SunTrust 2006 Annual Report Download - page 5

our skill at delivering “big bank” capabilities with a true local bank
orientation positively differentiates SunTrust in the marketplace.
It also helps us deliver on our signature brand promise, Seeing
beyond money
.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP
As part of putting into place the Company’s next generation
of executive leadership, SunTrust in November announced that
James M. Wells III, the Company’s President and Chief Operating
Officer since 2004, would succeed L. Phillip Humann as Chief
Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2007. Mr. Humann
remains Executive Chairman of the Board.
As President and CEO, Mr. Wells is responsible for SunTrust’s
overall business operations and financial performance. He was
also elected to the Company’s Board of Directors, where he
serves as Chairman of the Executive Committee.
Mr. Wells came to SunTrust with the 1998 acquisition of the
former Crestar Financial Corporation, where he was President,
following a 30-year career at the Richmond, VA-based institution.
During the time Mr. Humann was CEO, SunTrust’s assets increased
from $60 billion to over $182 billion, accompanied by solid
earnings growth and industry-leading credit quality. The
Company’s geographic footprint was extended via acquisitions
into the Mid-Atlantic region, the Carolinas and new high-growth
markets in Florida and Tennessee. Our business line, product
and sales capabilities were significantly enhanced. And SunTrust
moved from its historically decentralized operating structure to
a unified “one-bank” platform.
This long-planned transition reflects the priority SunTrust places
on executive talent management and succession planning at all
levels of the Company. In connection with the CEO transition,
a number of other key SunTrust executives took on additional
responsibilities to broaden the experience of our senior team
and thus help ensure future leadership depth.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
As a large financial services organization competing in numerous
markets with a diverse client base and broad product line, it
makes sense that we tactically pursue multiple business plans,
strategies, promotions, and priorities at any one time. From a
corporate perspective, however, five key strategic priorities provided
the high-level framework for our progress in 2006, and do the
same for our collective efforts in 2007 and beyond. They are:
Streamlining Process – We are always looking to evaluate,
clarify, and simplify internal operating processes. The point is
to make it easier for clients to do business with us by making
transactions simpler and faster. Within the context of our
successful operating model, which balances the roles of our five
lines of business with our geographic banking network and
corporate support functions, we are effectively re-engineering
front-to-back processing to create a better client experience. As a
practical example of what we are talking about here, we improved
turnaround times for home equity loans in 2006 through a com-
bination of technology and process improvements, while also
lowering the cost per closed loan.
Our focus on process also covers the critical area of risk
management, which we approach on an enterprise-wide basis.
The goal is to make sure we fully understand, and manage
intelligently, the broad scope of risks facing SunTrust on a
continuing basis. In today’s highly scrutinized, technology-
intensive financial services industry, most dimensions of
"traditional” bank-related risks—notably credit, market and
operational risk—are significantly more complex than has
been the case historically. In this context, we have been investing
heavily to meet the highest standards for measuring and
managing risk in areas ranging from Anti-Money Laundering
Programs to Credit Quality. In identifying and quantifying all
risk, we seek to mitigate potential loss, ensure capital adequacy,
and contribute to fact-based business decision-making.
Managing Talent – SunTrust’s talent assessment process was
enhanced in 2006 to include senior management accountability
for aligning the career aspirations of the people in our top 300
positions with the Company’s evolving business needs. This
important step is helping to identify future succession candidates,
broaden and retain our leadership team; we retained 95% of our
top talent in 2006, a level of achievement that we believe is seen
at only a handful of top financial services institutions nationally.
More broadly, we continued to sharpen our focus on succession
planning. The annual talent assessment, which covers more
than 6,200 SunTrust managers across the Company, identified
candidates poised to assume broader responsibilities within the
next 12 months. This process allows us to target individual
development plans to better ensure that we have the bench
strength we need to drive our business forward. Meanwhile, to
help provide all employees tools for future career success, we
enhanced online resources for managers and employees, including
upgraded navigation to increase the prominence of online
development and internal job posting tools.
SUNTRUST 2006 ANNUAL REPORT 3