Lives of Consequence
Craig Stine '81, P'17
Executive Vice Chair of the Global Financial Institutions Group, Credit Suisse
A nearly 25-year veteran of the investment banking industry, HWS Trustee Craig Stine ’81, P’17 serves as the executive vice chair of the Global Financial Institutions Group at Credit Suisse, a multinational financial services holding company.
At Credit Suisse, Stine has earned the trust of multinational clients big and small. He works with and advises company CEOs and boards of directors to accomplish their strategic ambitions on important mergers and acquisitions and critical capital raising projects.
“Financial institutions are one of the largest components of the U.S. GDP and are a critical element to global economics,” Stine says, noting the scope, stakes and excitement of the industry. “In this theme of mergers and acquisitions, something’s always changing. China’s surging, Greece is struggling, there’s the financial crisis and the Dodd-Frank Act -- as an investment banker and adviser, the pace of change is at times mindboggling but it often allows you to do your best work with clients.”
Previously, Stine was managing director and head of financial institutions at Citadel Securities, before rising to serve as the company’s co-CEO and co-head of investment banking. Prior to joining Citadel in 2009, Stine spent nearly 18 years with Citi (legacy Salomon Brothers), most recently as co-head of the North American Financial Institutions Group and head of Diversified Financials & Banks.
He began his career with PNC Financial Group in Philadelphia, but his interest in finance extends as far back as a course on money and banking in the HWS economics department, where he was first exposed to the banking world, “in a liberal arts fashion.” An economics major, he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and went on to earn an MBA from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Through the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education, Stine has returned to the HWS campus twice for Professionals in Residence lectures, sharing his years of expertise in the field and coaching students individually and in group sessions on the realities of the banking industry. He has also participated in the Wall Street Experience, offering students an insider’s look at finance.
“I think starting early and immersing yourself as deeply and broadly as you can in academic coursework is first and foremost,” Stine says.
But to succeed in vying for highly competitive jobs “with literally thousands of applications, you need not only a good GPA but experience and the ability to be conversant about the industry,” he adds. “Competitive liberal arts schools, and Hobart and William Smith in particular, really lean students in this direction and give them options much earlier. My participation in these events is a general acknowledgement that alums can be helpful in sharing opportunities and insights with students. I want to do whatever I can to bridge the gap and facilitate a transition into investment banking. It’s nice to be able to help existing students who need that insight to get over the goal line.”
In addition to his work as a HWS Trustee and his support for the Salisbury Center, Stine endowed a scholarship in 2010, to help defray the cost of tuition, room and board for a Hobart or William Smith economics student in his or her third year who has shown academic excellence.
Stine likens his longstanding support of the Colleges to his role as a parent. “You want your kids to have an easier time than you did,” he says. “It’s nice to see the impressive results.”