Podcast: A Trio of Mutual Banks Find Savings Together

Earlier this month, New Hampshire Mutual Bancorp, a mutual holding company for two New Hampshire banks and a wealth management firm, welcomed a new affiliated bank, Savings Bank of Walpole — as well as a new CEO. Gregg Tewksbury led the Walpole bank and now serves as president and CEO of the overall holding company.

On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, Tewksbury joins Philip Emma — president of Merrimack County Savings Bank, another N.H. Mutual affiliate — to discuss how the mutual holding company structure allows each bank to retain its unique community presence but benefit from shared services. The MHC create “efficiencies [that]are necessary for us to fuel earnings, to fuel capital for us to remain competitive long-term,” Tewksbury says. “We’ll need those savings to plow back into technology.”

“The brand matters to local residents,” adds, and maintaining those individual local brands has provided “stable funding,” which he describes as the differentiator that has allowed N.H. Mutual the time it needs to build in those efficiencies — for example, by allowing sufficient growth to allow the company to avoid layoffs. Under the MHC model, earnings have exceeded expectations, Tewksbury adds.

If you can’t see the audio player above, click here to listen to this week’s episode.