Martin Dickinson

Now that Martin Dickinson is more or less retired, he says he’s working harder than ever. “When I retired, I had a four or five hour day plotted out,” he says. “I’m on the board of four companies, and I’m active with the Scripps Health System. So now I still have those obligations, plus working full time at the bank.”

Since April, Dickinson has been acting CEO at de novo Legacy Bank, headquartered in La Jolla. Dickinson took over following the departure of Doug Sawyer, who at one time was running both the San Diego Chamber and the baby bank.

In addition to trying to move Legacy toward break even some time this year, Dickinson and his board are interviewing prospective CEOs. “We’re primarily looking for a local person, because when you’re a de novo bank, you’re looking for somebody who brings a book of business,” Dickinson says. “We’re real close to break even and we could use that little push.”

In the two-plus years since opening, Legacy has accumulated just north of $35 million in assets. “We’re projecting to break even in the fourth quarter of this year, which is pretty much our original projection,” Dickinson says. “We’re not as large with regard to assets as we hoped, but we’re also losing less money than we projected.”

Dickinson expects about $60 million in bank assets by year’s end. “It’s a function of a lot of things, including having the right net interest spread; ours is running right around 4 percent which for a de novo bank is good,” he says.

With more than a dozen de novo competitors in the market, the competition is tough. “There are too many of us,” Dickinson says, chuckling, “and I think that the banks that are going to succeed will either be on the leading edge of consolidations, or will be banks that have a particular niche.”

Dickinson was once chief credit officer at Scripps. When Scripps was sold to US Bank, some Scripps board members and Scripps CEO Ron Carlson started Landmark National Bank in Solana Beach. Other former Scripps leadership went with another de novo, Regents Bank.

“All of us wanted to be the first one on the street, it just took us a little longer,” Dickinson says.

Dickinson has a loan participation relationship with Landmark; this means he can go to Landmark for assistance on loans that exceed his bank’s individual limit of $900,000. “The unwritten rule is if they originate the loan we don’t solicit the customer; you participate but you don’t go after each other’s customers,” Dickinson says.

Right now, that’s the extent of the relationship, as each de novo tries to turn a profit. “The idea is to get profitable first, because you can’t afford to acquire unless you are profitable, and if you’re not profitable you’re not much of a target for other banks,” Dickinson adds.

While he says sufficient loan demand is in San Diego, “it’s very difficult to compete with other de novos or big banks offering equity lines at prime minus a half, so it becomes a pricing issue.”

In the meantime, Dickinson says the bank is under no shareholder pressure to make a move. More than 40 percent of Legacy is owned by members of the bank’s board, and the bank has only 29 total shareholders. “Most of the shareholders are personal friends and some are relatives, so it’s a nice situation to be in.”

Until he lands a replacement, Dickinson is at his desk, protecting the group‘s investment. “I’m a shareholder too,” he says.