ONEIDA — Oneida Financial Corp.’s new Oneida Wealth Management subsidiary not only better aligns the company’s financial services through its various divisions, but also positions the company for growth, company officials say.
On April 1, Oneida Financial announced the creation of Oneida Wealth Management as a combination of Oneida Savings Bank’s trust and investment department aligning with Benefit Consulting Group’s (BCG) wealth management and retirement planning divisions. Oneida Financial acquired BCG in 2006.
“We really ran [the] Benefit Consulting Group business model as it was for six years,” Eric Stickels, executive VP and CFO of Oneida Financial, says. That model, he says was very bank-like, which is why it seemed right to align the BCG services with the trust and investment services offered through Oneida Savings Bank. It just makes sense, he adds, to break out all those bank-like services and align them together under one subsidiary — the new Oneida Wealth Management.
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The process culminates about a year of effort, including obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve, and the New York State Department of Financial Services as well as technology upgrades, Stickels says.
Oneida Financial named Donald Abernethy president of Oneida Wealth Management. He previously headed up the investment advisory area at BCG and served as a partner since 2003.
Abernethy is excited about the new opportunities Oneida Wealth Management will bring to existing clients of both BCG and Oneida Savings Bank. “It allows us to bring the full breadth of services … to our clients,” he says.
The initial plan is to cross market all of Oneida Financial’s services to existing clients, he says. Ideally, the company could offer services from banking to pension management to a commercial client.
In addition, Oneida Wealth Management can tailor services to a client’s wishes as it offers services from both the bank/trust side and the broker/dealer side. The key, Abernethy notes, is that all of those services are now offered through the same representatives and distribution channels.
Stickels says the move makes Oneida Wealth Management more competitive as its services now more closely match up with what clients are looking for these days and puts all the services under the same umbrella. “It joins forces and really makes a seamless model for the client,” he adds.
While the main office is located at 5232 Witz Drive in Clay and some operations take place at Oneida Financial’s headquarters in Oneida, Oneida Wealth Management can do business “all over the place,” Abernethy says. With Oneida Financial subsidiary offices near Albany, Buffalo, and Utica, the company already covers much of the state. It also has a location in Fort Mill, S.C.
The goal is to continue to roll out the new Oneida Wealth Management brand, starting with existing clients, and with an eye on the downstate and Long Island regions, Stickels says. The next stage will be to start actively recruiting new clients, he adds.
Stickels says he sees particular growth opportunities in pension administration and 401(k) services for mid-sized to large corporations within Oneida Financial’s footprint.
Oneida Wealth Management currently has more than $1 billion in assets under management and employs about 35 people previously employed by BCG and Oneida Savings Bank’s trust department. Abernethy says he hopes to add between three and five more employees before summer is over.
Oneida Financial (NASDAQ: ONFC) employs about 350 people total and has total assets of about $720 million. The company reported net income of $1.95 million, or 28 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared to $2 million, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue at Oneida Financial’s insurance and other non-banking operations increased to $6 million in the first quarter from $5.5 million in same period in 2012.
In Oneida Financial’s earnings report, Michael R. Kallet, president and CEO, said, “Oneida Financial Corp. continues to define the distinction between Wall Street banking and Main Street banking. This distinction will be further reinforced later this year with our investment advisory, trust and pension services units operating cohesively as Oneida Wealth Management. The result is a strong and vital financial institution, fully prepared to meet the economic challenges of the future.”
Oneida Financial’s other subsidiaries include Oneida Savings Bank, with 11 branches in Madison and Oneida counties; State Bank of Chittenango, a state-chartered limited-purpose commercial bank; Bailey, Haskell & LaLonde Agency, an insurance brokerage; and Workplace Health Solutions, a risk-management company specializing in workplace-injury claims management.
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