In early 2024, Angelo Accomazzo left a 30-year risk management and strategic marketing career with the two largest bank holding companies in the U.S. to become the first CFO of a small executive recruiting firm. It’s also his first CFO position.
He wishes he had done it sooner.
Accomazzo started his banking career out of college with JPMorgan Chase as a finance/MIS information analyst before moving to risk management at Bank of America three years later. He led consumer portfolio and consumer acquisitions risk management initiatives for most of his 26-year career with BoA.
As senior vice president of marketing strategy most recently, Accomazzo was responsible for designing, implementing and measuring consumer marketing strategies against a full P&L view for the organization with more than 60 million customers.
The right offer at the right time from the right person allowed Accomazzo to step out of his comfort zone and join executive recruiter Duffy Group as the 38-person firm’s first CFO in early 2024.
CFO, Duffy Group
First CFO position: 2024
Notable previous employers:
- Bank of America
- JPMorgan Chase (Banc One)
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
SANDRA BECKWITH: You didn’t have traditional finance or accounting experience before joining the Duffy Group as CFO. What made you the right person to serve as Duffy’s first CFO as a first-time CFO yourself?
ANGELO ACCOMAZZO: I have a degree in finance, and thought I wanted to be an accountant when I started college. I changed my mind after taking a few accounting courses, but I did learn the basics.
At Bank of America, I came to deeply understand how a consumer bank makes money and how to design, implement and measure alternative strategies for finding growth opportunities. That experience is really the foundation for what any CFO should be delivering to their company.
I’ve known Duffy Group founder Kathleen Duffy for 25 years, so when the organization was ready to bring on a CFO, Kathleen knew she could trust me with the responsibility. The company is not terribly complex from an accounting perspective, which gave me confidence.
And, when necessary, I’m able to draw on a pretty good bench of people who have expertise in areas that I don’t.
Until this point, you spent your entire 30-year career in consumer banking. What made you decide to leave that environment for a different industry?
At Bank of America, I loved having access to world-class tools and big data, using both to make decisions and see the impact of those decisions.
But what really appeals to me about where I’m at now is how we have a few hundred clients instead of 65 million customers. That means I can now manage something and see the impact immediately.
Before, I would spend eight hours a day on conference calls and Zoom meetings. Now, I have time to really think and craft a strategy about how to expand our innovative model to help more hiring leaders. I can also help employees see how to leverage our data and sometimes use it to identify alternative ways of thinking about things. That energizes me.
How does your nontraditional background affect how you do your job at Duffy, and how might it differ from someone who came to the CFO role with a different background?
Unlike someone coming here with previous finance leadership experience, I don’t have any expectations. It’s a situation where it’s not necessarily a bad thing when you don’t know what you don’t know.
“I’m enjoying where I am and what I’m doing now so much that I wish I had stepped out of my comfort zone sooner and taken a chance on this kind of opportunity.”
Angelo Accomazzo
CFO, Duffy Group
But to that point, I’m now starting to focus on building a network of other professionals in similar realms. My consumer banking network is excellent, but I want to network now with people who have similar objectives to mine.
From a career standpoint, what’s your biggest regret?
I have long been interested in exploring a smaller organization, but the timing was never right from a family financial security standpoint.
The bank also provided an environment where if I was really interested in something different, I could pursue it without going to a new employer. That kept me in my comfort zone.
I’m enjoying where I am and what I’m doing now so much that I wish I had stepped out of my comfort zone sooner and taken a chance on this kind of opportunity.
Looking back on your career, what do you think was the most pivotal moment … or what ‘aha’ has had a significant impact?
Early in my career, I always had a little bit of that imposter syndrome because I was surrounded by so much intelligence and talent. But when I got out in the community and volunteered, I discovered how much I have to offer and that I can affect change. That was a big ‘aha’ for me.
What advice would you give to others in finance hoping to become CFOs?
Be passionate about deeply understanding how your company makes money because it helps frame strategic decisions. The CFO role today involves driving strategy. You can’t do that without truly understanding how the company makes money.
