Jon Banford is a Principal and Capital Markets Practice Lead at Fintova in the New York City area.
Fintova is a boutique fintech startup that leverages C-suite executives and industry practitioners, specializing in end-to-end business and digital transformation for financial services firms. Fintova differentiates itself in the financial services advisory and consulting arena by having the principal architect of Blackrock’s Aladdin portfolio management platform along with IT security, regulatory, blockchain, Cloud, and data center migration experience. Jon’s responsibilities include advisory, digital & regulatory transformation consulting, business development, and strategic partnership development.
Jon is passionate about driving transformation that directly improves client experience and a firm’s bottom line. Jon’s background is in the financial services industry where he has held a diverse set of positions driving change, including building out a $4B hedge fund, managing a $32B bailout following the 2008 financial crisis, leading firm-wide regulatory initiatives such as Know Your Client and Anti-Money Laundering, building Commodities Trading and Risk Management infrastructure, and being the IT COO for an investment bank.
Jon joined FWSIM at the start of 2020 to increase his networking with other IT leaders. He has been impressed with how SIM quickly adapted to the COVID constraints and has continued to provide high value content to our membership using creative virtual channels and the new Networking Pods.
In addition to FWSIM, Jon is passionate about supporting our veterans by mentoring them (via American Corporate Partners) to help their transition into the workforce.
On a personal note, Jon was born in Waco, Texas and has lived in Spain and Switzerland. Jon played professional beach volleyball on the AVP and Molson Tours against the likes of Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith and attributes his “drive to succeed”, communication, and teamwork skills that he honed on the court to making him a strong technology leader:
- If you don’t help to get the most out of your teammates, you will lose.
- If you don’t clearly communicate your strategy and expectations with your teammates, you lose.
- If you are not honest about what’s not working and quickly adjust your strategy, you lose.
Jon earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with emphasis on Computer Science from the University of Connecticut.
When Jon is not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Sondra, of 21 years and his two daughters, Alexondra (15) and Jacquelyn (18). He is an avid golfer (but not good) and tennis player. Above all, Jon remains thankful for his family’s health during this difficult COVID-19 pandemic.
Written by Jon Banford