Sandy Pierce is a seasoned veteran not just of banking, but bank mergers as well.
She was CEO of Detroit-based First Merit when Huntington Bancshares acquired the lender in 2016. Following that merger, Pierce settled into a largely wealth management role at Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington, running the private bank while also overseeing the bank's operations in Michigan.
Then, in June 2021, Huntington made another splashy move, snapping up Detroit-based TCF Financial Corp. in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.2 billion.
The deal made Huntington a Midwestern powerhouse, sporting $183 billion in assets at the end of 2022. But it also added thousands of TCF employees and divisions that overlapped with existing ones at Huntington.
Pierce, who has worked in banking since 1978, began strategizing about how to make the bank more cost-effective and scalable. Then last year, CEO Stephen Steinour tapped Pierce to co-lead a team focused on Huntington's realignment.
In February, the team said it would streamline the bank's four segments into two. The new Huntington would retain its commercial banking division (services for businesses with revenue greater than $50 million a year). And it would consolidate the divisions that focus on general consumer services, small businesses, vehicle financing and wealth management into one consumer and regional banking division.
The realignment simplifies the structure of Pierce's team of wealth managers, and will hopefully encourage more consumers to explore wealth management services, she said.
Before the realignment, Pierce explained, the bank's broker-dealers were working in a separate division from wealth managers. The full suite of investment management services were only offered to a small group of high net worth clients. Also, individual customers had to switch advisors based on their changing level of wealth.
Now, Pierce said, anyone seeking wealth management advice goes to the same department, "regardless of where our customer is on the wealth continuum."
"You are going to have the same team working with you throughout your wealth journey," Pierce added.
Pierce has spent much of the year helping to integrate former TCF workers into the private bank and is also working with Steinour on revising her own role, which is set to be announced at the end of the year. Pierce declined to discuss how her responsibilities might change.
A Detroit native, Pierce is dedicated to bolstering Michigan's economy. In order to attract new employers to the region, Pierce said, Michigan's workforce must have access to more educational opportunities.
She's helping to provide that access through Michigan State University. In January, Pierce was appointed to the university's board of trustees. In that role, Pierce is hoping to use her financial services experience to improve MSU's finances so it, in turn, can be more affordable for students.
Pierce also serves as the chair of the Henry Ford Health Foundation and its $500 million capital campaign, which she said is 40% toward its fundraising goal. The money will go toward a new behavioral health center and a patient facility in Macomb, Michigan, among other investments, she stated.
Pierce is also the first female chair of the Detroit Economic Club. Every sitting U.S. president since Richard Nixon has spoken at the club, as well as international dignitaries and Fortune 500 CEOs. "The DEC continues to attract global speakers to Detroit, providing a platform for the debate and discussion of business, government, and social issues," said Pierce.
