- Push-out Score determined
- After less than three years in the position
- Accolades, praise, thanks and good wishes for Knitzer
- Rob Beck taking over
(exechange) — Greenville, South Carolina, March 26, 2020 — Peter Knitzer, chief executive of Regional Management, leaves. As announced by Regional Management Corp. in a news release on Thursday, March 26, 2020, Peter R. Knitzer leaves his post as chief executive officer at the consumer finance company after less than three years in the role, effective immediately.
Peter Knitzer’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Robert W. (Rob) Beck, most recently Chief Financial Officer of Regional Management Corp.
Michael S. Dymski, the company’s VP and Chief Accounting Officer, has been named interim Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. The company intends to engage an executive search firm to commence a search for a permanent CFO, and will consider both internal and external candidates.
“Long-term growth and digital initiatives”
Regional Management did not give an explicit reason for Peter Knitzer’s departure from the CEO post. Carlos Palomares, Chair of the Board of Directors of Regional Management Corp., said: “As we undertook our normal review of our long-term growth and digital initiatives, we determined that Rob is ideally suited to lead Regional moving forward as we scale our business and focus on further expanding our market share.”
Precise information regarding Peter Knitzer’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Succeeds”
Regional Management said: “Mr. Beck succeeds Peter R. Knitzer, effective immediately.”
Share price decline
The announcement follows a decline in Regional Management Corp.’s share price of 60% since June 2018.
Chaired by Carlos Palomares
Regional Management Corp. is chaired by Carlos Palomares.
Palomares has been a director of Regional since March 2012.
In the position of CEO since 2017
Peter Knitzer became CEO of the Company in 2017.
Knitzer has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Regional since May 2017.
From August 2016 until May 2017, Knitzer served as Chief Executive Officer of Regional.
He has also been a director of Regional since July 2015.
Before joining Regional, Knitzer acted as an advisor to financial services companies since 2013.
Prior to 2013, he served as Executive Vice President and head of the Payments group at CIBC and President and Director at E*TRADE Bank.
Prior to joining E*TRADE, Knitzer spent 14 years at Citigroup in various senior roles, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citibank North America; Business Head, Cross-Sell Customer Management for all Citigroup businesses; and EVP/Managing Director of Citi Cards, Citigroup’s leading global credit card business.
Knitzer has also previously held senior marketing positions at Chase Manhattan Bank, American Express, and Nabisco Brands.
He received his M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and his B.A. in Political Science from Brown University.
Knitzer also served as a Director for Habitat for Humanity from 2008 to 2014, including Board Chair from 2011 to 2013, and on the Advisory Board of Columbia University Business School’s Lang Center for Entrepreneurship from 2015 to 2018.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.
Read the full story in the exechange report 13.2020 ($).