Clayton Deutsch, CEO and president of Boston Private Financial Holdings, will retire after more than eight years with the company.
He will be replaced by Anthony Dechellis on Nov. 26, the company said yesterday.
DeChellis will also serve as CEO of Boston Private Bank & Trust Co., the company’s wholly-owned banking subsidiary and provider of integrated wealth management, trust and private banking solutions.
The appointment is part of a planned succession process that began over a year ago. Deutsch will work closely with DeChellis and the board of directors to ensure a smooth transition.
Dechellis comes to Boston Private with over 30 years of industry experience. Most recently, he was the president of the equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd. Before that, he was CEO of Credit Suisse’s Private Bank Americas, head of private wealth management at UBS and head of international private banking at Merrill Lynch Europe.
“I have followed Boston Private’s growing success and quality of work closely over the years and am honored to have the opportunity to serve as its next CEO,” DeChellis said in a statement. “Going forward, we will continue to evolve our platform as we remain intensely focused on ensuring our client experience is among the most compelling and competitive in the industry.”
Deutsch took the reins of Boston Private back in 2010 when the company, like most, was struggling to get through the financial crisis.
Through his tenure, he has helped grow the company from roughly $3.2 billion in assets to about $8.6 billion, as of June of 2018. The stock has grown from $7 per share to $13.80 today.
Deutsch spent a lot of his time as CEO focusing on the company’s wealth management and private banking segments, which he has most recently moved to integrate under the Boston Private brand.
But these businesses have not come without risk.
Boston Private’s wealth division went from over $9.3 billion in assets under management in the first quarter of 2015 to roughly $7.1 billion in the first quarter of 2016, after the acquisition of Florida-based Banyan Partners in 2014 went awry.
Most recently, the bank has sold a few of its wealth management subsidiaries and laid off staff. Still, the wealth management division has enjoyed a streak of good quarters and seems to have good prospects behind it.
“For the past eight years, I have been honored to work with outstanding clients and with the most talented financial professionals in our industry. Our company today is very strong, and I look forward to what Anthony and our team will accomplish next,” Deutsch said in a statement. “I could not ask for a better successor. Anthony’s skills, experience and genuine passion for our work will ensure the continued success of Boston Private. Anthony has been a successful builder everywhere he has gone. He brings to our company a proven ability to build strong, client-centered wealth and private banking businesses, to attract terrific talent, and to deliver exceptional business results.”
