New Jersey-based Peapack-Gladstone Bank and its subsidiary Peapack Private are planting seeds for an expansion into New York City under the leadership of a former First Republic Bank executive.
Jeanne Scungio, president of Peapack Private, joined the firm following the May closure of First Republic, where she’d been a team leader and senior managing director for New York since 2004.
Scungio’s colleague, 18-year First Republic veteran Christopher Tomai, has also joined Peapack Private as senior managing director and senior relationship manager, the bank announced this week.
Recent changes to the city’s banking sector — the dissolution of Signature Bank and First Republic, both well-known in the area for their “client-centric models and elevated client experiences” — means Peapack Private’s brand and its client-centric focus will be welcomed, Peapack-Gladstone CEO Doug Kennedy said.
“As [Signature and First Republic] are being absorbed into larger institutions, we feel there is an opportunity for us to move into the market with our business model that is similarly client focused and built on providing exceptional experiences,” he said.
Peapack-Gladstone Bank and Peapack Private have hired several executives in recent weeks, Kennedy said, and is actively recruiting from the tri-state area. The bank awaits regulatory approval to open its New York office.
Prior to her tenure at First Republic, Scungio’s career included senior roles at U.S. Trust Co., Citi and Chase Manhattan, where she led high-performing teams addressing individuals’ complex business needs.
“I am happy to join an organization that is committed to providing an elevated experience for its clients,” she said in her hiring announcement. “As a well-known New Jersey-based boutique financial institution, I expect the expansion for Peapack Private into NY will be well received. The team of private banking professionals we are assembling to compete in this market will be formidable and will make an impact.”
Numerous former First Republic bankers like Scungio have found new homes at other firms since the collapse, which former CEO Michael Roffler blamed — at least in part — on contagion from other regional bank failures.
Citizens Bank last month hired roughly 50 former First Republic senior private bankers to build out its wealth-management presence and scale its business banking footprint in New York, Boston and Florida.
