Show Notes
Bio
Tony Marquez is Senior Executive Vice President and President of Commercial Banking at Eagle Bank since February 2020. He was formerly Chief Lending Officer – Commercial Real Estate of the Bank, and Executive Vice President of the Company, since he joined the Company in August 2011. Mr. Marquez has over 35 years of experience in the banking industry. Prior to joining the Company, he established the real estate lending franchise for HSBC for the Washington, D.C. market. Earlier he was the head of Commercial Real Estate lending at Chevy Chase Bank from 1997 to 2005 and previously held various lending positions at The Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C. after starting his career at the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.
Show Notes
- Role at Eagle Bank- Leading both Real Estate Lending and Non Real Estate Corporate Lending (4:35)
- Initially led the Real Estate Lending when he joined the bank and has grown the lending book considerably (5:10)
- 500 employees- Even though the bank has grown want to keep the “community bank” feel (6:55)
- Lending 35-50 miles within the headquarters (7:25)
Origins & Education
- Born and raised in Cuba immediately after Castro’s regime took over (8:00)
- Father was involved in Cuban government for a while and then the family emigrated to Colombia when he was very young (9:30)
- In 1967 he moved to Philadelphia and spent his youth there (10:45)
- In high school his family moved to Puerto Rico and was where he finished high school at St. John’s HS in San Juan, PR (11:25)
- Went to George Washington University to go into foreign service (13:50)
- Good school of foreign service, but initially wanted to go to Georgetown (15:25)
- His grandparents lived in Greenbelt, MD and he spent summers there as a kid (17:30)
- RA job covered his tuition (19:25)
- Stayed on to graduate school at GW (19:55)
- Masters in Foreign Service, but customized toward business (20:25)
- Pivoted to business after teaching Spanish at Maret School (22:44)
Career
- Began at Chase Manhattan Bank in retail banking but wanted to get into training program in Long Island, NY (23:20)
- Needed a finance perspective and got an MBA at Adelphi University (25:15)
- His wife got a job in DC with Hechts and he joined Riggs Bank in 1990 in corporate banking (26:45)
- Transferred into real estate workouts for 3.5 yrs. there (28:50)
- Worked for Joe Albritton (President) (29:20)
- David Cheek and Bruce Lane were in his group then (29:30)
- Solving problems in workouts- intensive workout negotiations (30:40)
- Great training (32:15)
- Disagree without being disagreeable (34:05)
- Bell curve distribution of relationships (35:10)
- Best sponsors are the key to future business and the right solution (35:30)
- A borrower advised him about an error his attorneys had made during a foreclosure- sign of good character (36:20)
- Joined Walker and Dunlop after Riggs and struggled there (39:15)
- Went over to Chevy Chase Bank lending on commercial real estate (40:00)
- Eventually promoted to lead the real estate lending group (41:50)
- Jeff Campbell
- Was there for about 6 years (42:00)
- Eric Lawrence and he worked together (43:00)
- B.F. Saul sold the credit card business and they redeployed the capital in lending business (45:00)
- He was frustrated on a loan approval and was recruited away (45:20)
- Joined HSBC and led new office in DC in lending (46:00)
- Old Marine Midland Bank acquired by HSBC (46:30)
- Embassy banking became a big part of bank (48:05)
- 5 yrs. there and the global financial crisis impacted his business significantly (49:10)
- 2008 was “scarier” time as he thought the financial system was teetering on the edge (50:00)
- Got the “yellow light” to do business, but struggled to find situations that worked for the bank at the time. (51:30)
- Serendipity brought him to Eagle Bank (52:45)
- Met with Ron Paul and listened to the story about Eagle (53:40)
- He had met him at his neighbor’s party (54:05)
- Joined bank (54:40)
- Eagle is now looked upon as a competitive lender (55:50)
- Reference to Ron & Joy Paul’s Kidney Center (56:10)
- Grew the scale of transactions through relationships that Ron Paul had started during the GFC (56:40)
- Great time since 2011 in lending (57:50)
- Ron Paul’s ethic of “community” and they have a pillars called FIRST (59:10)
- Flexible, Involved, Responsive, Strong, Trusted (59:50)
- Growth in the market (1:01:45)
- Now an $11.5B bank (1:02:10)
- Met with Ron Paul and listened to the story about Eagle (53:40)
Changes in Banking
- Still a local business but capital flows are international (1:04:00)
- Still a people business and good sponsors are the key (1:05:00)
- Bet on the sponsor (1:05:25)
- Eagle is focused on speed and flexibility to opportunities (1:06:30)
- Provide a boutique solution to client borrowers (1:07:00)
- Always replacing the runoff as a short term lender (1:07:25)
- Close on terms that are presented with no changes (1:07:50)
- Confidence in the team’s business acumen (1:08:20)
Pandemic
- Virtual banking (1:09:50)
- PPP Program– Government grant program ran through the banks (1:10:30)
- 1,442 PPP loans done in a short period of time (1:11:00)
- Every sector impacted (1:12:00)
- Tranformative (1:13:00)
- What will “new normal” be? (1:14:00)
- Stay nimble (1:14:40)
- Office- Downtown has several “walking dead” buildings which offer opportunities (1:15:30)
- Suburban office might be more attractive (1:16:20)
- Shared office users will have a role- WeWork, etc. (1:16:50)
- PPP program required people to “sleep on the floor” to help clients (1:17:45)
- Companies of 20 people or fewer will qualify for the next round of PPP (1:18:45)
- Know that a certain percentage of clients can’t make it due to the pandemic (1:20:15)
- Some difficult discussions ahead (1:20:40)
- Separate loan producers from workout conversations (1:21:00)
- How do we navigate the issues by allowing the clients to have time to overcome these issues (1:22:25)
- Will take imagination and staying power to overcome the issues (1:23:40)
- Better without being bitter (1:24:10)
Business Philosophy
- Relationship business (1:24:40)
- Doesn’t matter who you know, it’s who knows you (1:25:00)
- Misses interaction with people for networking- brand equity (1:25:40)
- About the team and not the individual (1:26:45)
- Keep reaching out to people regularly (1:27:00)
- Maintain and foster relationships (1:27:25)
- Leads 140 people in lending and enjoys his job and was not tempted to be a sponsor (1:30:15)
- Characteristics to be a great real estate lender (1:31:40)
- People business- understand the people putting the deal together (1:32:00)
- Lender needs to convince the borrower and the loan committee on each deal (1:32:30)
- Understand the fundamentals- getting paid back (1:33:15)
- Here’s the deal and if this doesn’t work, let the deal go if necessary (1:33:50)
- Keeps the same terms when a deal is lost and then comes back (1:34:00)
- Wins in his career-
- Korean buyer who was a borrower that he remembers as a special deal at Riggs Bank (1:36:10)
- Bringing BofA as a participant in a large deal at Chevy Chase Bank (1:37:40)
- Losses
- Build to suit financing deal on a GSA during the GFC went sour at HSBC (1:38:30)
- Surprises
- Level of effort that people invest in difficult times- “What people do when no one else is looking.” (1:39:45)
- Life Priorities
- Mentor Philanthropy Partners (1:41:00)
- Family is #1 (1:41:50)
- Enlightened self interest (1:42:40)
- Advice to 25 yr. old self (1:42:50)
- Make your own luck
- It’s not what happens to you…it’s what you do about it (1:43:25)
- Billboard Statement
- “Expect Delays” (1:44:30)
Postscript
- Thank you, Tom Amos! (1:46:10)
- Lessons learned from episode (1:47:00)
- Dealing with Challenges
- Maintain adaptability and flexibility
- Kept his integrity
- Casual in his demeanor yet serious about business
