New York – 24 February, 2026 - Simon-Kucher, the world’s leading commercial growth and pricing consultancy, today announced key senior leadership appointments in its Financial Services practice in the Americas. The move reflects the practice's continued growth in the US, Canada, and Latin America and its deepening expertise across asset management, banking, capital markets, insurance, payments, private equity and wealth management.
Rick Spear, Senior Partner, has been appointed to oversee the Financial Services practice in the Americas with a mandate to scale Simon-Kucher core capabilities and cement its position as the go-to growth partner for financial institutions in the region. Spear brings exceptional experience in financial services, having played pivotal roles guiding large financial institutions and fintech vendors to profitability and accelerated growth. He is also a trusted advisor to private equity firms navigating the complexities of value creation.
Spear will drive the build-out of offerings including M&A deal diagnostics and value creation, growth strategy, product and customer portfolio management, go-to-market excellence, producer and sales effectiveness, future revenue operating model, and AI-led transformation.
"Simon-Kucher has a unique opportunity to help financial services clients in the Americas navigate fast-changing environments and turn increasing complexity into a competitive advantage," said Spear. "I am fortunate to be leading a group of very talented and committed financial services consulting professionals. Together we will strengthen the Simon-Kucher franchise and deepen our impact with FS institutions, Fintech companies and Private Equity clients across the region."
Spear is responsible for a high impact partner team, each of whom brings deep expertise and experience across financial services verticals.
- Michael Nadel, Partner, directs Insurance in the Americas. Known for his strategic vision and deep expertise across the evolving insurance landscape, Nadel is well positioned to help insurers accelerate growth and build sustainable competitive advantage.
- Krishna Gottipaty joins the firm as Partner with a shared mandate to strengthen the firm’s Asset Management and Capital Markets practice in the Americas. His expertise lies at the intersection of strategic growth, digital innovation, operating model redesign, and M&A.
- David Chung, Partner, directs Payments. He brings extensive experience driving growth and high-impact commercial strategies across the evolving payments ecosystem.
- Rohan Shah, Partner, is a recognized authority in dynamic pricing. He steers Retail and Small Business Banking, and innovation and growth efforts across these segments.
- Christoph Stegmeier, Senior Partner, is responsible for Neobanking in the Americas and financial services in LATAM. He continues to expand Simon-Kucher's presence and influence in Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Chile as well as in Canada and the US.
- Working alongside the partner team, Senior Advisor Leo D'Acierno provides strategic guidance in Retail and Small Business Banking, while Senior Advisor Doug Trott drives Wealth Management efforts, ensuring clients benefit from his distinctive mix of deep industry expertise and pragmatic operator experience.
“We are elevating and building a group of exceptional leaders at a pivotal moment for financial services,” said Brad Soper, Managing Partner of the Americas at Simon-Kucher. “Our clients are under enormous pressure to drive profitable growth while reinventing how they operate. This leadership team brings the strategic vision and operational know-how to help them do both. With their collective expertise, execution experience, and vision, we are confident they will propel our clients—and our firm—to new levels of performance.”
With these appointments, Simon-Kucher strengthens its Financial Services leadership bench and underscores its commitment to help financial institutions unlock sustainable, profitable growth.
About Simon-Kucher
Simon-Kucher is a global consultancy with more than 2,000 employees in 31 countries. Our sole focus is on unlocking better growth that drives measurable revenue and profit for our clients. We achieve this by optimizing every lever of their commercial strategy - product, price, innovation, marketing, and sales - based on deep insights into what customers want and value. With 40 years of experience in monetization topics of all kinds, we are regarded as the world’s leading pricing and growth specialist.