Diving brief:
- Capital One Auto Finance vice president and chief financial officer Pepo Tsvetanov will leave the company after nearly two decades to take up the financial headquarters of Prestige Financial Services, according to a Thursday press release by the latter company. Prestige, a provider of consumer financial solutions for franchise and independent automotive dealerships, is part of the Larry H. Miller Company portfolio.
- Tsvetanov will replace Prestige chief financial officer Eric Bennett, who will take the senior financial seat at LHM Company’s holding company, Advanced Health Care Corporation, according to the company’s press release. Prestige ultimately chose Tsvetanov for a number of key reasons, including leveraging his expertise to achieve his 2022 vision, Prestige Financial Chairman Rich Hyde said in an interview.
- “Our 2022 vision includes the customer journey, the journey of our employees and growth as one of the main targets and Pepo, the expertise in pricing, treasury and the broader market strategies that he has acquired during over 18 years at Capital One will add and build another layer on our already strong foundation,” Hyde said.
Overview of the dive:
Tsvetanov served as vice president and chief financial officer of Capital One Auto Finance for six years beginning in January 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. He oversaw the company’s Auto Navigator product, which allows customers to research and find potential new vehicles, according to Prestige’s recent press release.
During his 19 year tenure with the organization, he also served as Senior Director, Financial Management for 12 years beginning in August 2003. He also worked as a commodity trader for companies located in his native Bulgaria. Tsvetanov will oversee financial functions and drive strategic developments for the organization, according to the statement.
The Salt Lake City, Utah-based actor is excited about what Tsvetanov’s experience at a bigger player like Capital One will bring to the business, which is “a bit more niche in subprime “, Hyde said, but the company “has a lot of room to build and grow in different directions, and [Tsvetanov’s] experience will help us understand which means might be better.
For his part, moving into Prestige allows Tsvetanov to see the small business grow, Hyde said.
“He becomes the main person, the point with us…[that] will work with the board with me as chairman to design our strategies for the future and achieve these goals over the next few years,” he said.
Bennett, Tsvetanov’s predecessor in that role, served as Prestige’s chief financial officer for a four-year period beginning in April 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also served as vice president of treasury for LHM Management Corporation before moving to chief financial officer at Prestige. Hyde served as president of Prestige for 20 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The LHM Company is a portfolio of businesses and investments spanning the real estate, healthcare, sports and entertainment and financial services sectors, through its websiteincluding Miller Family Real Estate and Advanced Health Care Corporation.
LHM dealerships along with other auto properties, including the Total Care Auto insurance service, were acquired by auto retail and service group Asbury Automotive for $3.2 billion in December 2021, according to a September 2021 report. Asbury Automotive Overview. The acquisition included 54 new vehicle dealerships, seven used vehicle dealerships and 11 collision centers.
The sale was unrelated to the Prestige operations, but “the benefit for us is that the injection of capital from the sale of these entities gives us a greater opportunity to grow with our own funding without going out and borrowing or do something else,” Hyde said.
“So that’s part of our growth strategy,” he said. “We have a solid foundation with the Larry Miller Group to help us move forward and seize opportunities as they arise.”
Tsvetanov is not the only bank executive to change jobs in recent months. Financial institution Truist has announced that insider Mike Maguire will become the bank’s next chief financial officer effective September 15, according to a recent Banking Dive report.
Maguire, who previously served as the bank’s chief financial and consumer payments officer, will replace Truist chief financial officer Daryl Bible after his retirement, although Bible will remain in the role for a transition period.
