Gerald P. “Jerry” Plush, brought in five years ago to streamline Webster Bank and shore up its capital base, has been elevated to the No. 2 post at the Waterbury bank and its parent, Webster Financial Corp.
Plush’s promotion to vice chairman and chief operating officer, effective immediately, puts the 51-year-old former senior executive vice president in direct line of succession to longtime Webster Chairman and CEO James C. Smith, whose father founded the bank 75 years ago.
Smith, 60, has run the bank since 1987.
Webster had been without a chief operating officer since William T. Bromage retired at the end of 2008.
Plush’s promotion comes barely two weeks after Webster repaid the final $200 million installment of its $400 million federal taxpayer-funded assistance received in late 2008 under the so-called Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.
Separately, Webster shares bounced upward Wednesday after an analyst at Jefferies & Co. said he expects the regional bank to release some of its reserves as its borrowers make more progress in paying loans on time.
The Associated Press reports Jefferies analyst Casey Haire raised the rating on the Webster to “buy” from “hold” and raised the price target on the stock to $23 from $19.
In late afternoon trading Wednesday, Webster shares rose $1.21, or 6.2 percent, to $20.74.
Webster hired Plush in 2006 from former MBNA America, primarily known as a Delaware credit-card lender, to be chief financial officer, duties the bank says he retains with his promotion.
Plush also assumes oversight of Webster’s so-called backoffice operations, known internally as The Shared Services group. These include, among other things, the bank’s human resources, information technology, deposit and loan operations, public affairs and communications, facilities and corporate real estate operations.
“Since joining Webster … Jerry has played a pivotal leadership role in the build-out and centralization of our finance function and in strengthening our capital structure,” Smith said in a statement.
Plush earned a B.S. in accounting from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He is a CPA and certified management accountant. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Financial Services Roundtable and Financial Executives International.
He serves on the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Southwest New England.
