Kip Albertson, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Bankers Trust, has been named the Business Record’s 2025 Deloitte CFO of the Year.

The award honors an individual for outstanding performance in their role as corporate financial steward. Nominations are accepted from the community and the honoree is chosen by Business Record leadership.

Albertson joined Bankers Trust as chief financial officer in 1993 and in March will retire from the bank after 31 years in the role. During his tenure the bank’s assets have grown from $460 million to $7 billion and net income has grown from $4 million to $62.6 million, according to his nomination.

“While Kip’s influence over the financial success of the bank has been significant throughout his full tenure, its growth over the past decade especially stands out. … From 2009 to 2014, assets increased 32% and earnings more than doubled,” Bankers Trust President and CEO Don Coffin wrote in his nomination of Albertson.

Albertson has held other roles at the bank in addition to leading the finance department, including senior trust officer, chief administrative officer and strategy officer.

Albertson led the creation of BTC Capital Management, Bankers Trust’s registered investment advisory firm, in 2009 and serves as its director of the board, secretary and treasurer.

In 2024, he was promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president of BTC Financial Corp., Bankers Trust’s holding company. He has also served as chief financial officer of BTC Trust Co. of South Dakota, the bank’s affiliate South Dakota trust firm, since 1993.

In a letter supporting his nomination, Nick Henderson, retired president and chief operating officer of Holmes Murphy & Associates, wrote that Albertson possesses traits that are important in the CFO role: integrity, proven humble leadership and wisdom.

“I have never worked with anyone that has more integrity than Kip,” Henderson wrote. “He has always been a man of his word. He has always done what he said he was going to do down to returning a phone call by a certain time. I have witnessed Kip make decisions that are best for the organization but probably weren’t in the best interest of Kip personally. He truly lives by ‘treating others like he would want to be treated.’”

Before Bankers Trust, Albertson worked as a senior manager for accounting firm KPMG, a vice president and controller for Central Tractor Farm and Family Center and chief financial officer of Herschel Corp. The Roosevelt High School graduate holds two bachelor’s degrees in business administration and finance from the University of Iowa and is a certified public accountant.

Coffin wrote that Albertson’s financial leadership put Bankers Trust in a strong position to endure the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The bank also handled the highest volume of Paycheck Protection Program loans of any bank in Iowa, issuing 1,500 loans for $403 million. His work has also ensured Bankers Trust can consistently donate $1 million to local nonprofits in communities it serves, the nomination said.

Albertson has been involved in leading the growth of Bankers Trust’s employee base and expanding the bank’s footprint in Iowa, Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota.

“The employee base has doubled in the past 30 years, and Kip has led an effort for the bank to become more proactive in planning for future workforce needs,” Coffin wrote.

Outside of work, Albertson serves on the boards of directors for the Iowa PBS Foundation and WesleyLife. Previously, he also served on the boards of ChildServe, the Greater Des Moines Partnership, the Salisbury House Foundation and the Roosevelt High School Foundation.

“Since he became a member of the WesleyLife Board of Directors in 2018, Kip has served our organization diligently and with an unwavering commitment to our mission,” WesleyLife President and CEO Rob Kretzinger wrote in a letter of recommendation. “Kip’s effectiveness as a Chief Financial Officer is apparent as a WesleyLife board member, as he has guided our organization to pursue our mission in a way that is both impactful and sustainable.”

To view past CFO of the Year honorees, click here.