BIV is proud to recognize eight exceptional corporate executives with 2023 C-Suite Awards.
Six CEOs and two CFOs were recently featured in BIV's print edition, including BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) CFO David Sherwood, who will be recognized with a BC CEO Award at an in-person event Nov. 15.
Sherwood has been instrumental in the Financial Institutions Commission’s transformation into the BCFSA, which is B.C.’s regulator of credit unions, insurance and trust companies, pension plans, mortgage brokers, real estate services and money services businesses. Prior to joining BCFSA as CFO in 2019, Sherwood held senior roles in the B.C. government and at DXC Advanced Solutions. He holds a bachelor of science in mathematics and computer science from the University of Manchester in England, and is a chartered professional accountant.
The following Q&A with Hopkins has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
What has been your greatest business or career success to date?
Supporting BCFSA through its transformation has been a great experience. I joined BCFSA in 2019 as they were transitioning into a new B.C. government Crown agency, established to address challenges in the way the financial services sector in B.C. was regulated. Having launched BCFSA on Nov. 1, 2019, we immediately started a project to integrate with the Real Estate Council of BC and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate. On Aug. 1, 2021, real estate regulation became part of the BCFSA mandate and our already growing teams almost doubled again in size.
Since integration, BCFSA has continued its transformation journey into a modern, effective and efficient regulator that is functionally organized. Achieving this transformation required strong finance, HR and IT practices, leadership and working together to provide the funding, resources, skills and tools needed by our regulatory teams. The evolution and change within the finance function has been significant, and we have achieved this working in collaboration with our stakeholders.
A key milestone for me on this journey was when – at the time we integrated with real estate – we significantly increased delegation and budget holder accountability, and began developing new spend and revenue management best practices. Finance accountability is something I feel passionate about, finding that right balance between ensuring good financial analysis and decision support while not taking away business decision maker accountability. I am proud of the financial acumen we have built into the organization.
What was your toughest professional or career decision?
My career had taken me into more operational roles – I had led technology teams and even a call centre. I made the decision to return to a finance role and learned that I love being a CFO. I found that all my operational experience and greater understanding of business needs had made me a better leader, and that the role of the CFO had evolved far beyond core finance.
Best piece of advice you’ve received?
I was working for government and attending a facilitated session with a major service provider. We were working to build increased trust and I received some feedback about not assuming people knew my intent. Essentially, if you don’t clearly state your intent, others will draw their own conclusions on what they believe your intent is. I found this advice very powerful and have found that being open and transparent about my intent or motivation on any given topic helps ensure a more positive dialogue and outcome. This advice helped improve the effectiveness of my communications and build more effective business relationships.
How do you lead?
I believe open and transparent communication is critical to building trust and creating an engaged team. I seek to create an environment where team members can safely engage in positive conflict to identify issues and discuss their viewpoints. This builds greater understanding and supports the development of solutions based on more comprehensive information.
Biggest personal and professional areas of growth over the past year?
I have always been attracted to change and the desire to look at things differently and not accept the status quo. This year we implemented a new finance system where I was a very engaged project sponsor. Change does not come to everyone easily and in 2023, I gained a greater appreciation of the discipline of change management and how to support team members, colleagues and stakeholders through a major change event. •
