Jackson Federal Bank is moving its headquarters from San Bernardino to Brea and bringing about 80 administrative jobs with it.
The thrift, a unit of National Life Insurance Co., bought Burbank-based Highland Federal Bank in October and sought a headquarters centrally located to its branches. It signed a five-year lease worth $3 million for the top floor of a six-story office building in the Brea Corporate Place near Brea Mall. Jackson plans to move in February.
“We needed a central location that would be convenient,” said Carol Snodgress, the thrift’s senior vice president of retail banking.
The Highland acquisition doubled the thrift’s branches to 14 and brought its assets above the $1 billion mark. Jackson has $700 million in deposits and $1.1 billion in assets. And according to Snodgress, the thrift has $150 million in capital, which would allow it to handle almost $2 billion in deposits.
The thrift counts just one OC branch, in Fullerton, and Snodgress declined to comment on expansion plans here. With a couple of acquisitions already under its belt, the thrift plans to take it easy for a while, Snodgress said.
“We have plenty on our plate,” she said. With a large parent behind it, Jackson could acquire a regional thrift to expand its market share in OC. But with all the consolidation in the industry and within the county, there are few institutions left to buy.
Jackson Bank came about when Lansing, Mich.-based Jackson National Life completed the acquisition of San Bernardino-based First Federal Savings and Loan Association in late 1998. The thrift then changed its name to reflect that of its parent. It also acquired three branches from Fidelity Federal Bank of Glendale last March, including the Fullerton location.
Jackson National Life’s venture into the banking realm comes about after the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act in 1999, which has prompted several insurance companies to buy depository institutions, especially thrifts, in order to expand their business.
“It ties in very well. It enhances the products and services they can offer,” Snodgress said.
Jackson National Life has $138 billion of life insurance in force and more than $43 billion in assets. It is also an annuity writer and had $3.9 billion of fixed and variable annuity sales in 1999. Jackson National is owned by the U.K.’s Prudential PLC, a global financial services group. n
