David Brown, chief financial officer of Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has been selected by the Business Record as the Deloitte CFO of the Year.

The award will be presented during the Business Record’s Economic Forecast Luncheon on Jan. 28 at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel. Register now >>> 

Brown joined Wellmark in 2011 as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, and for the past four years has played a key role in helping the health insurer navigate the uncharted waters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He also held an integral seat at the table in a historic land swap that allowed the Riverfront YMCA to relocate to its newly remodeled facility.

“David has been instrumental in heading up many of the strategic initiatives at Wellmark during a turbulent time when a lot of decisions had to be made,” wrote Suku Radia, president and CEO of Bankers Trust Co., in a nomination letter. “The Affordable Care Act has not been without conflict and and it has made the industry quite unpredictable. In the midst of all that unpredictability, David’s expertise has helped improve Wellmark’s financial stability.”

Brown helped develop a transformational $100 million cost savings target for Wellmark over three years, and helped the insurer to deliver more than $60 million in savings during the first two years. He also launched development of a new enterprise data warehouse for Wellmark and incorporated new business intelligence tools, including the analysis of big data and the creation of new market segmentation and targeting capabilities.