Manesh Prabhu

About Manesh Prabhu

Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Columbia Financial/Columbia Bank since October 2022; age 50 as of December 31, 2024. Over 20 years in banking technology, previously Chief Technology Officer at People’s United Bank with senior leadership roles across enterprise architecture, data, IT governance, business intelligence, marketing analytics and digital transformation. Holds an MBA (Thiagarajar School of Management – Madurai Kamaraj University, India) and a B.Tech. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology – Mahatma Gandhi University, India) .

Important: Company filings identify Prabhu as an executive officer (EVP/CIO), not a director. He does not appear on the Board or committee rosters and is therefore not an “independent director.” Governance items below reflect his executive status and company-wide governance policies rather than director-specific roles .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Impact
People’s United Bank, N.A.	Chief Technology Officer; prior senior roles (enterprise/data architecture, IT governance, BI/analytics, digital transformation)	c. 20 years prior to Oct-2022	Led IT strategy and technology transformation; digital focus
Columbia Financial/Columbia Bank	EVP, Chief Information Officer	Oct-2022 – Present	Oversees information systems and digital banking

External Roles

Organization	Role	Notes
Not disclosed in CLBK filings	—	Company biography does not list outside public company directorships for Prabhu .

Board Governance

Status: Executive officer; not a member of the Board; not listed on any Board committee (Audit, Compensation, Nominating/Corporate Governance, Risk, Technology, Operations & Strategic Planning) .
Independence/Attendance: Not applicable (not a director). Director attendance disclosure pertains to directors only; all directors met 75%+ attendance in 2024 .

Fixed Compensation

Individual executive pay for Prabhu is not disclosed; he is not a Named Executive Officer (NEO) in the proxy’s executive compensation tables (NEOs are Kemly, Gibney, Allen, Klimowich, Schlesinger) .
Director fee schedule does not apply (he is not a director) .

Performance Compensation

Individual incentive targets and payouts for Prabhu are not disclosed (non-NEO). For context, company short‑term incentive metrics for NEOs in 2024 were Core Bank Net Income, Core Efficiency Ratio, and Non‑Performing Assets/Total Assets; long‑term equity metrics were Core Bank ROAA (60% weight) and Relative Core Bank Efficiency Ratio vs. KBW Nasdaq Regional Bank Index (40%) .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Current public company boards: None disclosed for Prabhu in filings .
Related-party or interlocks: No Prabhu-specific related-person transactions disclosed; aggregate insider lending was $2.6 million as of 12/31/24 and conducted on ordinary-course, non-preferential terms per policy .

Expertise & Qualifications

Technology and digital banking leadership as EVP/CIO responsible for Columbia Bank’s information systems and digital banking .
Deep background in enterprise architecture, data/analytics, IT governance, and digital transformation; relevant to bank’s technology and cybersecurity risk domains .
Academic credentials in engineering and business (MBA; B.Tech.) .

Equity Ownership

Metric	Amount	Notes
Shares beneficially owned	42,159	As of record date (Apr 14, 2025)
Options exercisable within 60 days	14,240	As of record date
Ownership as % of outstanding	0.05%	Based on 104,930,900 shares outstanding
ESOP shares	2,150	Beneficial ownership detail
SERP shares	437	Beneficial ownership detail
401(k) Plan shares	1,292	Beneficial ownership detail
Stock-Based Deferral Plan shares	546	Beneficial ownership detail
Unvested restricted shares (2019 Equity Incentive Plan)	34,514	Beneficial ownership detail
Shares pledged as collateral	None indicated	“Unless otherwise indicated, none…are pledged”

Additional alignment policies:

Anti‑hedging and anti‑pledging policies apply to officers and directors; hedging and pledging are prohibited .
Executive stock ownership guidelines: EVPs are required to hold 2x–3x base salary in company stock (time‑bound phase‑ins); compliance reviewed annually (individual compliance status for Prabhu not disclosed) .

Governance Assessment

Role clarity: Prabhu is an executive officer (EVP/CIO), not an independent director; therefore, director independence, committee chair roles, and meeting attendance requirements do not apply to him .
Alignment and controls: Holds meaningful unvested equity; subject to anti‑hedging/pledging, clawback/recoupment policies, and executive ownership guidelines—favorable for alignment and risk control .
Insider compliance: Company disclosed one late Form 4 filing in 2024 for Prabhu (and for certain other insiders); administrative timeliness issue, not a trading policy breach .
Related-party/conflict exposure: No Prabhu‑specific related‑person transactions disclosed; insider lending is monitored and must be on market terms per policy and banking laws .
Company say‑on‑pay: 98.2% approval in 2024—broad shareholder support for the executive pay program that governs NEOs; supportive broader governance signal (although not specific to Prabhu) .

Cyber/technology governance context:

The company describes an enterprise cybersecurity program with Board‑level oversight via the Technology Committee and defined first/second/third lines of defense (CISO, ETRM, Internal Audit); Prabhu’s CIO responsibilities operate within this framework .

Overall: From a governance and investor‑confidence perspective, Prabhu’s profile is that of a senior technology executive with substantial skin‑in‑the‑game via equity holdings, covered by robust anti‑hedging/pledging and clawback provisions, with no disclosed related‑party conflicts. The single late Form 4 in 2024 is a minor compliance blemish but not indicative of misalignment or policy weakness .