Thomas M. Fields hopes to bring a little North Carolina insurance know-how to the Big Easy.
Mr. Fields, formerly regional manager for central and western North Carolina at BB&T Corp.'s insurance unit, took over that of New Orleans-based Hibernia National Bank last week.
As president and executive manager of Hibernia Insurance Agency he oversees a two-and-a-half-year-old program with two acquired property and casualty insurance agencies and a homegrown life insurance business.
Developmentally, Hibernia is about 10 years behind BB&T but has great potential, Mr. Fields said.
"This was a great opportunity," he said. "We're going to be looking a lot like BB&T. However, there are some things we're going to do differently."
Mr. Fields was a good catch, said John P. Young, a Greensboro, N.C.-based consultant. "Tom's done a great job for BB&T," Mr. Young said.
Another industry observer said the move might quiet rumblings at Hibernia that the bank is not committed to insurance.
Mr. Fields said one of his first orders of business is to "sell the troops on the viability of insurance." He has no doubt of the bank's commitment; Hibernia's chief executive officer assured him of it, he said.
"They want to be the largest in Louisiana," he said. And Hibernia is looking at an expansion into Texas, if regulatory changes there allow it, he added.
Hibernia's insurance effort was first led by James H. Meredeth, who was dismissed in late 1997. Insurance was then added to the trust and asset management oversight duties of executive vice president Kenneth A. Rains. Now, Mr. Fields, 50, will focus solely on insurance.
Hibernia expects Mr. Fields to post a 22% return on equity next year. That will rise to 26% in 2001, Mr. Fields said.
It would be a big leap for a program that has so far made a "little" money in property and casualty, Mr. Fields acknowledges. And he is also charged with turning around an unprofitable life insurance program. "It's not doing well right now; we've got a lot of work to do in that area," he said.
The game plan is still being drawn, but Mr. Fields said to expect some BB&T-like moves.
"We're going to be buying agencies," Mr. Fields said. Within a year he hopes to have bought three to six top-flight shops. BB&T has acquired seven agencies so far this year.
Hibernia is also test-marketing a platform term-life sales program. Roughly 100 employees have been trained so far, said training coordinator Gary Warden, a vice president of Commercial Union Life Insurance Co., one of Hibernia's product providers. Another 200 are scheduled to be trained shortly, Mr. Warden said.
Mr. Fields said the bank would develop its referral program to distinguish its insurance from other agencies'. He said he is confident that Hibernia can compete with insurers like Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance and New York Life Insurance Co.
