Why the move from Bank Iowa to Mutual of Omaha?

The move was prompted by an opportunity with Mutual of Omaha Bank. I had spent the last six years with Bank Iowa – very, very happy, fun years. I was able to start the Des Moines operation for them. When I walked in, I had a desk and four walls and no bank, and that’s something that I had done before at previous institutions, and it was a great opportunity with Bank Iowa. This was a similar opportunity. The difference being that at Bank Iowa, the board and I … we ran into some impasses, basically, to where we had differences of opinion, and I saw an opportunity with Mutual of Omaha Bank to go forward in my banking career. Basically, Mutual of Omaha Bank’s philosophy is banking with horsepower. When you’re competing in the marketplace with different sized banks and very good bankers who have been here quite a while, that horsepower is a very good thing. At Bank Iowa, I thought we did a very good job of developing that bank at a very high time and at a low time. One thing we always ran into was the scale. It was very hard to go after some of the most sought-after clients because of your scale. Mutual of Omaha Bank allows me to do that. The bank itself is approaching $5 billion in assets, we’ll be there by the end of the year, and that’s national.

Mutual of Omaha is primarily a commercial lender, correct?

The bank itself is a full-service bank. It started in 2007, seeded by the insurance company, Mutual of Omaha. The timing was perfect; 2007 was the year in which the real estate bubble burst and there was only a handful of banks willing to do real estate lending, commercial real estate lending, and Mutual was one of them. It had tremendous capital. It had a great name. They hired a very strong banking executive team in Omaha. … They basically said this is our philosophy: Picture the commercial client right in the middle and every thing else feeds off of that commercial client. You look at retail banking, you look at private banking, you look at residential mortgage lending … then you look at the treasury management side, some banks have that area and some don’t. … They invested heavily in that area. I started a treasury management area at Bank Iowa. I kind of had to create that because of our scale. Here it’s already there, it’s ready to go and it’s very good.

How did the bank grow?

From 2007 to 2010, Mutual of Omaha Bank nationally has acquired five different banks and also has grown organically in their markets. We are definitely more of an urban, commercial business person’s bank – not that we won’t do banking in rural markets. But our banking centers are located in urban markets such as Phoenix and Denver and Dallas and Omaha.

Are there too many banks in Des Moines?

We are probably in more of a saturated market than others. I think there might be too many banks. I’m not sure there are enough really good bankers. … I see what everybody else sees. I’m a consumer like everybody else, and I say, “What are we doing?” But I really believe that folks use banks because of their service. Mainly, it’s how you’re treated and what kind of banker or banking solution you desire as a business owner or as a consumer. … We need to be there for our client, and if we are, we’re going to win. … Some of our competitors have chosen to put a bank on every corner. Some are just online. … We are going to put in some locations, but we don’t feel like we have to be on every corner. And we have a very strong online presence.

Mutual of Omaha Bank is flying under the radar in Greater Des Moines. Do you have a marketing challenge?

That is one of the overriding things that is very nice. “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” is very warm and recognizable. Getting up to change the dial, I remember those (TV shows) fondly, and my hope is that everybody else does, too. One of the main things, if not the main thing, a banker has in his or her time period is reputation. It’s something that I protect and believe it is one of the main reasons people would bank with me.