First Citizens on Thursday unveiled the new leadership structure for its expanded wealth-management division, a unit of the regional lender that has grown following the acquisition of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank in March.
Michael Wilson, who has led the Raleigh, North Carolina-based bank’s First Citizens Wealth for the past decade, will take over SVB Private, the private-banking and wealth-management business that once belonged to SVB, First Citizens said.
In the expanded role, Wilson oversees about 900 associates managing more than $50 billion for clients, the bank said.
First Citizens also installed several former SVB executives to help lead the new combined organization.
Three former SVB Private executives were selected for leadership roles in the division: Robert Nentwig will lead private banking and lending; Gerald Baker will lead personal trust services; and George Shehata will head up strategy, according to a press release.
First Citizens said the division’s leadership structure “reflects the outstanding strengths and talents” of executives at both wealth-management units.
“With our acquisition of SVB Private, it is logical and appropriate to bring our wealth and private banking activities together under a unified leadership structure," Hope Holding Bryant, First Citizens' vice chairwoman, said in a statement. "I am confident this approach will accelerate our ongoing efforts to support institutions, families and individuals with the personalized service and resources they need to grow, manage and preserve their wealth.”
SVB’s collapse in March ushered in a crisis of confidence in the banking sector. Other lenders affected by the fallout included Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, both of which were also taken over by regulators and subsequently acquired by New York Community Bank and JPMorgan Chase, respectively.
As the winning bidder for SVB, First Citizens assumed $110 billion of the Santa Clara, California-based firm’s assets, $56.5 billion in deposits and $72 billion in loans.
Following the takeover, First Citizens cut hundreds of SVB staff — roles that encompassed “select SVB corporate functions, not client-facing positions,” a First Citizens spokesperson told Triangle Business Journal in May.
The cuts affected mostly the commercial-banking business brought over from SVB, amounting to approximately 3% of First Citizen’s total workforce, according to Axios.
