Hancock Whitney acquisition of Capital One trust division positions bank for future growth

Hancock Whitney has closed on its acquisition of Capital One National Association’s trust and asset management division.
The deal means Hancock Whitney will now administer some $26 billion in assets and manage some $10 billion, ranking among the top 50 trust firms in the U.S.
“People don’t realize how big a player we really are,” says Miles Milton, executive vice president and chief wealth management officer for Hancock Whitney. “We’ve already got a large wealth management group and a long tenure … so this was a good fit for us.”
Before the acquisition, Hancock Whitney administered $16 billion in assets and managed about $6 billion.
Asset administration typically includes tax and accounting services but, unlike asset management, does not involve making investment decisions for clients.
The acquisition, which closed in mid-July, gives Hancock Whitney’s wealth management division an expanded presence along the Gulf Coast, specifically in Beaumont, Texas. The bank also will pick up markets in Long Island, New York, and New Jersey, which,  Milton says, could become springboards for future growth in the wealth management division, though not for Hancock Whitney’s retail or commercial banking divisions.
“In Long Island and north New Jersey we have some opportunity where we think what we have to sell and the way we do it is a little bit different,” Milton says.
The deal, first announced in late 2017, is the latest example of how major national banks like Capital One are shrinking their footprint in tertiary markets like Baton Rouge, creating opportunities for rapidly growing regional banks like Hancock Whitney.
Since the 2011 merger that created Hancock Whitney, assets have grown more than 37% from $20 billion to more than $27.5 billion. In the Baton Rouge market alone, the bank had the largest percentage increase in market share in 2017 of all 35 financial institutions doing business in the local market.
In recent months, Hancock Whitney has become particularly aggressive with its marketing efforts, unveiling a new brand and logo, announcing a major sponsorship of LSU athletics, and planning a move into an iconic New Orleans skyscraper that will be renamed from One Shell Square to the Hancock Whitney Center.
“Hancock Whitney is a Gulf South bank,” Milton says. “While we have a presence in markets like Houston and Tampa we’ve really made a play in Louisiana, where our organization is really redeploying our resources.”