Katherine Saez With Truist

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by on pay Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:24] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor on pay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Katie Sayers with Truist. Welcome, Katie.

Katie Saez: [00:00:41] Good morning. I’m glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] Well, as the Georgia regional president, you’ve got quite a task ahead of you. Can you tell us a little bit about kind of your vision for Truist?

Katie Saez: [00:00:55] Yeah. I’ll, I’ll be glad to. And I’m glad to be on this morning. In May of this year, I stepped into the Georgia regional president role for Truist. And and a little bit of a way with a little bit of a homecoming for me. I spent the first half of my career in commercial banking here at Truist, started out in SunTrust Bank and the old commercial banking training program straight out of college and spent about 14 years here in a different commercial banking roles and then spent the last nine years of my career on the wholesale payment side. So the Treasury and payment side and a few months ago was asked to step into this role. And while there is a lot of new faces and some new ways of doing things, I’m glad to see that the foundations that I learned back in that training program over 20 years ago were still are our guide star here. So while banking is is not quite a commodity, it’s still very much a people business where relationships matter and truth is invested heavily in technology and creating those innovative products that our clients are demanding. But it’s still a people business and Truist is still very much committed to the communities that we serve. So let me go back to this role as regional president here for Truist. My role here is to help bring the Truist purpose to life. Our purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities. And it’s my job as regional president to make sure that we’re delivering on this across Georgia. So I’ll be making sure that we’re bringing our best thinking and expertise to clients and gathering and sharing insights from across the region. So specifically, I lead our commercial banking team and we deliver comprehensive financial solutions to business clients here in Georgia. So I work with my teammates on direct client management and on business development activities. All of that will integrate to our truist lines of business for the benefits of our clients and the communities that we serve.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:55] Now, when you’re saying commercial on business, how are you defining that? Is a business that one solopreneur or or is it only kind of these mega enterprises?

Katie Saez: [00:03:08] Well, you know, we want to help and advise businesses at all stages of their life cycle, whether it’s in capital formation or cash management, risk management, employee benefits or personal financial management. And we do that across the entire spectrum. So we we bank and meet with businesses from inception all the way up to those big mega businesses that you just mentioned. Our core commercial banking team, of which I have responsibility, really focuses in on this privately held businesses and enterprises that, you know, are have revenues, you know, all the way from the low end of the spectrum to the top. And we work with them on working capital optimization, on capital expenditures, and we work in concert with our partners in the retail bank who typically work with some of the smaller organizations that you’ll find here in Atlanta, as well as our corporate and investment bank who are working primarily with with public companies.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:18] So when you’re dealing with a kind of micro business versus a mega business, they have different needs and different levels of service in order to help them each be successful. Are you saying that kind of in the branch level is where that kind of the micro business can get kind of the most relationship advice and relationship building happening in that in that scenario as opposed to these enterprise level or are dealing mainly with kind of a truist at the corporate level.

Katie Saez: [00:04:54] Well, we talk here at Truist about being an advisor to businesses throughout their entire life cycle. So whether we’re talking about a small, perhaps newly started or perhaps even a more tenured but smaller organization that might be handled out of the branch or someone that’s more established and more mature within their life cycle, we might handle them, might be a better fit here within our commercial community bank, regardless of where their needs are met, whether it’s in the branch or here in my part of the organization or within Truist securities, where they perhaps have gone public. We still take that same advisory approach here with our clients. So our relationship teams, we want to support the business owner through commercial financial services, capital formation and leverage the expertise of our organization, whether it’s on our premier or a private banking side, our mortgage partners, our treasury and payment partners, where I came from, or our insurance partners and as they grow, as they expand, become more mature within their life cycle. The way that we deliver to the bank might change a little bit and the breadth of the offering that we bring. But what you’re going to see is more specialized solutions that we bring to them. So at Truist, we utilize a pretty unique, I think, community banking model, and that combines a decentralized regional structure, which I lead here with industry expertise and banking expertise. So what this does is allows us to use our regional teams, local market knowledge of the businesses that we work with and then customize the solutions based upon their individual client needs. So we work together as a team. We I work directly my team here were directly with a group of industry consultants and they have what I call extraordinary expertise and experience of some of the fastest growing and most complex industries here in Georgia.

Katie Saez: [00:07:12] So some of them are food and agribusiness, logistics and supply chains, beverage education, health care, etc.. So let me let me maybe perhaps bring this to life with an example. Let’s take higher education. We have local relationship managers on my team that sit here with me and Truist Plaza, downtown Atlanta that work with some higher education clients, but they partner with industry experts that also sit here in this building with me. And these experts help us speak and understand the financial language of that industry. We understand the lagging and the leading indicators that help drive that business or this organization. Our industry focus helps help us take conversations deeper and faster by having that specialist in the room. So again, back on higher education, we can advise on campus planning to keep pace with academic and technological advances. Strategic Endowment and Investment guide us to make sure that their portfolio design meets their objectives and risk tolerance and operational needs, and then helping them manage stakeholder payments and cash flow to preserve liquidity. So we will work alongside schools to help develop a very highly customized capital solution that supports the school strategic initiatives. So, you know, I think that’s an example that regardless of the size of the organization or if you’re a public or private, you’re not for profit. We have a team of people here at Truist that can meet the needs of the unique needs of that organization, regardless of where they are in their life cycle. We’ll work very closely internally to make sure that we’re really delivering the entire breadth of capabilities and solutions that we have to offer.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:00] So how do you recommend your clients interact with Truist? What should this be? A regularly scheduled meeting where you’re updating each other of where there’s opportunities or where you’re having challenges? What how does that relationship kind of look in real life when you’re working with? Because I would imagine that you would recommend that your banker be one of your trusted advisors that is involved in your business. So how does that look in real life?

Katie Saez: [00:09:31] Sure. Well, look, I’ll focus in on my team and commercial banking here. Each of our relationships manager, relationship managers here have a portfolio of clients, and they are the primary point of contact for that client with Truist. And that relationship is going to look a little bit different based upon the unique needs that client. But what’s what’s similar is the way that we engage and our commitment to that client. So typically what that means, we have a team of people that’s working with the client. The relationship manager takes the lead and ensuring that we are regularly engaged and connected with that client. We typically sit down at least on an annual basis and do a full relationship review, and then oftentimes based upon the specific strategies and complexities of that business, we’re meeting on a much more frequent basis. And oftentimes we’re coming out and we’re delivering a Treasury management review where we’re talking through strategies on how to optimize that. Companies working capital. You know, we try to bring clear insights and guidance and advice from what we’re learning from our other clients, what we’re learning in the industry and here on the banking side, and bring those insights to that particular relationship. So we’ll sit down and do a working capital review. And other times we are bringing out other partners within the organization, perhaps from the insurance side or from the wealth management side.

Katie Saez: [00:11:05] We know that in commercial banking, with privately held businesses, there is not always a clear line of delineation between the wealth management needs versus the business management needs. So our commercial relationship managers are highly connected with our wealth advisors and are meeting with business owners and key leadership within the organization to make sure that we’re connecting the needs and opportunities and strategies on the business side to the needs and opportunities and strategies on the personal wealth management side as well. So that engagement model might look a little different. You know, over the last two years, getting through the pandemic, we found that oftentimes we can be very effective and advisory and and relationship building virtually. But we we recognize that sometimes being in person, there is no replacement for being in person. So we’re out in the market a lot meeting with our clients. I’ll tell you, just yesterday I was, you know, on southeast Atlanta visiting one of our good clients, a steel fabricator. And I had my heels on, but I was there and and in the building watching watching them fabricate steel. And that’s the best part of the job. And what we do is seeing how our our clients are really bringing business to life here in the state of Georgia. Now we’re out. Go ahead, Lee. Sorry.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:45] Well, are you seeing any trends like for younger folks who kind of prefer the digital experience rather than in-person? Are you seeing that as a trend that maybe younger folks are more interested in a digital solution rather than a face to face solution?

Katie Saez: [00:13:02] Well, Lee, it’s not just the younger folk either. So like like a lot of industries we’re seeing our clients preferences and behaviors change as more and more of them choose to bank with us and engage with us digitally. So, of course, this was accelerated by the pandemic, by COVID 19. And so here at Truist, we’re focused on building technology solutions that will help shape the future of finance. So we’re creating solutions, one that people can trust. People need to know that their money and their their their activities and transactions are safe. But we are also trying to build digital solutions that simplify money management to help clients achieve those financial outcomes they’re looking to achieve, but also customize their experience. So we have a we have a term here at Truist called T3 and it talks about, you know, touch and technology, build trust. So technology is critical and we have to continue to deliver more advanced solutions on the technology front to meet the needs of our clients. But banking is still a people business, and especially here in the commercial bank. Our clients want a personal relationship with their bank and they want a phone number they can call. They want a banker who will be available to. Them when there are issues or challenges. And more importantly, they’re expecting their bank to be a strategic partner with them as they’re navigating this this complex world that we’re in right now.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:45] Now, Georgia has a very diverse economy. As you mentioned, a lot of the areas that probably Truist is involved in. Where do you think the biggest opportunity is for Truist in leveraging kind of the vast variety of businesses that are kind of bubbling up in the state?

Katie Saez: [00:15:08] Well, I’ll answer that in a couple of different ways. So as you know, Truist is a relatively new creative entity, about three years old with the merger of SunTrust Bank and B.A. And I’m seeing a lot of excitement right now from our teammates to go to market as one truist as you just mentioned, Georgia is a leading and competitive state for business. In fact, Georgia’s been named to many different lists that highlight it as being one of the top states for doing business. So we do have a quite a diverse economy and a very business friendly environment, but we have a large and skilled and growing talent pool. So we here at Truist, we just completed our largest conversion event in February. This was an enormous undertaking that involved transitioning nearly 7 million clients at the Truist ecosystem. So overall, that integration was successful, especially when you consider the scale and the complexity involved. I think this was the largest bank technology integration in more than 15 years, but now that we’ve successfully integrated our two heritage bank, it’s it’s really time for us to deliver against the promise of this merger. We’re now the seventh largest U.S. commercial bank, and we have a comprehensive and a very diverse business mix with very distinct capabilities and insurance and investment banking and digital solutions that we just talked about and industry expertise that we’ve talked about, too. So it’s really up to us to lead with purpose and providing leading and distinctive client experiences. But to do that and to do that well, we have to continue investing in our teammates. The people who choose to work at Truist and here at the bank as leaders were constantly looking to attract and retain top talent.

Katie Saez: [00:16:58] Georgia is rich with great talent and both those early in their career and more experienced individuals as well. But as you know, there’s been a pretty big shift over the past few years in employee engagement and what employees are expecting from their employer. They’re demanding better technology. They’re demanding hybrid work opportunity, better advancement opportunities, more progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion and belonging. And we hear a lot about the need for real mental health and wellbeing support. I saw a survey a couple of weeks ago from Illinois that said nearly half, I think was 43% of all employees say they’re likely to leave their employer in the next year. And that’s a pretty scary number. So I’m committed here as the Georgia region, region president to help us both what I call boldly differentiate ourselves to be an employer of choice here in Georgia. So I’m focused on ensuring that the individuals who are on my team have the resources that they need to be successful. And look, they’re the face of truist and they’re really good at their jobs. And it’s my responsibility to make sure that they’re equipped with the tools and information and the support that they need to take care of our clients, because there’s a lot of growth opportunity here in Georgia. And as I meet with clients and I ask how they’re feeling, I’m hearing a lot of similar things. First of all, there are challenges out there, whether that’s in workforce and having a good skilled labor or strong talent that I just mentioned. But we continue to have supply chain disruption, rising price of goods, this inflationary pressure that we’re seeing.

Katie Saez: [00:18:53] And and they’re sometimes struggling on determining how to forecast in this environment. There are, you know, the recession risk are a primary concern for many right now. And while we at Truist don’t necessarily believe that a recession is inevitable, we’re monitoring this as a risk and have very proactive conversations with our clients. And that’s where I think the value of working for our team at Truist comes into play. We sit down across the table from our clients. We listen to their risk and challenges and help them create a path forward. So I’ll end by just saying, you know, just this week, another meeting I had with one of our clients, I heard these common things. Demand continues to be robust. Businesses are growing, and many companies are coming off of record profit years, and they’re using that capital to invest in new technologies to optimize and drive efficiencies in their business. Now, some are keeping capital expenditures on hold, not necessarily because of a pending recession, but an expectation that prices might begin to stabilize over the coming months. And then others are moving forward with their spending needs because their customers are demanding it. I told you I was at a steel rebar fabricator yesterday and their business is so robust they simply could not wait to install a new share to add to their line. So seeing some good positive momentum with some concerns hanging out there as well. But a lot of continued investment here in Georgia. And I think this is a great place to live and work and bank as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:37] You mentioned, you know, all of the turbulence that were were kind of dealing with in the financial sector. And that’s why it’s so important to have that trusted advisor with your banker. I think that you need to have somebody who is kind of has the expertise and can look ahead a little bit and give you a glimpse of what could be and, you know, kind of so you can determine how much risk there is or isn’t. I think that’s where a partner like Truist really comes into play for companies that you have somebody watching your back in this area.

Katie Saez: [00:21:13] Yeah. Look, our teammates, they really do care for our clients and they take a lot of pride in the companies that they work for and and help. And so, you know, they they treat every client interaction like it’s a big deal because that’s what it is for our clients. It’s a big deal when they when they borrow money or, you know, obtain a new loan or they make an investment. And so you’re right. I think this approach it brings together our entire team. It helps clients meet their financial needs and goals, and it feels good. You know, truth has more than 125 year history here in Georgia. And just this week, I was able to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for McCallie Park in the Sweet Auburn District of Atlanta. Now, this project, I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, this project will include, I think it’s 170 affordable housing units beginning and about 22 months. But we expect McCallie Park to become a blueprint here for what success can look like when we talk about addressing housing inequality. So this is a community that connects affordable housing with critical wraparound services for its residents, like health care and workforce development. But Truist was a major contributor toward this project, both in low income housing tax credits, as well as a construction loan from tourist community capital and a charitable grant from Truist Foundation. So our role in McCallie Park is part of Truist continued commitment to investing in the city of Atlanta, and it helps fulfill the truest purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. It was really awesome to be there and to participate in that groundbreaking. I learned my lesson Don’t wear heels in Georgia red clay. But besides that, I was so proud to serve in this role as Georgia region president and represents our 8000 teammates in this company at this groundbreaking. It’s a great reminder of the importance of our contribution in this community, but also the the partnership that public and private partnership as well. We can make a real difference.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:31] Right. And I think that’s part of Georgia’s secret sauce, is that there is such a good public and private working relationship that everybody is kind of working together to lift all the boats here. And I think, you know, as a truist, you know, was birthed from SunTrust, you know, people in Georgia want to make sure that Truist is still there and doing, you know, playing the role that they have played for all those years.

Katie Saez: [00:24:01] I. That’s a good point, Lee. You know, we are bigger than the name on the Braves ballpark, right? I mean, we’re exceptionally proud of our partnership with the Atlanta Braves. But, you know, as I said, we go back 125 years in this great state, and we have 8000 teammates that live and work here in the state of Georgia. And so, you know, it’s important that the community knows that we’re here to stay. Three years ago, Truist made a commitment to double our investment in the city of Atlanta to $300 million over a three year period. And we’ve just wrapped up that three, three year period. And not only did we meet that number, we exceeded that number by a good measure, too. So it’s not just about dollar investment, but it’s also about the people, how we serve this community, how we engage in the community, how we’re connecting with our clients. That’s an important element to Truist commitment to the state as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:00] Well, Katie, if somebody wants to learn more about Truist, what’s a website?

Katie Saez: [00:25:06] It’s true, Ask.com. Pretty easy to read.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:08] Pretty easy to remember. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Katie Saez: [00:25:15] I appreciate the opportunity to be on.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:18] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Atlanta Business Radio.