Despite the moniker, chief financial officers have long since grown their responsibilities and influence beyond mere financial statements.
Today’s CFOs are increasingly instrumental to a company’s success. In addition to finance, they help craft strategy, execute mergers and acquisitions, communicate with investors and manage risk and compliance. The modern CFO is also responsible for executing the digital transformation of a company, including how businesses use analytics and artificial intelligence to improve overall performance and efficiency.
Our third annual edition of the invitation-only CFO 5 features executives who have demonstrated great skill and leadership in wealth management. They have fashioned careers for their peers and future CFOs to emulate.
We congratulate the winners, who are listed in alphabetical order below, on their accomplishments.
Mark Mayo, CFO, Orion Advisor Solutions
Mark Mayo joined Orion Advisor Solutions as Chief Financial Officer in September 2024 as a highly experienced senior leader with more than 30 years of finance experience. In this role, Mayo is responsibility for strengthening Orion’s financial infrastructure, overseeing financial strategy and advancing the company’s strategic roadmap as it continues to grow.
Prior to joining Orion, Mayo served as CFO for DISA Global Solutions, a consortium drug testing provider. His career also includes serving in CFO roles at Connect America, HireRight and several divisions of General Electric. His career began at General Electric where he achieved the status of Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
Mayo holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada.
“Success as a CFO in wealth management—and beyond—requires a balance of strategic vision, operational discipline, and ethical leadership,” he said. “Prioritize relationships, embrace innovation, and stay adaptable in a rapidly evolving industry. Never stop learning, and always seek to add value. The most effective leaders combine financial expertise with integrity, forward thinking, and a commitment to making a lasting impact.”
David Scarpello, CFO, Perigon Wealth Management
David Scarpello is the CFO of Perigon Wealth Management. He has more than 30 years of experience leading operations and finance functions at financial services firms. Prior to Perigon, he served as CFO at Pathstone Family Office, where he scaled the finance function to support organic and inorganic growth across the firm.
Scarpello has extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions and a passion for stewarding high-growth wealth management firms to achieve their full potential. He previously served as CFO for ZeroNorth and Chief Operating Officer for Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group.
Scarpello earned a Master of Science degree in Finance from Bentley University. He lives near Boston with his wife and four children.
“A strong CFO has to have a solid understanding of the underlying business to add true value as a strategic leader for the organization,” he said. “To be a strategic leader for the firm, a CFO must understand what drives the business forward – the financial results alone won’t provide that level of insight.”
Suk Shah, CFO, Cerity Partners
Suk Shah is the Chief Financial Officer of Cerity Partners. He has spent most of his career in public and private equity backed companies with a strong focus on capital markets, operations and M&A. His experience includes over a decade of academy training and senior leadership at General Electric and HSBC Bank. He also served as the CFO of consumer fintech company Avant and mortgage origination firm Guaranteed Rate.
Prior to joining Cerity, Shah was the CEO of Monarch Collective, a vacation and property rental management company, servicing over 6,000 homes. He is a Board Member and Chair of the Finance Committee for the nonprofit Start Early, which supports early childhood education and care services for underprivileged children. Shah also advises CFOs, start-up founders and early-stage venture funds in the fintech sector.
Shah earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Finance and Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an executive Master of Business Administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He lives in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, Illinois, with his wife, Manshi, and their two daughters. He is an avid Chicago sports fan and enjoys playing golf, tennis and travelling with his family in his free time.
“With over a decade of operating experience across sponsor-backed firms, I’ve learned that generating outsized shareholder value requires executing with a relentless sense of urgency, balancing rapid growth with prudent capital risk management and driving change with intention and empathy,” Shah said. “The best CFOs are force multipliers for their function and the rest of the organization.”
David Shane, CFO, Binah Capital
David Shane is the CFO of Binah Capital. With over thirty years of experience in the financial services sector, David Shane has worked extensively with broker-dealers, RIA firms and asset managers, including alternative investment firms specializing in private equity, venture capital and hedge funds.
Shane combines in-depth accounting, finance and regulatory experience with expertise as both a strategic advisor, a business operator and senior executive. His roles have encompassed leadership of multiple key business functions at financial services and professional services firms, including finance, human resources, technology, marketing and business development.
His work as a CFO includes spearheading the finance and administration operations as well as public and private market capital raising and transaction structuring with wealth management and other financial services enterprises at each stage of the business and capital life cycle. His skills and experience are complemented by an extensive network within the financial services industry.
Shane is a graduate of Indiana University with a degree in finance. He is a certified public accountant and holds a Series 27 FINRA registration.
Describing his firm’s strategic priorities, Shane said, “Looking ahead for the balance of 2025 and beyond, we will continue to build on the growth momentum we have experienced since our NASDAQ listing. Transparency in our business model is a high priority and managing and maintaining that from a financial standpoint is critical to maintaining the company’s position as a leader in the wealth management industry, and our resultant ability to drive shareholder value.”
Leon Weiss, CFO, Docupace
Leon Weiss has been CFO of Docupace since June 2023. Over his career of more than two decades, Weiss has led numerous innovative, middle-market technology companies like Nitrogen (formerly Riskalyze), XOi Technologies and Inland Business Systems, helping scale systems, teams and processes. In these roles, Weiss partnered with private equity sponsors through the successful sale of both Nitrogen to Hg Capital in 2021 and Docupace to Genstar Capital in 2024.
Weiss holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Arizona and is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA).
“We are currently in growth mode, evaluating both organic and inorganic opportunities, so we need to be highly strategic and intentional to ensure we’re maximizing our investment return,” Weiss said. “To accomplish that, we need to stay close to the business, regularly communicating internally, with our customers, and with the industry at large to ensure we focus on the right priorities.”
Julius Buchanan, Editor in Chief at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at julius.buchanan@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
