SunTrust Banks in Atlanta will hire as many as 200 people for its wholesale-banking business over the next four years as it seeks to increase mergers-and-acquisition services for mid-size companies.
SunTrust's hiring spree comes as 36% of firms with annual revenue of $10 million to $150 million are interested in expanding through deals, up from 25% in 2015, according to a SunTrust survey scheduled for release Wednesday.
In addition to adding more talent to its M&A-advisory business, SunTrust also plans to hire more bankers with specific industry expertise, said Mark Chancy, who runs the SunTrust's wholesale division. The lender also plans to beef up services for commercial real estate clients, he said.
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About 10% of midsize businesses say they want to develop a relationship with nonbank providers, such as marketplace lenders or business development companies, and even more are said to be considering switching banks.
February 17 -
SunTrust is turning to fintech to help it provide better payments solutions to its business customers. The approach is novel because so much of fintech innovation centers on overhauling retail banking.
February 12 -
A dozen banks from Arkansas to Virginia are nearing $10 billion in assets, where they will face higher compliance costs and caps on interchange fees. Mergers among those institutions could create a new class of regional bank.
March 21
"Merger-and-acquisition advisory is probably the lead product where we have been investing in talent, and I see us continue to expand in that area over the next several years," Chancy said. The unit's 4,000 employees could increase by as much as 5% by 2020, he said.
The wholesale unit has expanded in recent years to Chicago, New York, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston. U.S. regional banks have been able to lure executives from global rivals with promises of more workplace autonomy, less bureaucracy and a better work-life balance.
In February, SunTrust started a payments and financial technology specialty group led by Eric Brewer, former head of treasury and payment solutions. The bank also has hired for coverage of the retail, biotechnology, ports and logistics and health-care industries, Chancy said. The wholesale unit posted net income of $954 million in 2015, a 9% increase from a year earlier.
A total of 508 small and mid-size businesses participated in the survey, SunTrust said.
