The Ledger ResearchPrivate

The Front Office

Scouting report · SYF

Brian J. Wenzel, Sr.

  • EVP & Chief Financial Officer, SYF since 2019-05src

Synchrony's EVP & CFO since May 2019, with the business since the GE era

—thin record

Not ranked yet

Scouting sheet

as of 24 Sep 2026
Delivers guidance—no promises on the record yet
Answers the question—no call reviewed yet
Capital allocation—company not reviewed yet
Pay design87operating income, revenue, strategic, eps, roe, relative tsr, time only · 93.5% for · 0.18% of net income
Skin in the game—no holding or price on file
Age
58src
In the role
7 yr
Promises scored
0
Hit rate
—
Dodges / 100 answers
—
Airtime on calls
—
Every promise, oldest firstno scored promises yet

What to weigh

Watch 4

  • The proxy's ownership table shows 8,804 shares for him, of which 8,799 are exercisable options, so almost no directly held stock outside RSUs. The proxy still says every NEO exceeds the 3x-salary guideline, because RSUs and phantom units count toward itsrc
  • Sold 66,692 shares for about $4.5m on 2026-03-02/03 under a 10b5-1 plan adopted 2025-10-31, the day after an RSU vestingsrc
  • Related-party employment: his daughter is on the payroll, disclosed under Item 404 at about $124k for 2025src
  • 2025 annual bonus paid 115.4% of target even though average receivables fell $1.5bn against a +$2.0bn target (0% on that 20% leg), helped by a 180% score on the qualitative strategy & culture legsrc

In their favour 1

  • Long continuity: seven years as CFO after about twenty in the business's finance roles; the proxy's own 2023-2025 PSU cycle paid 177.2% with TSR at the 89th percentile of peerssrc

Career

  1. 2019 – now
    Synchrony Financialsrc
    EVP & Chief Financial Officer
  2. 2018 – 2019
    Synchrony Financialsrc
    SVP & Deputy Chief Financial Officer
  3. 1998 – 2018
    GE Capital retail finance / Synchrony Financialsrc
    Finance roles, the longest as CFO of the Retail Card platform (April 2018 end date)
    Sources disagree on the start date. The 2026 proxy says he was Retail Card CFO from September 1998 to April 2018. The 2019 8-K says 'more than 12 years' as Retail Card CFO, calls him a 21-year veteran, and lists earlier CFO roles in Business Development, Growth & Investments and at GE's Treasury & Global Funding Operation, plus Assistant Controller of GE's Consumer North American Finance business. September 1998 therefore reads as his start with the business, not with Retail Card

Undated in the sources

  • PricewaterhouseCoopers; a start-up healthcare venturesrc, Roles not specified

Not located: Dates of the pre-Retail Card GE roles (Treasury & Global Funding CFO, Assistant Controller, Business Development CFO) and of the pre-1998 PwC and healthcare start-up years were not located; the 2016-2026 decade is covered

Achievements

  • CFO since May 2019, a period that took in the CFPB late-fee rule and the 2024 Pets Best sale; Deputy CFO for the year before thatsrc
  • Ran finance for the Retail Card platform for more than 12 years before becoming Deputy CFOsrc
  • GAAP net income was $2.238bn in FY2023, $3.499bn in FY2024 and $3.552bn in FY2025src
  • 2025 SCT total pay $6.36m; annual incentive paid 115.4% of his $1.25m target, the same formula as the CEO'ssrc

Education

  • Marist College, BS Accountingsrc

Background

  • Family Item 404 related-person disclosure: his daughter works at Synchrony in a non-executive role and was paid about $124k in 2025, on the company's standard pay practicessrc
  • Other Came up through GE's finance track: GE Treasury & Global Funding Operation and GE's Consumer North American Finance business before the retail-finance CFO jobs; worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers before GEsrc
  • Boards No outside board seats are listed in the 2026 proxysrc

The promise ledger

No promise on the record yet: the research routine has not scored this company's guidance.

Sources

6
  1. Filing Synchrony Financial DEF 14A (accession 0001601712-26-000017) · 2026-04-29
  2. Filing Synchrony Financial 8-K Item 5.07, 2026 annual meeting results (0001601712-26-000025) · 2026-06-25
  3. Filing Synchrony Financial 8-K Item 5.02, Wenzel named EVP & CFO, with full bio (0001601712-19-000128) · 2019-05-03
  4. Filing SEC XBRL companyconcept us-gaap/NetIncomeLoss, CIK 1601712 (FY2025 10-K, 0001601712-26-000006) · 2026-02-06
  5. Filing Form 4, Brian J. Wenzel Sr. (reporting CIK 1775796), RSU vesting/grant 2026-03-01 and 10b5-1 sales 2026-03-02/03 (0001775796-26-000006) · 2026-03-03
  6. Filing Form 4, Brian J. Wenzel Sr., 2023-2025 PSU vesting of 2026-01-21 (0001775796-26-000002) · 2026-01-23