I m happy. Wells moved into the fifth spot, up from No. 11. The uncertainty attendant on a merger or acquisition is not unknown to the No. 1 lender. Our group is pretty much intact. So we ve got longevity and experience.
Mergers can be mysterious.
Some institutions hemorrhage staff in the face of new ownership, while others escape relatively unscathed. Retaining qualified business development officers can be tricky enough in the world of SBA lending, where high commissions tend to bring out the mercenary in many a soul. Heller, meanwhile, is one of the few major SBA lenders that has managed to escape merger mania. Another is GE Small Business Finance Corp., which may be shielded to some extent by the protective mantle of ultimate parent company and No. 9 on Fortune magazine s list of the Global 500, General Electric. This year, GE originated 500 loans, up from 372 the year before.