Private Equity Backer Joins Board of Carrollton in Maryland

Carrollton Bancorp's main private-equity backer is joining its board.

Eric Hovde, the president and chief executive of the Hovde Private Equity Advisors, was elected to the boards of the Lutherville, Md., company and its banking unit on Sept. 25. Hovde Acquisitions, a fund affiliated with Hovde's firm, owns approximately 84% of Carrollton's stock.

Hovde replaced Shaun Murphy, who will become chief risk officer of a holding company that Hovde plans to create to reorganize the firm's merchant-banking activities. Hovde also replaced Murphy on Carrollton's nominating and corporate governance committee.

Hovde, 49, is also the controlling shareholder and chairman of Sunwest Bank in Irvine, Calif., according to a Carrollton regulatory filing. He ran for a Senate seat in Wisconsin in the 2012 election, losing in the Republican primary to Tommy Thompson.

The $471 million-asset Carrollton was acquired in April by Jefferson Bancorp, which is owned by a Hovde fund. The combined company kept the Carrollton name and the name of its bank, Bay Bank. Hovde was a member of Jefferson's board, but stepped down to pursue the Senate seat.

In August, Carrollton's chief financial officer resigned, less than three months after joining the company.