Denise M. Penz

Denise serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of Preferred Legacy National Trust Bank, the trust and estate administration wing belonging to the CRI Family of Companies. She partners with ultra-high-net-worth families to protect, grow, and steward their legacies across generations, delivering sophisticated estate planning, tailored wealth management, and family office services with precision and discretion. Blending discipline, resilience, and deep industry expertise, she simplifies complexity, safeguards intentions, and gives families confidence that their legacy will endure.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Denise began her banking career in 1997 and has since built a distinguished record of leadership across nearly every sector of the financial industry, including trust and wealth management, private banking, brokerage, retail banking, mortgage lending, and commercial operations. Her career includes service with both community banks and large regional institutions, as well as an entrepreneurial chapter leading a private equity group that purchased and operated a commercial bank in Ohio from 2009 until its sale in 2017.