We work with community and regional banks to identify and recruit established commercial bankers, market leaders, and production teams that fit the bank's growth strategy. We focus on bankers with long-term client relationships, strong production history, effective referral networks, deposit-gathering capability, and market credibility. When a bank engages us to fill a specific need, our work is built around direct outreach, practical market intelligence, and a clear understanding of what causes a successful banker to consider a move.
The bankers worth recruiting are rarely the ones applying to postings. Reaching them takes credibility, discretion, and the experience to frame an opportunity in terms that matter to them and their clients. That is what earns a serious conversation.
We conduct searches for our client banks and have successfully filled roles across the commercial banking spectrum, from Commercial Relationship Managers (C&I and CRE) to deposit-focused bankers, and full team lift-outs, up through Market President, Chief Lending Officer, and Chief Banking Officer, among many others.
Our Search Process
- Understand the bankLeadership, credit culture, growth strategy, and treasury capability.
- Start with who we knowWe begin with our proprietary network of commercial bankers and leadership we have identified, spoken with, and tracked over time, while also drawing on trusted referrals and market intelligence.
- Then dig deeperDirect, research-led recruiting to connect with talented bankers we may not have spoken with before, who are well worth a conversation.
- Evaluate fitClient base, production history, compensation,
portability,
and long-term fit. - Introduce and supportConfidential introductions, process management, offer strategy, and close.
Search Scenarios
A few anonymized examples of what proven bankers and teams have done for the institutions we placed them with.
Boosting Core Deposits & NIM
Deposit Group Lift-Outs
We placed multiple deposit acquisition groups for the private banking division of a regional bank in the Northeast with more than $15B in assets, driving substantial first-year core deposit growth with roughly 50% of new deposits in DDA balances, and positioning the bank for continued low-cost growth and improved net interest margin.
Asset Growth
C&I Lending Team
We placed a three-person team for a community bank in the Mid-Atlantic with more than $3B in assets that was rebalancing away from a heavy investment-CRE and multifamily concentration toward C&I and owner-occupied CRE. About a year later, the team had beaten its first-year origination goal and more than doubled its low-cost deposit target, with a pipeline pointing higher for year two.
Market Leadership Succession
Market President
We placed a highly regarded team leader as Market President for a regional bank in the Southeast with more than $10B in assets, succeeding a retiring long-tenured executive, and bringing two decades of experience leading commercial lending teams at money center and super regional banks. Under his leadership the team improved loan growth, credit quality, and retention, and he later recruited the top two producers from his prior institution.
Launching a New Market Presence
Commercial Team Lift-Out
We executed a team lift-out from a large regional bank for a community bank in the Northeast with more than $2B in assets, launching a loan production office in a new market. The long-tenured, two-person team had a strong following in its market and brought both C&I client relationships and non-brokered CRE borrowers. By the two-year mark, the team had more than doubled the lending goals of its three-year business plan.
Expanding Non-Interest Income
Launching an SBA Division
We placed an SBA 7(a) manager who spearheaded the launch of an SBA division at a community bank in the Northeast with more than $5B in assets, driving a substantial increase in non-interest income within nine months through secondary-market sales of guaranteed loan portions. Within a year the bank added three experienced BDOs to grow 7(a) volume.
Growing Business Operating Accounts
Deposit-Focused Leader
We placed a deposit-focused business banking leader at a family-owned community bank in the Midwest with more than $250M in assets, producing a 20% increase in local business accounts within a year while deepening the bank's community relationships.
Expanding Into a New State
Commercial Banking Team Lift-Out
We lifted out a three-person commercial banking team, a producing team leader and two relationship managers, for a bank in the Midwest with more than $4B in assets that was entering a new market in another state, away from where it was based and did most of its business. Long-tenured at their former bank, the team opened a loan production office in the new market and brought a sizable loan portfolio, a relationship-based approach, and a strong mix of C&I and commercial real estate lending with the deposits to match. By the end of two years they had exceeded the bank's loan goal by about 80% and its deposit goal by more than 120%.
Preparing for a Public Offering
Chief Financial Officer
We placed a Chief Financial Officer at a commercial bank in the Northeast with more than $1B in assets, with a mandate to draw on her prior experience and ready the bank to go public. She modernized the accounting and finance functions, from systems to reporting, and led the bank through a successful initial public offering. The bank continues to perform well as a public company.
Executive Leadership Searches
While commercial banking production remains our primary specialty, we also take on select leadership searches for community and regional banks.
Entering a New Market
Market entry is its own kind of search. The timeline is set by the board and senior leadership, not by an immediate vacancy, and the people worth hiring are not looking. We keep a confidential registry for banks considering entry into a market where they have no presence today.