BEYOND BANKING; Local BofA Head Eyes Mortgages, Investments
By RAJIV VYAS
Bank of America Corp. veteran Tara Balfour has come back to Orange County with a decidedly different mission than her predecessors: growth
Balfour takes over as head of Bank of America’s OC arm from Brad Dinsmore, who, along with his forerunner, oversaw some branch closings and other streamlining after Charolette, N.C.-based NationsBank’s 1998 buy of San Francisco’s Bank of America. Dinsmore, who now oversees the bank’s Tennessee and Georgia market, also focused on marketing the newly combined bank.
But don’t look for a wave of new branches. Balfour is looking to boost Bank of America in more profitable areas,investment services, asset management and mortgage lending.
“We are absolutely open for business,” Balfour said. “We are looking for new clients, and we are looking to expand the relationships that we have with existing clients.”
As market president for OC, Balfour oversees the bank’s operations here, including its 80 branches. Along with mainstay bank rivals, Bank of America stands to bump up against diversified financial powers such as Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. as it looks to bolster its services.
Balfour doesn’t seem preoccupied with a slip in Bank of America’s OC deposits. For three years, the bank,the largest locally,has grown deposits at a slower pace than its competitors.
In the past four years, rivals have been buying up midsize banks and setting up branches in OC. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co., for one, added 11 OC branches last year and saw deposits grow by 13% to $5.17 billion.
Bank of America grew its deposits by just 3% to $7.7 billion and had nine fewer branches in 2001 than in 2000. Bank of America also hasn’t made any major acquisitions of late.
The result: a subtle slide in Bank of America’s market share in OC.
“On closure of branches, it gets back to where our customers want us to be,” Balfour said. “While we may be closing some branches this year, we may be adding some. On the retail side, we will probably look at a number of new locations that we will consider if we get the right space and opportunity.”
The bank is eyeing two new South County branches and the expansion of one in Anaheim Hills, she said. Automated teller machines, which are less costly, are another push, she said.
Smaller banks and financial firms are nipping at Bank of America’s heels. One startup, Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp, has grown assets to more than $400 million, a 10-fold increase in two years.
“I don’t think you can ever get too comfortable,” Balfour said. “There are a lot of competitors that are very aggressive and compete well in certain aspects. The advantages Bank of America has are the breadth and scope of products, services and the geographic reach that we have. The challenge we have is to make that work for clients.”
Bank of America has an inherent edge in OC,its sprawling branch network. The bank can use its outlets not only for retail banking but also for selling services and products.
Balfour, who grew up in OC, returned in September after a three-year stint in San Francisco. She served as regional market executive for commercial banking in San Francisco and was managing director for the Western U.S. leveraged finance group in Los Angeles.
In coming years, the bank is likely to see growth in its asset management services, Balfour said.
“We are increasing significantly the number of associates to sell investment products,” she said. “Both the challenge and the opportunity is to be able to take the resources that we have to offer to clients and be able to deliver them in an integrated way.”
The bank also is focusing on money market checking accounts, something that stands to come through in its advertising, Balfour said.
“Last year, we did more brand-building advertising,” she said. “This year, we will do more product focused advertising.”
Mortgage lending is another area Balfour has marked for growth. This year the OC operation could nearly quadruple the number of mortgage lenders it has, though Balfour didn’t offer a number. The growth stands to come from hiring and within the bank, she said.
Balfour, whose husband William also works for the bank, started as a Bank of America small business loan officer in 1985 after graduating from the University of Southern California. Her bachelor’s is in business administration with an emphasis in finance.
In 1987, Balfour moved to commercial lending,around the time she married William Balfour. While working at the bank, she earned her master’s in business administration from California State University, Fullerton, in 1995.
An Illinois native, Balfour moved with her family to OC from Michigan when she was in eighth grade.
In 1998, Balfour, her husband and kids Lauren and Jack moved to San Francisco after she was offered the job heading up Bank of America’s commercial lending office.
About the same time, William was offered a job running the bank’s Bay area home builder group.
“We had double relocation,” she said.
A year later, Balfour was given responsibility for the bank’s largest Bay area corporate accounts,companies with yearly sales of $75 million to $500 million. In 2000, Balfour was promoted to commercial banking executive with statewide oversight of the bank’s corporate accounts, companies with $10 million to $500 million in yearly sales.
Balfour and her family came back to OC in September when William was offered the job of managing the bank’s OC homebuilder group. Overseeing corporate accounts statewide allowed her the flexibility of working from OC, Balfour said. A month later, Dinsmore moved on and Balfour was made market president.
“We were both excited to have the opportunity to live closer to our parents, in sunny Southern California, and work in this great business market,” she said.
Since joining the OC office, Balfour has made the rounds in the corporate world. She is active in civic and business groups, including the CEO Roundtable at the University of California, Irvine. She’ll soon be joining the board of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, she said. She is also active with several charities in Orange County.
Previously, Balfour served on the boards of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Inner City Arts in Los Angeles. She’s also served on advisory boards for the San Francisco-based Women’s Technology Cluster, a group for female entrepreneurs, and the International Museum of Women set to open in San Francisco in 2004.
During the week, Balfour said her work keeps her busy dealing with day-to-day issues and setting strategy. On the weekends, she said she prefers to spend time with her family.
“Give me my two children, they are my spare time,” she said. “Most of my time is with my kids. When it’s not, my husband and I try get away periodically for weekends away with golf.”
