A.T. Kearney Adds Leading Digital Banking and Payments Experts to Financial Services Practice
Accomplished industry leaders with long track record of results
NEW YORK, April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney announced today the appointment of two new Partners to its Financial Institutions Practice, Bob Hedges and Teresa Epperson. Bob Hedges will lead the firm's retail banking and payment advisory practice in the Americas. The addition of Hedges and Epperson brings to A.T. Kearney industry-leading capabilities in both assessing the dynamic consumer behavior trends unfolding in today's financial services marketplace and developing appropriate strategic responses for business growth. Hedges and Epperson are highly regarded for their ongoing multi-year study of digital consumer behavior trends and the industry's competitive response. "For banks today seeking to navigate the turbulent waters of digital disruption, there is no more valuable industry resource," offered noted industry analyst Tom Brown of Second Curve Capital. At A.T. Kearney, Hedges and Epperson will be leading the firm's effort with banks to respond to the challenges and opportunities being generated by the digital transformation of the banking industry.
Bob Hedges brings over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He comes to A.T. Kearney from AlixPartners, where most recently he was a Managing Director. Prior to AlixPartners, Hedges co-founded and co-led Mercatus, a boutique retail financial services research and strategy firm. Mercatus was acquired by AlixPartners in 2011. At Mercatus, Hedges developed unique consumer research methodologies to evaluate, model, and forecast evolving consumer financial services behaviors across channels, product usage, and payments. His research work has been widely utilized across the banking industry for both the development of competitive strategy and public policy. Before founding Mercatus, Hedges served in senior operating executive roles at Fleet Boston and Fidelity Investments. He received an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management. Hedges is a well-recognized and frequently quoted industry analyst and commentator.
Teresa Epperson joins A.T. Kearney also from AlixPartners, where she was a Managing Director. With over two decades of experience in the financial services industry as both a consultant and senior manager at major retail financial services institutions, Epperson has led impactful digital transformation efforts across a broad set of retail financial services clients in banking, brokerage and payments. Prior to AlixPartners, she was co-founder of Mercatus. While at Mercatus, Epperson led breakthrough consumer studies on retirement planning, distribution channel migration, and adoption of mobile remote deposit capture. Prior to Mercatus, she held senior management roles in financial services and had consulting experiences at Mainspring and Gemini Consulting. Epperson completed her MBA at The University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and has a BS from Cornell University.
The addition of Hedges and Epperson to the A.T. Kearney Financial Institutions Group reflects a strong strategic commitment to levering cutting edge research and strategic thinking to drive clients' business growth programs. Joe Reifel, Partner and leader of the Financial Institutions Group at A.T. Kearney, noted: "In an environment where financial services firms are seeking guidance on critical issues around the industry's digital success models, Hedges and Epperson bring decades of critical industry expertise on precisely the issues that are today's big challenges."
With Hedges and Epperson joining the firm, A.T. Kearney is also developing a new service offering precisely aimed at monitoring and capitalizing on consumers' digital behavior changes. Understanding the pace of change in consumer behavior has become fully fundamental to the success of financial services competitors. The first release of this new consumer analysis and modeling capability is anticipated this summer.
Commented Reifel, "Epperson and Hedges will help A.T. Kearney redefine and support the requirements for success in the increasingly competitive financial services marketplace. Their expertise and experience will be of critical importance as financial institutions work to address today's pressing challenges. They will be a valuable addition to our team, and will bring critical insights and great pragmatism to our clients."
About A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney is a global team of forward-thinking partners that delivers immediate impact and growing advantage for its clients. We are passionate problem solvers who excel in collaborating across borders to co-create and realize elegantly simple, practical, and sustainable results. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors on the most mission-critical issues to the world's leading organizations across all major industries and service sectors. A.T. Kearney has 61 offices located in major business centers across 40 countries.
To read more about A.T. Kearney's Financial Institutions Practice, please visit: http://www.atkearney.com/financial-institutions
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120925/CG80591LOGO
SOURCE A.T. Kearney
Share this article