Wealth manager U.S. Trust of North Carolina has launched a private banking unit, allowing the Greensboro-based firm for the first time to accept deposits and make loans. The former North Carolina Trust Co., which was scooped up a year ago by New York-based U.S. Trust Corp., had long intended to get into the banking game. Founder and CEO Stephen Hassenfelt said that private banking services represent the final leg in the firm's competitive strategy. We think it's going to be well-received by our clients.
Private banks tend to cater to affluent individuals.
They offer tailored lending programs that retail banks, which favor structured product lines, can't match. U.S. Trust of North Carolina has already started private banking services in Greensboro and expects this fall to roll out this service in its Raleigh and Charlotte markets. Services are to include customized mortgages, lines of credit, overseas services, and, naturally, deposit accounts. It has become a crowded line of business in the United States and even the Triad. Clearly, the economy and its growth during the decade of the '90s has generated a lot of wealthy people, and it's a fairly large segment in Guilford County.