GRAND RAPIDS — In restructuring its executive team, Legacy Trust wants to bring a greater diversity of perspectives to the decision-making process and setting strategy.
By elevating three senior vice presidents to executive leadership at the Grand Rapids-based trust bank, President and CEO Tracey Hornbeck wanted to assure all disciplines involved in managing the business had “a voice in the strategic direction of our organization.”
“I felt really strongly about having diverse backgrounds at the table from a leadership perspective,” said Hornbeck, who became the chief executive at Legacy Trust in March. “When you bring all of the disciplines together at the leadership team, it just really brings that diverse thought to the strategic table.”
Joining Hornbeck on the executive team at Legacy Trust are Mark Periard, the director of wealth management who joined the firm in 2016; Laina Mills, the chief investment officer who’s been with Legacy Trust since 2009; and Melanie VanderHoff, the senior operations manager who has been with the firm since the beginning in 2004.
Legacy Trust provides investment and wealth management services to individuals, families, foundations and nonprofit organizations in West Michigan.
Hornbeck joined Legacy Trust in October 2016 and CFO and COO. She previously spent 20 years at the former Old Kent Bank and Fifth Third Bank in Grand Rapids, most recently as regional CFO and a senior vice president.
As CEO, she wants to continue to build the trust bank and grow. Legacy Trust has been growing revenues in the mid-single digits, and Hornbeck wants to see that accelerate “quite a bit.”
Part of the growth strategy is talent acquisition, including the recent addition of three new senior vice presidents with decades of experience: Jeffrey Dixon, as senior portfolio manager; Kelly DeRidder, as senior trust officer; and Steven Doorn, as director of portfolio management.
Growing the firm by “adding strategic talent is, in my opinion, our number-one goal,” Hornbeck said.
“Acquisition through talent is one of the best ways to grow the company because you’re accelerating growth while preserving capital and taking on limited risk,” she said. “These new additions add depth and diversity, making a great team even stronger.”
Legacy Trust may also consider acquisitions to drive growth, “but it has to be the right strategic, cultural fit in the long term,” Hornbeck said. The firm is actively seeking opportunities, she said.
“We’re out talking to different talent, different firms and should the right opportunity present itself, we would entertain that,” she said.
