SunTrust executive promoted to president

Could an heir apparent have been tapped at SunTrust Banks?

An analyst said that appears to be the case after the Atlanta-based regional bank announced on Friday that longtime executive William H. Rogers Jr., 51, has been promoted to president. He will oversee the bulk of the company’s operations.

Courtesy of SunTrust Banks

In his new role, William H. Rogers Jr. will be responsible for SunTrust’s geographic banking organization, retail operations, commercial business and corporate marketing, among other things.

THE WILLIAM H. ROGERS JR. FILE
• Age: 51
• Title: President, SunTrust Banks
• Education: B.S. in business administration, University of North Carolina, 1980; MBA, Georgia State University, 1986; completed advanced coursework in mergers and acquisitions at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.
• Other: Serves on board of directors and executive committee, Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta; trustee and member of finance committee for the Lovett School; sits on the board and audit committee and compensation committee of Books-a-Million, Inc.

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A SunTrust spokesman shot down any talk that Rogers was being groomed to take over for current CEO James M. Wells III, who is 62 and had held the title of president.

“This is not about succession,” SunTrust spokesman Barry Koling said. “This is about an evolution of a management configuration.”

Still, that didn’t stop SunTrust watchers from speculating.

“So effectively, [Rogers] is deemed to be the heir apparent,” said Chris Marinac, an analyst with Atlanta-based FIG Partners. “Investors are going to conclude that [Rogers] is the No. 2 guy and will be so until told otherwise.”

The company’s stock closed at $27.50 on Friday, up 1.14%, on a day the Dow Jones industrials average was up nearly 65 points.

Rogers has been corporate executive vice president in charge of SunTrust’s wholesale, mortgage, and wealth & investment management businesses. In his new role, he will also be responsible for the company’s geographic banking organization, retail operations, commercial business as well as corporate marketing.

Rogers will report to Wells.

The management shuffle appears to have stripped one top executive of some power: William Reed Jr., the company’s vice chairman. Reed, 62, has been in charge of SunTrust’s geographic banking operations, a task now handed to Rogers.

Reed remains vice chairman, but SunTrust said in a news release that he “will assume new responsibilities in connection with transition matters related to the new organizational structure.”

Marinac said Reed was widely seen as the company’s No. 2 man and possible successor to Wells.

Reed is a relative newcomer to SunTrust, having joined the company after SunTrust merged with National Commerce Financial Corp. in 2004. Reed was president and CEO of NCF.

Rogers, in contrast, has spent nearly three decades at SunTrust. He joined the bank in 1980 and has held senior positions in corporate and commercial banking, corporate finance, retail banking and mortgage.

SunTrust did not make any of its executives available for comment.

The company also announced that Mark Chancy, 44, the company’s chief financial officer, will have expanded duties over corporate and investment banking.

The changes come at a critical time for SunTrust, which, like banks across the country, is dealing with a recession and a financial crisis that has brought some of the largest financial institutions to their knees.

SunTrust thus far has weathered the storm in decent shape, turning a profit last quarter. But the bank has exposure to the battered real estate markets in Florida and metro Atlanta.

SunTrust recently went back to the U.S. Treasury Department to seek an additional $1.4 billion in federal funds, on top of $3.5 billion the bank has already received. In making the move, SunTrust cited the need to shore up its capital base amid the deteriorating economy.