Shop Talk: Savings And Loan
Photo/Christina H. Davis
Robert J. Paulhus Jr., CEO, Clinton Savings Bank
Robert J. Paulhus Jr. was named president of Clinton Savings Bank on Sept. 9 after nine years with the bank. He moved up from executive vice president to take over for his predecessor Anthony R. Cali, who resigned to take a job as president and CEO of IC Federal Credit Union in Fitchburg. Clinton Savings has six branches in Clinton, Sterling, Boylston, West Boylston, Bolton and Berlin and assets totaling $487.8 million. Here, Paulhus talks about how he landed in banking right out of college and the current financial crisis.
>> What was your first job in banking?
I originally participated in on-campus interviewing when I was a senior at Holy Cross in 1982 with what was then Worcester County National Bank. By the time I graduated it had already been renamed to Shawmut Worcester County Bank, which was the first of the big mergers in the area.
>> What’s made you stay within the banking industry since you graduated from college?
Quite honestly when I was in college I didn’t know that I wanted to go into banking, but I was an economics major with some accounting experience and it seemed like a likely avenue to pursue. As it turns out, I struck a positive accord with the person that I interviewed with on campus back then, which evolved into ultimately being hired there. And as I mentioned that merger with Shawmut at the time was the first large merger to take place and it was kind of the beginning of a change in banking. It became much more of a dynamic industry, which always created new opportunities and challenges.
>> What has been the biggest change that you’ve seen?
I think the amount of deregulation that has taken place starting back in 1986 has created a lot of changes that we face today, resulting in a lot of additional competitors within the financial services industry, including credit unions and insurance companies.
>> What’s your reaction to what’s been happening on Wall Street?
It certainly has us concerned and we’re trying to be as proactive as we can dealing with that. Sometimes what gets frustrating is the things you don’t have control over. You just have to wait and see what happens. We’ve been monitoring the activity very closely internally as well as with our investment advisors to make sure we have our hands around it.
>> What’s Clinton Savings’ exposure to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
We had some holdings in those securities. We’re trying to determine where they rank in the pecking order with respect to other types of classifications, meaning relative to bond holders and preferred stock. We’re fortunate to say we don’t have any of their common stock which is probably the most risky right now. As I mentioned, we’re working closely with our advisors to see what might be an opportune time to sell or otherwise modify our holdings to minimize any impact that might have.
>> The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disintegration has been quite remarkable.
It has and from what I can tell, it’s taking everyone by surprise, including regulators and third-party entities that provide opinions on that type of business. As late as the end August some of the major agencies gave an okay to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s financial positions. I don’t think anyone yet really knows what the full impact of that will be.
>> Does Clinton Savings have any branch expansion plans at the moment?
We’d like to continue to grow as the economic conditions allow. In the recent past we just completed a couple large investments in capital infrastructure so we may need to digest that before we open up another branch.
Check out the video clip below of Paulhus explaining what he likes about his new job:
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