Five Questions With: Joseph J. MarcAurele

JOSEPH J. MARCAURELE is the chairman and CEO of Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. / COURTESY WASHINGTON TRUST BANCORP INC.
JOSEPH J. MARCAURELE is the chairman and CEO of Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. / COURTESY WASHINGTON TRUST BANCORP INC.

Joseph J. MarcAurele is chairman and CEO of Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. The parent company of The Washington Trust Co., of Westerly, last week announced record-breaking, third-quarter profit and exceeded $4 billion in assets for the first time in company history. MarcAurele talks with Providence Business News about the quarter, what’s working and how he’s thinking about growth moving forward.
PBN: What can you tell our readers about the company’s third-quarter earnings?
MARCAURELE:
This quarter was an example of the company, which has very diversified revenue streams, kind of hitting on all cylinders. We had solid loan growth, we had solid deposit growth and we coupled that with really a great performance in our fee-based businesses, particularly mortgages and wealth management. That combined with significantly controlled expenses led us to a great quarter.
PBN: How does it feel to get over the $4 billion mark for the first time in company history?
MARCAURELE:
We don’t really grow for just growth sake. From our perspective … we want to continue to grow in a controlled way that adds real value to the balance sheet. However, when you pass one of the billion dollar marks it’s always something to feel good about.
PBN: Any insight into what might happen with federal interest rates?
MARCAURELE:
From our perspective, we don’t budget for, or bake into our thinking, interest rate hikes. But I think it’d be safe to say there will be one increase between now and the beginning of next year.
PBN: How do you think about bank-branch expansion?
MARCAURELE:
We have a very strong statewide brand, so it’s just a question of getting into markets that we’re not in today. We’re very happy with our East Side of Providence branch, that’s been a real home run for us. It’s safe to say that all banks are conscious about expanding bank-branch systems because we’re wary about technology improvements, which can make some of the things we do in branches obsolete.
PBN: Given your success with acquiring Halsey Associates last year, how are you thinking about acquisitions moving forward?
MARCAURELE:
We would be very happy to do another Halsey if we could find it. We think of our wealth management business not as geographically confined. If we could find something within 100 miles of where we are today we would look at that seriously, and it becomes a matter of price. On the bank acquisition side, it’s similar; it’s governed a lot by price. But it’s also governed by whether we can grow it if we get it. The difference between a bank acquisition and wealth management is the question of asset quality. We don’t want to do something that denigrates our asset quality.

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