Published: October 01, 2010
Mark Grant is one of only a few executives today who has remained with the same bank, Lloyds Banking Group, throughout his career. Since joining the bank in 1978, he has developed a unique reputation both within and beyond the bank that has enabled him to drive change and find new ways to service customer needs. In 2009, Mark became Head of Global Financial Institutions at Lloyds, adding another major role to his already illustrious career. One of the factors that continues to make Mark so successful is his breadth of experience, that gives him remarkable empathy and insight into the viewpoints, challenges and objectives of different parts of the bank. This in turn means that he can communicate his vision in a way that both inspires and brings confidence to internal stakeholders so that the whole bank can act as one. Following a period of unprecedented change, including the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS, forming Lloyds Banking Group, the largest UK banking acquisition in history, Mark is uniquely positioned to develop the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) within Lloyds. This article looks at Mark’s vision for his new role, and some of his experiences and characteristics that will undoubtedly ensure his success.
Having engaged in a variety of roles in commercial lending, risk management, strategy and planning, Mark took on the role of Senior Relationship Director for Lloyds TSB Global Corporate Banking in 1993, managing the broad range of requirements of companies across the oil and gas, mining, chemicals, steel and commodity sectors. Working with the corporate sector gave Mark the opportunity to develop expertise across a wide range of products, and just as importantly, to refine the collaborative, customer-focused approach to relationship banking for which Lloyds is distinguished. From there, Mark moved to New York in 2000, taking responsibility for credit risk management across Lloyds’ US operations, comprising Global Corporate Banking, Financial Institutions, Project Finance, Structured Finance and International Private Banking. On returning to the UK in 2003, he built a multi-disciplinary divisional risk function for Lloyds’ Wholesale and International Banking division, extending his commercial and credit experience further to include legal and regulatory policy, portfolio management, and compliance.
In 2006, Mark took the helm of the Capital Markets function at Lloyds, at that time a fledgling operation, and built up the product spectrum of activities including deal origination, sales, loan syndication, sterling and euro bonds, US private placements, covered bonds and securitisation. During his period of leadership, Lloyds moved from a relatively minor participant in the capital markets space to a leading multi-product house. The Capital Markets business quickly built up significant expertise and a track record highlighted by Euromoney UK Loan Arranger of the Year 2008, IFR magazine’s Senior Financial Bond of the Year 2009 and attaining 4th position in Bloomberg’s sterling bond issuance and 3rd position in EuroWeek’s Best Arranger of Financial Institution Loans league tables.
There are a variety of reasons that Mark identifies as being important in achieving his objectives, one of which is the need to maintain and promote the unique culture of Lloyds. He explains, “In the Capital Markets division, it has been vital to attract talent from across the City with proven deal-making expertise, whilst ensuring that the whole team embraces the bank’s culture.” This was an important factor in encouraging support from the wider bank, so that the bank’s capital markets activity was aligned with the overall risk appetite and corporate relationship focus.
Following his success in Capital Markets, Mark was appointed as Head of the Financial Institutions Group (FIG). Up to that point, the FIG had been considered primarily for its correspondent banking network, and as an AAA-rated bank with a strong deposit base, Lloyds had little experience in debt programmes. The merger with HBOS encouraged the bank to develop the activities of FIG further, under Mark’s leadership. Mark continues, “The aim is to bring new products and market linkage for its financial institution clients, leveraging Lloyds’ own experience in market issuance and knowledge of what investors want.” [[[PAGE]]]
Lloyds’ equity, debt and asset/liability management divisions had already worked closely with the banking and investor community, and Mark developed a strategy of collaboration with these partners. This approach has achieved some early successes. For example, Lloyds’ own expertise in accessing the securitisation market through its Permanent and Arkle RMBS transactions is being deployed to help Lloyds’ FI clients, most notably as a bookrunner on RBS’s Arran RMBS. In addition, the loan syndicate team has successfully arranged numerous facilities for FI clients including Standard Life Bank, Investec, 3i, Visa Europe, Brit Insurance and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Attracting the right talent has been key, and Mark has now established four key segments: Banks; Insurance; Funds and Specialist Finance, including brokers, leveraging the critical mass established by the merger of Lloyds and HBOS. By establishing specialist sector teams, Lloyds can bring significant, targeted market intelligence as well as product design to its clients:
Banks
In the bank segment, the changing regulatory environment creates new opportunities, and techniques such as securitisation are once again growing in importance. By leveraging its traditional network of correspondent banking clients in markets, Lloyds is developing broader relationships with banks spanning the full range of cash, trade, financing and capital products.
Insurance
Lloyds has strong credibility and long-standing experience in the insurance sector, although this has typically been in the property, casualty and broker market in the past. As the bank’s distribution capabilities and product offerings have developed, however, the number and depth of relationships amongst life insurers is also growing. With substantial change in the industry, such as Solvency II requirements, there are new opportunities for engagement and dialogue.
Specialist Finance
With the exception of the very largest, specialist finance houses have been devastated by the collapse of the securitisation market during the crisis. As these firms seek to rebuild and create new product offerings, Lloyds has a unique role to play in creating a new paradigm for specialist finance, and clients are increasingly looking to the bank for innovative and robust solutions.
Funds
Lloyds is building important new relationships in the real money sector as its product range has expanded, and is also building on the considerable strength that HBOS had in providing financing and risk management products to the alternative funds sector.
Lloyds is building important new relationships in the real money sector as its product range has expanded.
While FIG has not previously been seen as a growth engine, Mark’s appointment, coupled with ambitious growth plans, illustrates the growing importance of this division as part of Lloyds’ strategic vision. Mark describes his short-term vision as follows, “The first task is to complete the integration between the Lloyds and HBOS entities to create a cohesive new offering with a strong cultural and product identity, based on expertise, professionalism, client focus and product capabilities. This will involve working closely with other departments within the bank to maximise the value of mutual client relationships.” In the medium to long term, the FIG is expected to become a major growth engine, delivering on the significant untapped potential within Lloyds.
Mark’s unique experience and talents will be critical in achieving these objectives. In particular, he has a strong sense of Lloyds’ culture that values and nurtures the contribution made by each employee within a mutual and collaborative environment. One of his team describes him as “calm and intelligent, with a rational and structured approach, and a strong awareness of both the bank’s appetite for risk and that of the client. Mark is very supportive of the team, not only of his own staff, but across the business.” Another says, “Mark is a great ‘people person’ and always a team player, insightful and organisationally astute.”
These characteristics will continue to be critical as Global Financial Institutions is firmly positioned as a relationship business that focuses on the needs of its clients as opposed to a transaction-driven business. Lloyds is very much a ‘through the cycle’ bank, focusing on long-term relationships through varying economic fortunes, which is particularly valued by clients. Mark concludes, “It is important to manage relationships across all the activities in which we engage with a client, and not restricting ourselves to individual product silos. By acting together as a team, across the bank, we have a strongly differentiated offering that recognises risk, reward and mutual benefit.” With such a strong heritage, commitment to his team and sense of organisational, product and client innovation, it is difficult to see how FIG under Mark’s leadership can be anything other than a considerable success.
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