Dive Brief:

• PNC has named Mark Wiedman its next president, the Pittsburgh-based bank said Monday.
• Wiedman joins the bank from asset manager BlackRock, where he was a senior managing director and a member of the firm’s global executive committee. PNC’s primary business lines and the regional presidents office will report to Wiedman, who will report to CEO Bill Demchak.
• “Mark brings deep experience from a fast-moving, tech-forward, consolidating industry that aligns perfectly with where we are headed, and which is why Mark is the right fit for this role,” Demchak said in the release.

Dive Insight:

Wiedman, 54, replaces Michael Lyons, PNC’s previous president, who left in January to become the next CEO of payments firm Fiserv.

Wiedman spent two decades at BlackRock, most recently as the head of the firm’s global client business, where he was responsible for BlackRock's $11 trillion in commercial relationships, partnerships and joint ventures across financial institutions and investors globally, PNC said.

Before taking on that role, Wiedman was global head of BlackRock’s exchange-traded funds business iShares and index investments. Wiedman also advised on capital markets and balance sheet issues at BlackRock, and helped start its financial markets advisory when he joined in 2004, PNC said. 

Additionally, Wiedman led BlackRock's emergency assistance to governments and banks during the 2007-08 financial crisis and the firm’s 2008 creation of Penny Mac. Prior to his time at BlackRock, Wiedman was a senior adviser to the undersecretary of the Treasury for domestic finance, PNC said. 

Until his departure from BlackRock this year, Wiedman was seen as a potential successor to the asset manager’s CEO, Larry Fink.

As president, Wiedman will receive a $700,000 annual salary and a signing bonus of $1 million paid within his first month of employment, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. He is also set to receive a one-time award consisting of restricted share units with a grant date value of $3.12 million and performance share units with a grant date value of $2.08 million.

Wiedman’s target total annual incentive opportunity for 2025 is $9.8 million on a full-year basis – $7.35 million on a prorated basis – made up of annual cash incentives and long-term equity incentives.

Demchak said he’s worked with Wiedman for 20 years “and we are fortunate that the timing was right for him to join our team.” The CEO pointed to major changes in banking, indicating Wiedman would help the super-regional stay competitive in the rapidly changing industry. 

“The banking landscape is evolving fast,” Wiedman said in the release. “The winners will understand where customers and technology are heading and move there faster than the rest. Together with the team we will develop an even stronger franchise and culture – ensuring PNC is the best bank to do business with and the best place to build a career.”

Wiedman’s hiring seems to set him up as the eventual successor to 62-year-old Demchak, “which likely ‘solves’ what had been an uncharacteristic open question about succession at the company,” Piper Sandler analyst Scott Siefers wrote in a Monday note. “We thus view the announcement as a positive (though we still expect Mr. Demchak to stay on for a few more years in his current role).”

Scale matters, Demchak has said, and PNC is spending $1.5 billion to grow organically over the next few years, expanding its branch network and renovating some locations as it shifts from regional to national lender. 

But the bank is also in a position to be a natural consolidator, he said Monday. Acquisitions can help the bank more quickly achieve scale, but PNC isn’t looking to pay “a silly price” for a “busted” franchise, Demchak said last September. He indicated Monday that the current market selloff may change the math on M&A, Bloomberg reported.