PNC Financial Services Group Barclays 24th Annual Global Financial Services Conference

Soon we're going to get going. Next up, very pleased at PNC Financial Services. From the company making his debut performance on stage at this conference, Mark Wiedman, their president. As you know, who's been here umpteenth consecutive years or so, Rob Q. Reilly.

Yeah Chief financial officer. Thank you both for joining.

Umpteenth. Yeah, at least umpteenth.

Yeah. Kind of. Yeah. I don't want to call you out.

I guess, Mark, maybe we'll start with you.

Right. I think given this is your first time here as part of PNC.

Yep. Just maybe share a little bit about your background and how you wound up with the company.

Sure. Well, I spent 21 years in a former subsidiary of PNC called BlackRock, and there I did two things that connected me to PNC over time. One is, I spent a large part of my career there advising banks, including actually PNC along the way, on balance sheet questions. So healthy banks like a PNC, and then some not so healthy where I led the work in restructuring AIG's credit book, credit derivative book, Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley's recapitalization, and the like during the crisis. I actually started a company called Pennymac as part of that, and we saw the opening that frankly banks were going to create was for the non-banks, the creation of Pennymac back in 2008. Separately, I spent time at BlackRock, I would say, scaling and growing businesses in the capital market space generally. Like for example, iShares. All that came together back in 2023 when PNC and BlackRock jointly looked to acquire a bank we did not acquire quite famously in 2023 in the crisis.

When Bill called and said, "Would you consider working with an organization I'd known for years and years?" It felt very natural.

Got it. Maybe as the follow-up, can you give us some insight into what you've learned about PNC since you've joined the company, and just what you see as the biggest opportunities where you can make an impact?

Maybe what are your top priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

Sure. I think where we see the opportunities is really about doing what we do really well better. Two things I think we're really good at that will lead to further growth are, one, we're very good at putting the client at the center of the business, and then the second is being local. Because we think that what our clients are looking for is an organization, a bank that will work with them, that has national capabilities, but keeps it local. That's the challenge that we face, the opportunity. In terms of getting closer to the client, there are areas where we're super strong, where we understand the client intimately and put the client first as we organize, and we're really good, for example, in real estate or in treasury management, and I'd put those capabilities up against anybody.

Then there's places where we can be a lot larger, and it's really about understanding who our clients are and deepening. Cards, an area where we've underperformed. Fundamentally, this is about developing a deeper relationship with our customers, retail customers. If you look at us compared to pure banks, we should be at least able to double our penetration with clients. It's just we haven't followed them as a client. On the corporate side, thinking about sponsors as clients is an opportunity for us. More and more, they own a lot of the portfolio companies we lend to. You've got to talk to them at the peak and bring it all together, treat them as a client. Many of our treasury management clients have one complaint with us.

They think we're really, really good, but there's one thing we can't do, which is follow them internationally in payments and lending. We're going to be building out those capabilities, helping those U.S. clients serve their needs in other places, whether it be lending into a global revolver or simply making payments for them in other spots in the world, particularly in Europe. That's where the opportunity is for us, is just literally is following the client to their needs, and that's where the growth comes from.