Monte Schwartz

Monte Schwartz has been the chief credit officer of La Jolla-based Regents Bank since it opened the doors in September 2001. Schwartz’ San Diego migration started in Vancouver, Wash., where he spent 22 years at Northwest National Bank, much of it working with Northwest National’s President Thomas Young, now Regents’ chairman.

Schwartz’ responsibilities have evolved to his current position of chief credit officer, overseeing credit quality, loan approvals, credit policies, loan review and regulatory requirements. In his four years as CCO, he has helped lead Regents to an asset base north of $200 million, an ROA approaching 1 percent, and a 22 percent increase in loans over the past year. Schwartz says the bank’s credit quality is pristine, with no past due or classified loans.

Although the bank has no classified loans, it has been accumulating loan loss reserves, $290,500 for this year and $1.65 million since inception. “Generally, you would look at your historical losses, but we are a young bank, so instead we decide how much loan loss reserve from other banks’ historical losses,” Schwartz says, and factors such as the health of the economy and the type of loan.

Regents’ loan loss reserve stands at 1.25 percent of assets, which Schwartz says is typical of banks of Regents’ size.

Regents still has a presence in Vancouver, opening a loan production office 18 months ago that has since been converted to a full service branch. “We still have a lot of connections in the Vancouver area with former employees and clients,” Schwartz says.

“San Diego and Vancouver are amazingly similar when it comes to banking,” he adds. “We did some market analysis and whether here or there it’s still the big banks with a large percentage of the market.” The bank’s clientele is also similar in both markets, Schwartz says.

Regents’ style is to have the chief credit officer involved early in the loan decision process. “Depending on the situation, I’ll be on calls or go visit with the customer,” Schwartz says. Since management is an important part of the client success equation, Schwartz says it’s an advantage to meet with borrowers. “It’s also about being approachable, consultative, and in an entrepreneur adviser role.”

While based in La Jolla, Regents Bank’s Downtown San Diego office in the Koll Center on Broadway has contributed significantly to deposit and loan growth, adding more than $80 million in assets alone, more than the total assets of some other financial institutions based in the Central Business District. Schwartz attributes the growth to Rick King, the Downtown branch manager, and Darla Clark, who manages the corporate banking division.

Even with the best of evaluation processes, Schwartz says it’s tough for any bank to maintain perfect credit quality.

“Something can happen to the business that’s not even the result of a conscious management decision, such as if the government turns off the faucet on a particular kind of contract. You’re constantly knocking on wood to maintain a clean portfolio.”