Ally Financial on Tuesday named PNC Financial Services Group executive Jennifer LaClair to replace Chris Halmy as chief financial officer.
LeClair, 46, will join Ally as CFO designate next week and officially succeed Halmy when he retires effective March 1, 2018. Halmy was appointed CFO in November 2013 after serving as corporate treasurer.
“Jenn brings significant experience from the financial services industry which will be key as we accelerate our growth and evolution as a leading digital financial services company, and we are pleased to welcome her to the Ally team,” Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown said in a news release. “
“Beyond her deep financial acumen is a strong cultural fit with the leadership team which will enable a seamless transition with Chris,” he added.
At PNC, LeClair has spent 10 years in business and finance roles, most recently as head of its business banking team. She was previously chief financial officer of PNC’s business units including Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Asset Management Group, Mortgage, and Non-Strategic Assets.
LeClair also consulted for McKinsey & Co. and, before obtaining a master’s in business administration at Case Western Reserve University, worked on economic development projects for a nonprofit, one of which provided aid to nomadic Bedouin women in Egypt.
“My attempts to create positive change in foreign countries challenged me beyond my own expectations,” she told Diversity Journal. “I learned about humility and resiliency, as well as my limitations as a leader.”
In Ally, she joins a financial technology company with $164 billion in assets that is the parent of the Ally Invest robo-advisory service as well as an online bank and internet-based auto lending business. Barron’s recently named it one of the top 10 stocks for 2018.
“Ally Financial is one of the cheapest sizable financial companies, even after a 49% gain this year,” Barron’s commented, noting that it has one of the largest online retail deposit franchises at $75 billion.
Brown praised Halmy’s contribution, calling him “a driving force in nearly every important and transformational initiative we’ve successfully undertaken as a company.”
