None — Robbins-Gioia, a leading provider of management consulting services, recently announced that its financial services consulting group will make its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
The decision to centralize in Charlotte enables R-G to implement a strategic decision to grow its financial services consulting expertise with experienced banking professionals from the mid-Atlantic and Southeast banking community who have been displaced by the economic downturn.
Robert D. Piontek, executive vice president of R-G's Financial Services Group, will lead the Charlotte-based practice.
Piontek has spent 30 years in Charlotte with two of the city's premier financial services firms: the Wachovia Corporation (formerly First Union) where he was senior vice president and managing director/treasurer of the bank's corporate investment bank; and KPMG/BearingPoint Consulting, where he was partner and managing director in the financial services consulting group.
We asked Piontek five questions about the company's decision to make Charlotte their headquarters:
@import url(/css/21106410/style.css); Q: What specific types of consulting services do you envision you firm providing to the financial industry?
A: "Robbins Gioia offers traditional management consulting services including: Project/Program Management: technology integration; all Lines of Business technical problem solving and support including Capital Markets and Investment Banking, Retail Banking, Wealth and Retail Brokerage; Cash Mangement, Card Services; and Supply Chain."
Q: What do you view as your largest opportunities to "add value?"?
A: "Robbins Gioia's Financial Services Group (FSG) value-added approach is by deploying experienced bankers who have recently been displaced into our banks project and critical initiatives so that the Bank's return on investment is maximized; by support that "hits the ground running", knows the landscape and blends into the company's culture all but immediately, our clients achieve shorter project life cycles, lower costs, and a broader depth of thinking/contribution."
Q: What was the attraction to Charlotte?
A: "Charlotte's banking talent is second to none in the industry. They have experienced some of the most cutting-edge advancements in technology, e-commerce, product development, customer experience, supply chain, and business growth of any of the banks in the country. Notwithstanding, they are "content rich" in their respective specialties. What makes Charlotte bankers even more unique is that the vast majority of them have undergone implementing an acquisition strategy that has no equal in banking. Between the two large banks, over 200 financial institutions have been successfully acquired and integrated at all levels of the two franchises. The skills that come with implementing these activities cause our Charlotte bankers to be extraordinarily quick thinkers/quick studies, see the big picture rapidly, and brand their approach with a caliber of leadership that has no parallel in banking. In short, the pedigree of our local bankers cannot be taught or even aspired to: it has to be lived. We believe this is what distinguishes our approach to any other consulting firm in the industry.
Additionally, a very large segment of the thousands of consulting resources our local banks use daily, come from other parts of the country. Unlike New York, where there is a significant consulting pool, Charlotte requires many, if not the majority, to be flown in weekly. We believe these costs can be reduced in Charlotte by deploying local EXPERIENCED professionals that understand the environments they work in. Because of the enormity of the two large banks' project reach (both banks each have in excess of 1500 new projects annually), the cost savings associated with a more "nimble" talent structure built from local experience, can be significant. We believe the banks will give serious consideration to those who work with them, and that can reduce costs. Charlotte profiled very high in our believed ability to do so.
From the business activity side, all of our regional and local banks are continuing to grow, deploy sound solutions into their environments and execute against a future vision for their bank. As such, we believe there are ample opportunities where the Robbins Gioia FSG teams can excel and offer extraordinary value to the banks in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Perhaps the better question is not "why Charlotte" but rather "why NOT Charlotte" – the answer list would be shorter."
Q: To what degree did the large talent pool of financial professionals in Charlotte impact your decision?
A: "Significantly, in that we are building our model FROM experienced bankers who have been displaced. Charlotte was one of the more significantly impacted communities (during the recession) and that combined with a superior talent level with a group of effected peoples, the decision became less a decision and more an imperative."
Q: How many employees do you anticipate hiring?
A: "We will be deploying as many displaced bankers as we can engage with our banking clients. We cannot specify a number because we do not yet know how accessible we will be allowed to be by our banking clients, since Robbins Gioia is not a household name. While it is a household name in the Federal Sector, until we get an initial sense from the banks, we will not know. In short, if we can get the banks to take our calls and allow us to work with them in developing solutions to some of their key initiatives, then we would expect to place an exceptional number of displaced bankers back into environments that they used to play a part in. But the key is getting the momentum in the community to elevate the RG brand and get the banks to engage with us in dialogues that can generate positive outcomes and reduce costs."