We sat down with Stacy King, executive vice president, chief risk officer at UMB Bank, to learn how she got her start in banking and found her dream role at UMB.
How long have you been with UMB Bank and what did you do prior to joining UMB?
I started in banking right out of college where I worked as a branch manager before moving my way up to a management position. After nearly eight years, I joined a banking platform company that helped banks with compliance requirements during the platform conversion process—it was there that I found my passion for the risk management and compliance field.
After a couple of years there, I was recruited in 2013 to UMB by a former colleague and worked for six years in various compliance roles. I ended up leaving for a year to work in an operations role in the healthcare services industry, but in January 2020, I found out the chief risk officer position was open at UMB and knew it was meant to be. I am now working in my dream job at a company that I love and I’m so glad to be back.
What does a typical day at work look like for you and what is your team’s main responsibility?
I oversee our entire corporate risk division which is made up of six sets of teams and 94 employees, so most of my days are spent in meetings discussing various areas of risk. Our primary responsibility in risk is to build partnerships while providing guidance in the various risks which threaten the institution. This is accomplished through different processes which assess, monitor and mitigate risk. I love it because it flexes my ability to switch from one topic to another and keeps me agile—a quality I find very important as a team leader.
What has been your favorite memory since joining UMB?
The company culture at UMB is unlike that of any other workplace I have experienced. Before the pandemic, we did a lot of team-building activities such as going to Royals games and hosting barbeques and chili cookoffs in the office, which were always a lot of fun. I also enjoyed the events where we gave back to the community and raised money and supplies for area charities. I’m really looking forward to getting back in the office and continuing these fun, relationship-building traditions.
What does your ideal day off look like?
Anything outdoors. I love to go on long bike rides and spend time relaxing at the lake on the weekends. When the weather acts up, I love to curl up at home and read a good book.
What is your family life like?
My husband and I are recently celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary and we share two children together: Tyson, 18 and Ryan, 14. We also have two large dogs – Carl, who is a Saint Berdoodle (Saint Bernard/Poodle) and Zoey, a Bullmastiff.
What is your favorite vacation memory?
A few years ago, my family and I took a road trip over spring break to visit a number of national landmarks. We drove to Cleveland to visit the NFL and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and visited Niagara Falls in New York. We then drove through Canada before ending in Detroit to see an NHL game. It was a lot of time in the car, but it was good quality time and well worth the miles!
What is the biggest risk you have ever taken?
I’ve never considered myself a big “risk taker” but one of the riskiest things I’ve done in my personal life was travel to India by myself in 2019. Although I was there on business with a few of my colleagues, I ended up spending more than two weeks alone exploring different areas in the northwest region of the country. It was an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to go back to explore India more in the future.
UMB has long touted that it hires the best people, and they stay with the company, resulting in long-tenured associates with deep expertise. In fact, UMB’s average tenure in 2021 was 9.6 years for all associates, which is two times the industry average according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In recent years, we’ve started seeing another trend: boomerang employees. Since 2021, more than two dozen UMB associates have resigned, only to return after a short time away. A common thread we hear from those associates is that the culture at UMB is second to none.
