Tayfun Tuzun received his PhD in Economics from Ohio State in 1992 and is currently Chief Financial Officer at BMO Financial Group in Toronto.
Q: Why did you choose to study economics at Ohio State?
I was born and raised in Turkey and graduated from the Bosphorus University in Istanbul with a degree in Economics. My undergraduate advisor was a Professor in Money and Banking and recommended a handful of different graduate programs in the US for me to apply to. He picked Ohio State mainly because he closely followed Professor Ed Kane’s academic work. I was lucky enough to be accepted to the program and eventually worked closely with Professor Kane as my dissertation advisor.
Q: What has been your career path following your graduation from Ohio State?
At the time I was pursuing an academic career. After I graduated I received an offer from the School of Banking and Finance at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Professor Kane had spent time teaching there in previous years during one of his Sabbaticals and thought very highly of the program, so I accepted the offer. For personal reasons I ended up returning to the US and when I came back, I decided to switch to the private sector and started working for a small regional bank in Cincinnati. I spent about 10 years working for that bank, and after its sale moved to a hedge fund. In 2007 before the Great Financial Crisis I accepted an offer from Fifth Third Bank where I became the Treasurer in 2011 and the CFO in 2013. In 2020, I accepted an offer from Bank of Montreal as their CFO, where I work today.
Q: What did you feel least prepared for when you began your first job post-graduation?
My first job was in academia, and as such the transition was not difficult. I was already teaching my own courses at Ohio State which gave me a good amount of experience. I was also able to engage in research mainly leveraging my dissertation work and published two papers fairly quickly.
My transition to the private sector was different. Despite my academic background the learning curve was steep. I began my career in Treasury, so had to quickly learn more about interest rate risk, liquidity risk, investments and balance sheet management. It was a much different set of topics compared to my studies in Money and Banking. Although I was prepared with a background in quantitative analysis and was able to absorb the practical aspects fairly quickly, the day-to-day workings of the job were much different than what my then work experience was.
Q: In your current position, what do you do on a day-to-day basis?
Bank of Montreal is a large global bank operating in Canada, the US, Asia and Europe. My portfolio consists of traditional finance functions such as Accounting and Tax, in addition to Business Finance, Investor Relations, Corporate Development and Corporate Strategy. I am a member of the Enterprise Committee which consists of 11 executives, including our CEO. In addition to the day-to-day Finance responsibilities, I am involved in all aspects of the business as part of the Enterprise Committee. These days I also spend a good amount of time on regulatory matters as we work with multiple sets of regulators in different jurisdictions. Although there is a good amount of stress, I find the work very engaging.
Q: How has the economics you studied at Ohio State helped you in your career?
When I first started working in banking my studies and my degree from Ohio State gave me instant credibility. 30 years ago, you did not find too many PhDs working in the private sector. The degree was a powerful license to operate, and I started getting involved in a number of projects that required quantitative knowledge. At the same time, I was also able pair quantitative expertise with macroeconomic knowledge. Senior management at that time developed a trust in me and I leveraged that for the first ten years of my career to absorb and learn as much as I could. I don’t think I would have had an opportunity like that without my credentials that I obtained at Ohio State,
Q: What is the most challenging work experience you've encountered so far?
I would mention two. First, the Great Financial Crisis in 2008/9 was my first brush with stress in financial markets. Although most of us knew that we were slowly approaching a significant build-up in market stress, we could not have anticipated the extent of the collapse. Those were stressful days and as you know it ultimately involved government support. My experience during those years has shaped my approach to risk management in banking.
The second challenging experience was my transition from being the Treasurer of the bank to becoming the CFO. It was an unexpected change and created anxiety as I had no accounting background. This was the post-Enron period, and I was not immersed in accounting. That period taught me the importance of teamwork and trust. I was able to be a CFO because I had a very strong accounting team behind me. Even today, I still rely heavily on my team members who support me.
Q: What is your next biggest career goal?
Being a CFO of a global large bank is very gratifying. These are privileged positions, and I don’t take it for granted. I have now been in banking for over thirty years and my goal is to contribute to the success of BMO, and pass on my learnings and experiences to the new generations in our organization.
Q: Do you have any regrets from your time at OSU?
Hindsight is 20/20, so given how my career ended up taking a different direction I wish I had spent more time collaborating with my Finance professors to learn more about the topics that they were teaching back then. Professor Kane was a joint appointee between Economics and Finance, so I was exposed to some topics through him, but I could have done more. Again, that is with the benefit of hindsight. Otherwise, I have no regrets. Ohio State gave me a tremendous and fulfilling opportunity. My teaching experience built my self-confidence in working with audiences large and small. Ohio State prepared me well in all aspects.
Q: Do you have any parting thoughts and/or advice for current economics students?
The world is changing rapidly beyond anything that I could have imagined when I was starting my career. AI is now the dominant force in the business and moving with velocity. Quantum computing is reshaping all of our experiences and redesigning our work tools. Our students need to prepare themselves, in both academia and private businesses for a different set of demands on their talent. I advise them to combine their economics studies with a strong dose of exposure to interdisciplinary AI programs and Data Science. Economics as a major is a unique degree where theory and practice combine to create a strong partnership, so take full advantage of what a school like Ohio State offers today via the rich set of programs in its academic curriculum.
