Moving up: Christopher Smith, The Hartford
CFO Christopher Swift has been promoted to CEO at The Hartford Financial Services Group, succeeding Liam McGee. The promotion takes effect on July 1 for Swift, who came to the firm in 2010 from American International Group (AIG). In an October 2013 article in CFO, Swift discussed how he and McGee went about rescuing the company from the doldrums after the worst of the recession had passed.
Byron Pollitt Jr., finance chief of Visa, plans to retire in the next 12 months. Pollitt, who has headed finance for seven years, will aid in the search for his replacement.
3M has promoted Nicholas Gangestad to the top finance spot. He takes over from David Meline, who is leaving the company. Gangestad has been at 3M for 27 years, the past three as chief accounting officer and corporate controller.
Jeffrey Henderson plans to retire from the top finance spot at Cardinal Health at the end of fiscal year 2015. The company plans to announce his replacement by the end of this calendar year.
Christine Laurens has been named finance chief at A.T. Kearney. Laurens, formerly vice president of global finance, joined the firm in 2002 as finance director of Southwest Europe.
Rent-A-Center has appointed Guy Constant CFO, executive vice president-finance and treasurer, effective June 16. Formerly, Constant worked at Brinker International, where he most recently was CFO and president of global business development.
Helicopter-services provider Bristow Group has named John Briscoe to lead the finance function. He takes over from Jonathan Baliff, who has been named president and CEO. Previously, Briscoe headed finance at Weatherford International.
Alex Weiss has been promoted to finance chief at Mattress Firm Holding, effective July 30, succeeding Jim Black. He has been at the retailer since last year and is now senior vice president of finance.
Balchem has promoted William Backus to the top finance spot. He replaces Frank Fitzpatrick, who will become vice president, administration, a newly created position. Backus joined the company as corporate controller in 2006, and was named chief accounting officer and assistant treasurer in 2011.
Don Norsworthy has been selected to head finance at Accent Marketing Services. Most recently, he was CFO of CKS Packaging.
