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of 2023. That in turn has translated into superior
bank outside Atlanta in 2014. Instead, the bank
profitability: For every dollar earned, more of that
focuses on acquiring talent from other banks or
goes to the bottom line. “I think of them consis-
training bankers.
tently as having the best efficiency ratio of peers
The bank doesn’t decide to locate in a particu-
and then being among the highest in terms of loan
lar geography, Broughton says. Instead, it focus-
growth, typically,” Fitzsimmons says.
es on hiring the best bankers. “We never used a
Graham Dick, a vice president and analyst at
recruiter,” he says. “We have direct relationships
Piper Sandler & Co., sees a direct connection be-
with people or somebody that knows somebody
tween ServisFirst’s simple business model and its
that knows somebody.”
profitability. “At the end of the day, if you’re pro-
If those bankers happen to be in a low-growth
ducing a 3.5% [net interest margin] and you’re
market in a tiny town, so be it. That has helped
running a 30% efficiency ratio, you’re going to be
ServisFirst avoid the competitive scramble in
generating better profitability than pretty much
some of the top markets in the Southeast, helping
all your peers,” he says. The one exception to that
it retain a business model that’s been more profit-
simplicity is the correspondent division: Servis-
able than most.
First is the credit card issuer and correspondent
bank for a variety of community banks.
All three of Broughton’s longtime executive vice
presidents describe him as someone who empow-
It hasn’t hurt that ServisFirst is solidly located
ers the best bankers to do well. Paul Schaback-
in the growing Southeast, but even among South-
er, executive vice president in Birmingham, has
east banks, ServisFirst is an outlier. “When you
worked for Broughton the longest, dating back to
ask banks around the Southeast, ‘Who do you
Broughton’s first bank in 1991. “I’ve got a more
want to be like?’ One answer you’ll hear, for the
entrepreneurial spirit than a typical banker,” he
most part, is Pinnacle [Financial Partners] and
says, explaining why he’s still working for the same
ServisFirst,” Dick says. “I think people envy the
person decades later. “Broughton’s a very hands-
management style and how it’s worked for share-
off manager. Most bankers are very controlling.”
holders over time.”
Broughton once got a call from the bank’s re-
The simplicity of its business model makes its
gional CEO in southeast Alabama who wanted to
performance even more noteworthy. Couldn’t any
recruit a team of agricultural bankers from an-
bank do this well? “The business we run is pretty
other bank. Broughton didn’t think it was a good
boring, honestly,” says Bart McBride, one of the
idea. But he didn’t say that. He let the regional
bank’s long-term employees and an executive vice
CEO hire them, and they became some of the most
president. “We take deposits and make loans and
profitable bankers in the company.
make a spread [income].”
Instead of telling his bankers what to do,
But what does distinguish the bank is its ap-
Broughton and his executive team prefer to set
proach to culture. Early in his career, Broughton
high goals and then let their commercial bankers
purchased a Huntsville, Alabama, area bank that
reach them, all while ensuring they fit into the dis-
made a lifelong impression on him. “We bought a
ciplined standards of good credit underwriting. In-
handyman special,” he says. It wasn’t distressed,
deed, the bank had a ratio of nonperforming assets
but it wasn’t easy to change, either. “I learned it’s
to loans and other real estate owned of 0.11%
easier to start a bank than it is to buy one and fix
last year, one-third the median bank in its asset
it,” he says. ServisFirst has resisted the urge to
class, according to the RankingBanking analysis.
acquire banks, making an exception for a small
The bank calls the heads of each region “CEOs,”