Louis Lombardi Senior Vice President & Regional Commercial Executive Fulton Bank
What commercial banking segments are doing well? Right now, most of our clients are doing fairly well. There are certainly a number of sectors that continue to face challenges but, for the most part, our portfolio has been very resilient. Our healthcare banking group is doing really well and the investment real estate group is focusing on logistics and distribution as well as multifamily asset classes. We’ve also started a life sciences and technology initiative, given the status of South Jersey and Philadelphia as a national hub for life sciences. That is a high-growth area. How has your business been impacted by technology? Technology is affecting everyone in every industry, and banking is no exception. We’ve invested in technology across all of our initiatives because technology is a factor in nearly everything we do. Integrating technology augments and improves the client experience. We are constantly on this journey to improve. As we do this, we want to ensure the focus remains on the client relationship, no matter how much technology we implement. What do you see as the main market trends affecting clients? As we meet with our clients, we’re hearing about a few trends. The labor shortage is definitely one of those, no matter the sector. Another thing we are seeing is an increase in prices, which is also across the board. The pandemic has disrupted the supply chain, which has created price increases, combined with the reopening demand that we’re seeing. It’s hard to imagine a situation where we can completely avoid some level of inflation. If it does start to increase, that will likely result in higher interest rates. Generally speaking, we are seeing robust demand from most of our clients, with most seeing quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. Our clients on the whole remain optimistic about this year. 104
| Invest: South Jersey 2021 | BANKING & FINANCE
( ) On average, these financial institutions showcased an average 14.85% year-on-year asset growth compared to 1Q20. In aggregate, South Jersey’s 25 top performing banks counted $27 billion in asset value (14% of New Jersey’s Top 100 banks); 195 branches (41%); 2,591 employees (13%); and 756,729 customer accounts (15%). The Top 3 performers in the South Jersey region as of June 2021 included OceanFirst Bank, with $11.5 billion in assets, 9.12% asset growth, 55 branches, 978 employees and 268,534 customer accounts. ConnectOne Bank was second, with $7.4 billion in assets; 2.33% percent asset growth, 27 branches, 412 employees and 83,846 customer accounts, followed by Parke Bank, with $2 billion in assets,13.59% asset growth, seven branches, 97 employees and 20,282 customer accounts. Faced with a daunting scenario from the pandemic, South Jersey’s banking and finance players tackled the issue head-on, providing continuous services, bolstering digital platforms and making financial aid available from different levels of government to local small businesses, which in turn helped underpin their own financial performance. Sector performance Pre-pandemic, New Jersey had already established itself as a merger hotbed for financial players. Between June
Many well-known banks are reducing their physical branches while boosting investment in digital solutions.
