The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise was proud to host Bill Rogers, chairman and CEO of SunTrust Banks, at the Kenan Center Monday, Nov. 19.
The Kenan Institute hosted Rogers as part of its Dean’s Speaker Series, which is made possible by the Archie K. Davis endowment. During his visit, the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School alumnus met with faculty, staff and students to discuss issues ranging from rural economic development to emerging technologies.
His trip concluded with a fireside chat moderated by Dean Doug Shackelford, during which Rogers shared his vision of SunTrust as a purpose-driven company dedicated to helping Americans gain financial confidence.
“There’s a lot of stress out there from a financial standpoint,” Rogers said. “Fifty percent of Americans don’t have $500 saved for an emergency, one-third don’t have anything saved for retirement and 75 percent of us lose sleep at night over something that’s financially related.”
He added that while the United States has enjoyed a significant economic recovery, not everyone has reaped the benefits. “We think, as a company, that we have an obligation to increase that net as much as possible.”
Financial education plays a significant role in this effort, Rogers said, and that education is evolving rapidly thanks to emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain.
Compared to years past, he said SunTrust’s “level of investment is some multiples higher today in all these technologies and in technology as a whole” and that technology is now a “definer of strategy” on both a corporate and individual level.
For more of Rogers’ thoughts on these issues, please check out the video of his fireside chat below:
To learn more about the Kenan Institute’s Dean’s Speaker Series or to register for future talks, please click here.