Spotlight On: Abel Harding, Executive Vice President & North Florida Market President, First Horizon Bank

Spotlight On: Abel Harding, Executive Vice President & North Florida Market President, First Horizon Bank

2023-01-06T11:57:05-05:00January 6th, 2023|Banking & Finance, Jacksonville, Spotlight On|

2 min read January 2023 In an interview with Invest:, Abel Harding, executive vice president and North Florida market president of First Horizon Bank, talked about the outlook for the banking industry in Northeast Florida and the Jacksonville area, the role of the banking sector, the customer experience and opportunities for expansion.

What does the landscape look like for First Horizon Bank and the Northeast Florida market?

It is a great time to be in Northeast Florida. We beefed up our team at the end of 2021. We added business bankers, underwriters and portfolio support teams. At the tail end of the completion of the Horizon-Iberia bank merger, we were excited to have the opportunity to expand our wealth team and wealth offerings.. We’ve built out a well-rounded wealth team. It gels well with what our commercial and business banking teams do. They bring us everything from business succession planning to retirement services. We have spent a lot of time this year in that area. 

We have seen some cooling in residential real estate as rates have continued to rise. However, from a broader perspective, businesses have continued to expand. The growth in this space has been very obvious across North Florida. Separately, as the financial markets do what they’ve done over the last year, it’s really created an opportunity to engage with clients and prospects on a regular basis. 

Outside of the banking work we do every day, our team spent a lot of time in the community this year. We did everything from teaching financial literacy to summer campers with a youth foundation, planting trees with Greenscape, walking dogs with the Humane Society, and cooking meals at Ronald McDonald House. 

What is the key trend in the banking sector?

Consolidation has been the trend throughout my entire career in banking and it will continue. We have seen a lot of new players in Northeast Florida, which is natural given the fact that the state’s population has tripled in my lifetime. It is very natural that the banking sector would want to follow that growth. We will see consolidation continue. For our part, we feel that we have a very unique story to tell. That said, we feel that there is room for everyone in this space.

How has the average customer experience evolved and what do you expect for the future?

COVID accelerated technology innovation in the banking space. People who were accustomed to walking into a physical location for their transactions learned to do it online. Businesses became accustomed to alternative forms of doing business. It was happening anyway. However, it went from zero to 60 because of COVID. We certainly see that people want to, and are welcome to, come in and engage in a conversation with an individual. It has afforded an opportunity for our retail team that sits in a physical location and services clients. They have the opportunity to hone their skills and to devote more time to proactively engaging with clients. We have all learned that you need to give clients a reason to come into a physical location, and receive counsel about their financial future. We pride ourselves on offering this.

Is there anything that you are watching in terms of legislation locally, regionally or nationally?

There are some competing pressures of what Wall Street wants to see and what state and local governments want to see. It is a tightrope for financial institutions. We have a commitment to do right by the communities that we serve. We want our teams to represent the communities that we serve. That is what we continue to work for in our space. 

What does strategic expansion look like for you right now in terms of physical space?

Our workforce has expanded considerably over the last year and a half. While we may not have expanded our physical locations currently, we have expanded our reach by adding bankers and teams that go out into communities. According to our model, the key is to leverage the number of bankers who can go out into the community and bring in new business. 

What are your partnerships with academic institutions locally?

I sit on the advisory board of the business school at Jacksonville University and we’ve also built a relationship with our state university. First Horizon has built partnerships with HBCUs around our footprint and with other universities to build a pipeline of talented future team members. I am excited about the team this company brings to the table. We have built a company with diverse talent across our footprint. This has been one of the exciting things about the growth in North Florida.  

What is going to be on your to-do list in 2023 and 2024?

TD Bank is acquiring First Horizon. We anticipate that will come to fruition in the near future. Ensuring that process is smooth for our clients and our teams will be our top priority. We are ensuring that clients and team members are engaged and involved in a smooth experience. My job is to grow the bank and ensure the expansion to reach across our footprint. We are striving every day to be a successful bank.

What do you think is in store over the next year for banking in Jacksonville?

We will continue to see consolidation. Community banks are coming into Jacksonville and into the larger region. We all serve vital roles in the banking ecosphere. It is a healthy sector overall in this market. The fintech sector is also close to the banking sector. Jacksonville has seen tremendous growth in that space. Most recently, PaySafe announced that they want to make Jacksonville their North American headquarters. I think the continued growth in that space fits very well within the banking space in Jacksonville.

For more information, visit:

https://www.firsthorizon.com/ 

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