Meta Financial Group, Inc. Announces Executive Change
September 07, 2021 at 04:10 pm EDT
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Meta Financial Group, Inc. announced that Brad Hanson, President and CEO of the Company and Co-President and CEO of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary MetaBank, N.A., has informed the Company’s Board of Directors of his intention to focus on entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors and retire from Meta. The Board of Directors has appointed Brett Pharr, currently Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of MetaBank, as incoming CEO of the Company and of MetaBank, N.A. He will also be appointed as a member of the Boards of Directors of the Company and MetaBank. Anthony Sharett, currently EVP and Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Corporate Secretary of the Company and MetaBank, will step into the role of President of the Company and MetaBank. To help ensure a smooth transition, Mr. Hanson will continue in his current position through September 30, 2021, when his retirement will become effective, and he will remain on the Company’s Board until the next annual stockholders’ meeting, expected to take place in February 2022. He also will serve as a Strategic Advisor to Meta and the Boards on industry and partner relations until the end of 2022.
Mr. Hanson joined the Company in 2004 to found Meta Payment Systems and served as President of that business until 2013, when he was named President of Meta Financial Group and MetaBank. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in October 2018. Upon retirement, Mr. Hanson will, among other things, work on a forthcoming initiative, in which Meta will be a partner through its venture capital arm, to provide more efficient cross-border remittance between the United States and Mexico for underbanked customers. Mr. Pharr was appointed Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of MetaBank in June 2020 and, prior to that, served as the EVP, Group Head of Governance, Risk, and Compliance for the Company and Meta. A trusted and collaborative leader, Mr. Pharr brings over 35 years of experience in large, complex financial institutions to the CEO role, having held roles of increasing responsibility at Bank of America and Citizens Bank. He has led Commercial, Consumer and M&A operations, and is also a recognized specialist in optimized risk management and regulatory compliance frameworks. Mr. Sharett was appointed Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Corporate Secretary in June 2020 and, prior to that, served as General Counsel of Meta. Mr. Sharett brings both business leadership as well as risk and compliance expertise to the President role. Before joining the Company, he held legal and business unit leadership positions at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Previously, he was a partner at BakerHostetler where he was the national co-leader of the firm’s Financial Services Practice Group.
Pathward Financial, Inc. is a financial holding company. The Company's subsidiary is Pathward, National Association (the Bank). The Bank operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. The Consumer segment includes the banking as a service (BaaS) business line, which collaborates with partners to navigate payment and lending needs. The Bank's capabilities range from prepaid cards and deposit accounts to payment processing and consumer lending. The Bank offers a variety of installment and revolving consumer lending products through its credit solutions. The Commercial segment offers a variety of products through its working capital, equipment finance, structured finance and insurance premium finance lending solutions. The Corporate Services/Other segment includes certain shared services as well as treasury related functions, such as the investment portfolio, warehouse finance, wholesale deposit, and borrowings.