In her role as CFO of California Bank & Trust, Chikako Tyler once found herself facing the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank—as it turned out, not the first financial crisis of her career, but the second. However, unlike with the first—the Great Recession, which forced her to leave a rewarding career in commercial real estate—this time, she was prepared to take charge of her professional destiny.
In 2009, as the economic downturn decimated the real estate market, Tyler recognized the need for a change. She pivoted to banking, taking on a temporary role at California Bank & Trust, where she quickly discovered her passion for the intricacies of finance. Her journey through various roles in the bank—ranging from specialized asset analysis to risk management—shaped her understanding of the business and led her to the CFO office.
Read MoreBy the time Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in 2023, Tyler had had nearly 5 years of experience as CFO under her belt. Drawing on lessons learned during her diversified career, she confidently navigated the crisis, and—having shed the uncertainty that she had faced during the Great Recession—she now found herself able to lean in to her role in guiding her team through this tumultuous period. Among other successful tactics, she championed her bankers to manage their customers proactively. in order to quell any possibility of panic.
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CFOTL: Tell us about California Bank & Trust … what sets it apart from other banking institutions?
Tyler: As a division of Zions Bancorporation, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, we cover the whole state of California. This being said, though, what’s really unique about us is that we run our own bank: We have our own CEO and our own CFO and executive management team, and we operate much like a community bank. Our customers know us. We know them. They have access to quick, local decision-making, but we have the capital, liquidity, and technology products of an $80 billion bank.
Read MoreWhat’s really special is that when you come in as a small business, your banker is going to give you personalized attention as your financial partner, helping to advise you not only on how to grow but also on how to continue to prosper through almost any kind of life event. Whether you might want to ultimately sell the business, pass it down to your children, initiate an IPO, or whatever, we have all of the capital markets capabilities of a large institution that you might need, while at the same time still being able to offer you the personalized service of a community bank.
Most banks are either quite large or else community types, so for us to be able to operate a regional bank like ours with our kind of structure—with access to local decision-making—is pretty unique. What’s really exciting is that we can have this amazing connection with our customers. We can take them all the way from the beginning of their business’s life to having the ability to bank it at the end, whether through a pass-down or sale. We help them to get to where they want to be, as well as to manage their wealth along the way and afterward.
What this all boils down to is that we have this entire suite of products that can enable you to really never have to convert your banking again. After you do it once with us, we are going to help you to profit—in more ways than one—throughout the entire life of your business. This is very, very exciting to me.
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California Bank & Trust | www.calbanktrust.com | San Diego, CA