Cat Financial president to retire

James Beard, president of Caterpillar Financial Services, will retire March 1 after a 40-year career. Caterpillar’s board of directors has named Kent Adams to succeed Beard as vice president of the financial products division, which includes Cat Financial, Caterpillar Insurance Services, Caterpillar Redistribution Services and Caterpillar Power Ventures. Beard helped form Cat Financial in 1981 and then led the company to become one of the largest captive financing organizations in the world, said Jim Owens, chairman and chief executive of Caterpillar. Beard is credited with expanding Cat Financial’s services to support the sale of Cat machines and engines to customers in Japan, Europe, Russia and China. Adams began his career at Caterpillar in 1979 and has served in overseas locations including Brazil, Hong Kong and Singapore. He moved to Cat Financial in 1998 and has responsibility for North America operations in his current role.