Hancock Co-CEO Moves to New Orleans

By Paul Davis June 12, 2013, 11:34 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

Community banking

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Hancock Agrees to Buy Whitney for $1.5B

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By Kate Davidson

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Carl Chaney will have plenty of opportunities to work on a Cajun dialect.

Chaney, co-CEO at Hancock Holding in Gulfport, Miss., quietly relocated to New Orleans last week. The $19 billion-asset company's other CEO, John Hairston, will remain in Gulfport.

"We've been having discussions about this for quite some time," says Chaney, who spent much of the last weekend unpacking. "It makes sense for me to be here night and day and entrench my family in the area."

The reasons are twofold, he says. New Orleans accounts for nearly 40% of Hancock's loans and deposits. Hancock bought Whitney Holding, a bigger company that was based in New Orleans, in 2011. It is also easier for analysts and institutional investors to fly nonstop from New York to New Orleans to meet with Chaney, who is the external face of the company. "It can take you all day to get to Gulfport," he says.

"When you look at where our markets are moving, the Mississippi coast is very stable but there's not a lot growth," Chaney says. "But when you look at southeast Louisiana boy, the market here is just exploding."

The energy sector has been a major contributor to Louisiana's economic rebound in recent years.

New Orleans is likely to remain a key contributor to Hancock's bottom line. The company announced last month that it would close one-fifth of its branches, targeting cities such as Houston and Orlando, Fla., where it lacked retail heft. Hancock also announced plans earlier this year to trim annual expenses by $50 million.

Management has also been facing pressure from analysts to get more aggressive with cost cutting, but Chaney says he did not relocate to oversee a Draconian cost-cutting effort in New Orleans. He also was quick to dismiss speculation that the company could move its corporate headquarters out of Gulfport.

The new set-up also affirms Hancock's decision to have two banks: Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank. "The two-bank structure has worked extraordinarily well," Chaney says. "It makes sense for us to keep that Whitney brand. The goodwill of both of those names is well worth it."

Chaney also kept his Gulfport office and plans to stop by that office from time to time. But living in New Orleans will also yield another benefit to the self-professed football fan.

"I'm a huge Saints fan, so being in the city is a wonderful plus," Chaney says. "And the culture of New Orleans is phenomenal."

Paul Davis