Brian Love, Head of Banking & Fintech at Travillian, sits down with Mike Perito, SVP, Head of Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations at Provident Bank, to talk Provident Bank corporate strategy about 16 months into the job. Mike spent nearly 14 years covering banks and fintech as an equity research analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), then served as Travillian’s Head of Bank Strategy before joining Provident, the roughly $25 billion New Jersey bank that closed its merger with Lakeland Bancorp in May 2024.
Mike shares what changes when a bank gets big enough to need a dedicated strategy seat, how Provident decides where to grow across the Mid-Atlantic, and the one principle that shapes its deposit plan. He also opens up about the bank’s recent core conversion, where he lands on AI and stablecoins, and what it’s like to field investor questions after years of asking them. Then Mike turns the tables on Brian to ask what smaller banks are hiring for right now, and the two close with a favorite movie moment from Travillian’s NEXT Forum.
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Episode Breakdown: Provident Bank Corporate Strategy, from Lakeland to the Long Game
00:00 – Welcome Back, Mike
Brian welcomes Mike, an old friend and one of his favorite people in the industry. Mike recaps his career: almost 14 years in equity research at KBW covering banks and fintech, about a year at Travillian doing bank strategy and investor relations consulting, then Provident Bank. Brian officially declares him a Travillian alumnus. Mike says that year presenting ideas to bank boards around the country was some of the most fun he’s had in banking.
02:06 – Going Corporate
Brian asks what it’s like to fulfill the classic banker wish of going corporate. Mike says research keeps you behind the wall, working only from public filings, and he wanted to go a layer deeper. Provident fit because it’s a regional player growing in the footprint where he has lived his whole life. It’s also large enough to have a complex set of competing priorities, which makes the work anything but plug and play.
04:13 – Why Provident Bank Corporate Strategy Needed Its Own Seat
At $4 billion, a bank with good deposit share and good lenders can keep things simple. At Provident’s size, with four lending verticals, about 140 branches, a $4 billion wealth business and an insurance broker bringing in more than $20 million a year, allocating capital becomes a much harder puzzle. Mike says strategy, investor relations and M&A work often get done on the back of the CEO’s or CFO’s desk until a bank hits a certain scale. Provident created the role after Lakeland took it from about $14 billion to $24 billion overnight, and he thinks banks moving from $10 billion toward $30 or $40 billion should consider it.
07:37 – Earning the Right to Move Forward
Mike says Provident has a history of doing deals carefully, digesting them and extracting value before moving on. Lakeland closed in May 2024, and the bank is now hitting its stride on profitability and organic growth. His view: perform well and do what you say, and you earn the optionality to do what you want next.
08:17 – Building a Mid-Atlantic Commercial Bank
Provident wants to be a strong Mid-Atlantic commercial regional bank. Mike says it is the second-largest bank in New Jersey under $100 billion, so net new growth means moving beyond its north and central Jersey base. That means eastern Pennsylvania (the Lehigh Valley and the Main Line), southern New Jersey, Westchester, southern Connecticut and Putnam County. New York City is more limited since much of that lending is rent-stabilized or broker-driven, so most of Provident’s city lending follows New Jersey-based sponsors.
10:24 – Competitive, But Always Has Been
Brian asks if the region is overbanked. Mike quotes CEO Tony Labozzetta: it’s competitive, but it’s always been competitive. Deposits aren’t sitting in a cave waiting to be found. The answer is knowing where you can make a difference for customers, including through newer groups like middle market banking.
11:30 – Modeling a New Team Like an Acquisition
Brian asks whether bringing on a new lending team falls to Mike, almost like a piece of M&A. Mike says his group models the expected financial impact, the time to breakeven and the long-term returns of each group. The business lines know the market; strategy provides the financial support to make sure each investment adds franchise value.
12:29 – Credit, Rates and a Stable Margin
Mike says asset quality remains strong, with five basis points of net charge-offs year to date and non-performing assets of 23 basis points after adjusting for one relationship the bank expects to resolve by year end. On rates, Provident aims to stay roughly neutral over a rolling three-year horizon, knowing every hedge against a down-200 scenario costs something elsewhere. He shares a real-world example: when the five-year jumps, a commercial customer may balk at a rate above 7%, so new loans might close at 180 to 185 basis points over instead of 200. The goal is a stable, strong margin, which he puts just under 3.5%.
16:06 – Grow, Retain, Integrate: The Deposit Playbook
Brian shares that every banker at a recent Stephens conference was focused on retaining and attracting deposits. Mike says Covid-era cash created recency bias, and higher rates plus easy access to high-yield alternatives from Amex, Goldman and Schwab changed balance sheets fast. Provident’s guiding principle is grow, retain and integrate: a customer with wealth, insurance, commercial and family accounts at the bank is much less likely to leave for 25 basis points. The bank is investing in treasury management, specialty deposit verticals like attorneys, property managers and 1031 exchanges, and a middle market group targeting companies with $50 million to $500 million in revenue.
19:52 – Technology Bets and the Labor Day Core Conversion
Provident completed a core conversion over Labor Day weekend, and Mike credits the team for a smooth cutover with minimal customer impact. The bank made the move to get on a platform built for who it wants to be, a $30 to $50 billion commercial bank, with better middleware and APIs. Still, Mike describes himself as conservative here: he has seen fast-growing banks stumble, and he questions stablecoin projects, comparing them to starting your own Zelle without a network. Provident focuses its dollars where they make a difference, like integrations for larger healthcare clients, and built its own AI agent in-house, which handled more than 1,000 employee requests and is now the base for agents in other areas.
24:55 – The View from the Other Side of the Investor Table
Brian asks how storytelling looks now that investors call Mike instead of the other way around. Mike says his frustration hasn’t changed: the 90-day cycle can push decisions that look good for 180 days but don’t build a stronger company over two to three years. His example is commercial real estate. Provident gets asked about its CRE concentration, but its CRE customers use the insurance broker, wealth platform and deposit accounts, and if you walk away from them you can’t just come back. Optimizing a balance sheet takes years, not quarters.
28:14 – Mike Turns the Tables: Talent and the De Novo Wave
Mike asks Brian what he’s hearing from smaller banks on succession and hiring. Brian says smaller banks are raising their game in finance, operations and technology, and Travillian’s recent searches have focused on CIO and CTO roles. He sees the rise in de novos, with about 30 approved and at least double that in the works, as healthy competition for talent and capital, including fintechs seeking charters. Mike agrees and says he was always struck by how comfortable parts of the industry are with mediocrity. Provident, he says, is not satisfied with where it is, and new competition is a good thing: “bring it on.”
31:55 – Favorite Movie: The Patriot at the Union League
Mike expected a question about the Giants leading the NFC East; Brian answers that the Eagles are Philadelphia’s top non-performing asset. Mike’s coolest professional movie moment came at Travillian’s NEXT Forum at the Union League in Philadelphia, walking up to his panel as the clip of Mel Gibson carrying the flag in The Patriot played. Brian reminds him of his own Rocky intro. They wrap with plans to do the next one in person.
Get in Touch with Brian!
Want to talk strategy and corporate development hiring, succession planning or building your leadership team? Reach out directly:
Brian Love
Head of Banking & Fintech, Travillian
