The president and CEO of Bridgeport’s People’s United Financial Inc. has resigned and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company’s chief administrative officer.

Philip R. Sherringham’s resignation was reached by mutual agreement with the company’s board of directors, the bank said in a news release Monday.

Sherringham, 56, will be succeeded by John P. "Jack" Barnes, 54, who is also the company’s senior executive vice president.

The board will search for a permanent CEO and look both internally and externally.
In a conference call this morning, Board Chairman George Carter said the board agreed that despite the bank’s strong position, new leadership is necessary to "take the company to the next level and realize its full potential."

The problem wasn’t with the bank’s strategy, which is heavily acquisition-focused, but rather with the execution of that strategy, Carter said.

The board is looking for a CEO with good leadership and interpersonal skills, as well as a strong financial background. Despite its management changes, the bank expects to "move ahead with our strategy for acquisitions immediately," he said.

The company said the board has retained executive search firm Russell Reynolds.

The announcement comes days after People’s United acquired Massachusetts-based Butler Bank, which was seized by the FDIC April 16.
Spokesman Brent DiGiorgio told The Commercial Record last week that the bank is interested in pursuing either regulator-assisted or non-assisted transactions, and confirmed that potential targets could be in states like Texas or California.


Sherringham joined the company in 2003 and became CEO in February 2008, though he had served as acting president and CEO since November 2007.

But Carter said the company needed new leadership.

"Today, the company is in a very strong strategic and financial position with an enviable footprint, fortress balance sheet, solid asset quality, and many growth opportunities," he said. "However, the board believes that new leadership is necessary to take the company to the next level."