CoreStates Financial Corp. has hired the former president of Chemical Bank New Jersey to run its beefed-up private banking business.
William D. "Denny" Baird Jr. was named executive vice president of CoreStates Asset Management last week. He will oversee the unit's sprawling personal financial services business, which got a big boost when CoreStates acquired Meridian Bancorp this year.
The business, which now spans Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, incorporates three private client units: CoreStates Trust and Investments, Meridian Asset Management, and Delaware Trust Capital Management.
Private bankers nationwide are sifting through newly merged trust and investment management units to determine a new structure. While Mr. Baird acknowledges that the process can be confusing to customers, he said consolidation is giving CoreStates another crack at the high-net-worth market.
"It can be an opportunity," he said. "The first organization that conveys a commitment and a sense of identity is going to be a big winner."
Mr. Baird's duties at Chemical, in addition to general banking responsibilities, including managing a subsidiary, Princeton Bank and Trust.
His former boss credited him with building Chemical's base of wealthy clients in New Jersey and predicted he would do the same for Philadelphia's CoreStates.
"Denny has terrific banking skills in international, corporate, and investments," said William H. Turner, former chairman of Chemical Bank New Jersey. "He is very well equipped for this kind of a role. I would expect for him to do very well." Mr. Turner is now president and co-chief executive of Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc., Burlington, N.J.
In his new job, Mr. Baird said, he plans to create an environment in which lenders, investment managers, and trust administrators actively cross-sell each others' abilities and products.
He acknowledged that such integration can be a tough sell internally.
"There is always the residual history where people may not have had the best experience," Mr. Baird said. "People have to know when they make a referral they can do so with confidence."
To that end, Mr. Baird said, he plans to institute quality measures to make sure clients are satisfied with every contact they have with the bank.
At CoreStates, Mr. Baird will report to Peter Welber, president of CoreStates Asset Management, which manages $26.5 billion of discretionary trust assets. Mr. Welber is the former head of Meridian Asset Management, which handled trust and investment management.
Private banking, or customized high-end lending, was not part of his responsibilities.
Previously, CoreStates' private client services were overseen by John Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd is now managing director of CoreStates Capital Markets.
