Centrue Financial Corp. of Ottawa, Ill., a $1.3 billion-asset banking company, is merging its wealth management and retail banking businesses.
The move will reduce costs and "flatten the organization a little bit," said Thomas A. Daiber, Centrue's president and chief executive officer. It also makes sense because the retail operations are already closely entwined with wealth management, he said.
The wealth management unit has about $200 million of assets under management. In consists of a trust department, an asset management arm that invests for retirement plans and individuals, and a brokerage operation, Mr. Daiber said.
Centrue eliminated the position of head of wealth management, which had been held by executive vice president J. David Conterio, on April 30, according to a regulatory filing. Roger Dotson, an executive vice president and the head of retail banking, will oversee the eight-employee wealth management business, Mr. Daiber said.
Centrue, which doubled its size in a merger last year with UnionBancorp Inc. of Ottawa, hopes to double its assets under management within five years, Mr. Daiber said.
