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Banking | Finance 2025: BRANCH, VICTOR K.
With more than 40 years of service at Bank of America, Branch has been president of the bank’s Richmond market since 2015. Bank of America reported $27.1 billion in net income in 2024 and employs 213,000 people globally. The immediate past chairman of the Virginia Bankers Association board and a William & Mary alum, Branch[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: BARKIN, THOMAS I.
Barkin has served as head of one of 12 regional Fed banks since 2018. Previously a voting member on the Fed’s powerful interest- setting Federal Open Market Committee in 2024, he rotated off in 2025. In May, Barkin told attendees at the Investing in Rural America Conference in Roanoke that the key to population and […]
Banking | Finance 2025: FAW, GWEN
Faw, who has worked at Wells Fargo for three decades, was named regional executive for the bank’s greater Virginia market, a territory that spans from Virginia Beach to Bristol, in 2024. A Bedford County resident, she is responsible for 93 branches and oversees more than 700 employees. Starting out as a bank teller in Bedfor[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: FOSTER III, WILLIAM I. ‘BILLY’
At TowneBank’s helm since 2023, Foster is steering the regional community bank through a financial growth period. On April 3, TowneBank announced plans to acquire Old Point Financial, parent company of Old Point National Bank of Phoebus, in a deal valued at $203 million. The merger is expected to enhance TowneBank’s positio[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: DI RITA, LAWRENCE ‘LARRY’
Di Rita has led the greater D.C. market for Bank of America since 2019. He’s also the bank’s head of global public policy. Bank of America posted $27.1 billion in net income in 2024, a 2.33% increase from 2023, and had $3.26 trillion in total assets, a 2.56% increase compared to 2023. Di Rita joined […]
Banking | Finance 2025: BERNERT III, LAWRENCE ‘LARRY’
After Clearstead Advisors, an Ohio-based financial advisory firm, acquired the assets of Norfolk-based Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management last year, Bernert’s job evolved from WST’s principal to senior managing director for Clearstead Advisory Solutions. Prior to the acquisition, WST boasted more than $5 billion of[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: FAIRBANK, RICHARD
After earning an economics degree and an MBA from Stanford University, Fairbank landed at Virginia’s Signet Bank, where he co-created the business that became Capital One, the Fortune Global 500 credit card giant. Fairbank became CEO in 1994 during Capital One’s initial public offering. In 2024, the bank reported $39.1 billi[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: ASBURY, JOHN C.
With more than 35 years of experience in banking, Asbury has led Atlantic Union since 2016. The Virginia Tech and William & Mary alumnus is also the 2024-25 chair of the American Bankers Association. In April, Atlantic Union Bankshares, the holding company for Atlantic Union Bank, completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of Sa[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: BENTLEY, JEFF
With more than three decades of experience in consumer and commercial lending, Bentley came to Northwest Federal Credit Union in 2014 from Florida’s Achieva Credit Union as senior vice president of lending. Three years later, the board promoted him to lead Virginia’s sixth largest credit union. Northwest, which has some 250,[...]
Banking | Finance 2025: ADAMS JR., RICHARD M.
In 2022, Adams became the 14th CEO of United Bank, which was founded in 1839 and previously run by both his father and grandfather. Adams didn’t join the family business immediately after earning a law degree at Washington and Lee University. Instead, he went to work as an associate at law firm Bowles Rice. In […]
Banking | Finance 2025: CASSADAY, STEPHAN Q.
Since Cassaday founded his Northern Virginia firm in 1993, it has grown from $40 million in assets under management to $6.3 billion. Today, Cassaday & Co. has 93 employees advising more than 3,100 households. Cassaday ranked No. 52 on Barron’s Top 100 Financial Advisors list. Last year, Cassaday & Co. was one of 10 fin[...]
