMains, where she established its estate planning and administration.
When asked what types of backgrounds the company sought in its chief trust officer, Ms. Hartman said previous leadership in a “trust company,” so that the successful candidate would bring technical leadership and context to BMO. She said the company also wanted “some previous experience working with bankers and other sales professionals to anticipate their needs and client priorities to better align the trust company to respond to BMO clients.”
New Officer Titles Continue to Flood the C-Suite
While the corporate ladder may no longer be so steep for some, many workers still think they deserve a promotion — and this is leading companies to feel pressured to hand out ‘better’ titles to make up-and-coming staff feel more valued.
BMO Private Bank is the private banking arm of Bank of Montreal. It offers individualized service through local offices and advisors throughout the U.S. The company is supported BMO Financial Group. BMO operates globally in major financial markets and trading areas in Canada and the United States, and has operations in 23 other jurisdictions in Asia and Europe.
The Recruiters
With more than 20 years of retained executive search experience, Ms. Hartman works with companies to develop talent acquisition strategies and place candidates with a diverse range of expertise and backgrounds in executive-level and board positions.
As leader of the firm’s global financial services practice, her team works with companies providing asset management, commercial and private banking, capital markets, risk/compliance, payments/financial tech and retirement income services. She also has worked with private equity, insurance, real estate and startup companies. Ms. Hartman is often retained to help clients in other industry segments recruit senior financial officers and board members. She was recently named a top producer of the firm.
Ms. Hatfield has nearly 20 years of leadership and strategy experience in agency and corporate recruiting environments. As an executive search leader, she has dedicated her career to helping companies solve complex talent and hiring challenges.
A Proliferation in C-Titles
For reasons not easily explained, a variety of new C-suite titles have been cropping up at businesses around the globe, according to a new report by search firm Odgers Berndtson and authored by business journalist Gary Mead. According to the report, executives climbing the corporate ladder are in hot pursuit of titles that include the words “chief” and “officer.” Among them: chief happiness officer, chief privacy officer, chief people officer, chief digital officer, chief knowledge officer, chief customer officer, chief luminary officer, chief innovation officer and chief observance officer.
Here’s a look at some searches for unique officer roles from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives.
Buffkin / Baker to lead search for new executive vice president and chief communications officer at Madison Square Garden
The CCO is responsible for all public relations, corporate communications, financial communications, proactive publicity activities and crisis communications efforts for the organization, as well as oversight of the VIP services.
DRG Executive Search retained by Shatterproof to lead search for new chief development officer
The CDO is a newly created role charged with developing and executing Shatterproof’s major individual, corporate and foundation fundraising strategy, said the search firm.
BSG Team Ventures placed Don Kelly as chief commercial officer (CCO) of Onyx CenterSource in Dallas
Mr. Kelly will be responsible for overseeing the company’s go-to-market strategy, identifying growth opportunities and ensuring the integrated commercial success of the organization.
The Bowdoin Group has placed health IT executive Thomas Schultz as chief growth officer at Evariant.
In his new position, Mr. Shultz will oversee Evariant’s revenue growth strategy and play a critical role in developing the company’s corporate, product, and go-to-market strategies.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
