Scott Burns: Learning how to retire

Good morning. Betsy Ward, the first woman to become CFO at MassMutual, will retire at the end of this year—after 30 years at the company.
But MassMutual, a Fortune 500 company, will still have a woman at the helm of finance. Mary Jane (MJ) Fortin was named the next CFO, effective Jan. 1. Fortin was previously the president and chief commercial officer at Thrivent Financial, a Fortune 500 company. Before that, she served as president of Allstate Financial and led the development and execution of the go-to-market strategy for the life insurance, retirement, and benefits businesses.
Fortin’s 35 years of experience in the financial services industry “will be invaluable” to the company, Roger Crandall, MassMutual chairman, president and CEO said in a statement.
She will succeed Ward who over the years, worked in several leadership positions, including chief enterprise risk officer and chief actuary at MassMutual before becoming CFO in 2016.
MassMutal CFO Betsy Ward. Courtesy of MassMutual
“Betsy has played a key role in leading MassMutual through periods of unprecedented growth, serving as a driving force across multiple transformative transactions to help deliver long-term value to our policy owners,” Roger Crandall, MassMutual chairman, president and CEO said in a statement. During this time, the company reached “record levels of capital and maintained excellent financial strength and flexibility,” Crandall said.
As a pioneering leader at MassMutual, I asked Ward if she had any advice for young women beginning a career in finance. “Remain intellectually curious and work on technical skills to learn the drivers of the business in detail,” Ward said. “This detailed learning will help later in your career with strategic decision-making.”
I asked her how businesses can create a talent pipeline that will lead to more women in leadership roles. A commitment to meritocracy and development, she told me.
“When it comes to meritocracy, I believe that organizations must be clear with objective metrics about success as well as managers’ thoughtful distribution of opportunities for all employees to prove themselves,” according to Ward. And there has to be a commitment to development that will help women’s trajectory through the talent pipeline and into senior roles, she said.
“We need to help our female colleagues gain more of a strategic perspective,” Ward said. And encourage relationship building with others who can support that perspective.
Regarding building a pipeline for women leaders in finance, it takes investment that should align with the financial roadmap and the company’s mission, she explained. “Finance needs to communicate numbers into a clear message that inspires our colleagues to align and set goals that reinforce our strategy,” Ward said.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Upcoming event: Join us for our next Emerging CFO event, presented in partnership with Workday, on Nov. 20, 11 a.m. to noon ET. The topic is “Staying ahead in a hypercompetitive market.” In this virtual discussion, we will sit down with top CFOs who are taking bold risks to outpace their competitors, and investing in innovation and data-driven insights to lead their industries. Speakers will include Antonio Carlos Garcia, EVP and CFO of Embraer and Claire McDonough, CFO of Rivian. You can register for the event here.
The following sections of CFO Daily were curated by Greg McKenna
Leaderboard
Some notable moves this week:
Mahmoud Reza Banki is the new chief financial officer of Elon Musk’s X Corp, a social media platform. Banki, a former CFO and chief strategy officer at Tubi, ending his tenure in July 2023, joined X in November, according to his LinkedIn page. Banki was pardoned by former President Donald Trump in January 2021 in a case in which he was charged for making false statements in 2010, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
Travis Swenson was appointed CFO of Two Harbors Investment Corporation (NYSE: TWO), a mortgage REIT, effective May 5. Prior to that date, he will serve as deputy to interim CFO William Dellal, who will then resign from the role. Swenson arrives from Colliers Mortgage Holdings, where he had served as CFO since 2020.
Lance Tucker was named CFO of Jack in the Box Inc. (Nasdaq: JACK), effective Jan. 13. Tucker is currently CFO of Davidson Hospitality Group while having also served as CFO at CKE Restaurants Inc. and Papa John’s International, Inc. Tucker previously served as CFO of Jack in the Box from March 2018 to July 2020.
Arlen Shenkman was named CFO at technology company UKG, effective Jan. 6. Shenkman has more than 25 years of experience as a global technology executive. Previously, Shenkman was EVP and CFO of Citrix Systems, Inc., and he held multiple executive roles at SAP, including CFO of SAP North America and EVP and global head of business development and ecosystems.
Cathy W. Liles was promoted to CFO of Old Point Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: OPOF), as well as EVP and CFO of Old Point National Bank, effective immediately. She has served as the Virginia bank’s interim CFO since July after joining the company in May as SVP and chief accounting officer.
James Richardson was appointed CFO and chief accounting officer of Inspired Entertainment (Nasdaq: INSE), a gaming technology company, effective Jan. 1. He arrives from Manchester Airports Group, where he served as group commercial finance director.
Julie Whalen has agreed to step down from her role as CFO of online travel company Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE), effective upon her appointment of a successor, and has also resigned from the company’s board of directors. She will remain with the company through Feb. 17 to facilitate a smooth transition, Expedia said.
Karian Wong was promoted to CFO of iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT), the maker of robotic floor vacuum Roomba, effective Dec. 2. She will succeed Julie Zeiler, who will retire and is expected to remain with the company in an advisory role through Mar. 28, 2025.
Big Deal
The value of bank mergers and acquisitions through the first ten months of 2024 have already surpassed that of all such deals in both 2022 and 2023, respectively, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
There have been 108 U.S. bank deals worth $13.07 billion announced through Oct. 31, including 14 transactions last month. That included Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp. buying fellow mid-Atlantic lender Sandy Spring Bancorp for $1.6 billion, the year’s third-largest bank deal. Three of the October deals involved credit union buyers.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“How Elon Musk became the most powerful person in business,” by Jessica Mathews
“60 direct reports, but no 1-on-1 meetings: How an unconventional leadership style helped Jensen Huang of Nvidia become one of the most powerful people in business,” by Jeremy Khan
“Here’s what comes next for Tapestry and Capri after the death of their major fashion merger,” by Phil Wahba
“One thing Trump needs from Ukraine? Its anti-drone tech,” by Andriy Dovbenko
Overheard
“The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates. The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully.”
— Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, said in prepared remarks for a speech in Dallas following the central bank’s quarter-point cut last week, the Associated Press reported.