Doris Meister arrived at Wilmington Trust in 2016 armed with a mandate for change.
Originally founded as the du Pont family office, the Delaware-based company had a reputation for great customer service. But after running into legal problems stemming from bad loans, Wilmington Trust was purchased in 2011 by M&T Bank in Buffalo, New York. The new owners were hoping to boost growth for the bank's wealth management business.
But Meister realized that before it could grow, Wilmington Trust needed something of a makeover.
"What started out as a 'come in and create more of a growth culture' morphed into 'we are going to transform this whole company and build a good-sized boutique with a great brand that is going to be comprehensive in its capabilities,'" said Meister, chairman and CEO of Wilmington Trust.
Six years later, the firm is a recognized leader in trusts, planning and investments, having bolstered its ability to serve ultra high net worth clients. Combined, M&T and Wilmington Trust now have about $297 billion in assets under administration.
"We can now go toe-to-toe with all the top-tier firms," Meister said.
Employee engagement and client retention also have improved under Meister, who is gearing up for further changes at the company. The agenda includes a focus on serving women investors and on generating more wealth business from existing M&T customers.
Meister was something of a natural choice for leading a transformation at Wilmington Trust. She had overseen similar changes at other stops in her career. At Merrill Lynch, for example, she helped develop a business dedicated to ultra high net worth clients.
Merrill Lynch had not previously segmented its clients and some advisors resisted the change, she said. So, it took work to establish a unit focused on a single client type.
"I'm pro-change. I like it. I'm drawn to it. I'm a builder, a fixer," she said. "But culturally, when you take something on like that, your internal obstacles actually end up being your biggest ones."
Meister's previous experience has helped guide her as she carries out changes inside Wilmington Trust. But she said she also has been able to count on support from the bank's leaders, including current CEO René Jones and his predecessor, the late Robert Wilmers.
The support was especially crucial for Meister in carrying out one of her most challenging tasks — rebuilding the leadership team at Wilmington Trust.
"We had something that needed a lot of talent upgrading and new positions created," Meister said. But M&T, which had been growing steadily as a bank, had not previously seen much need for that level of change.
She is now guiding the company into the second phase of its transformation. Having honed its approach to ultra high net worth clients, it is now turning to a new segment — high net worth clients.
The to-do list includes creating a stronger lead-generation capability connecting Wilmington Trust to M&T's other business lines, Meister said. "Clients of the business bank, the commercial bank and the consumer bank have wealth needs personally. And, if we're not serving them, others will," said Meister, citing McKinsey research finding that high net worth families increasingly seek to consolidate their banking and investment relationships.
Women investors are another focus for phase two, Meister said. The bank aims to act on a deeper understanding of how women approach finances in general but also on a grasp of the differences among them.
Women executives, for example, have different needs than women who own small businesses, Meister said. Another group is what Wilmington Trust calls the "suddenly single" — older women who are on their own following divorce or the death of a spouse.
Outside of the bank, Meister is passionate about her involvement with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts, a nonprofit addressing the impact of climate change on the world's oceans, among other environmental issues.
"Personally, I find it really interesting and gratifying to be involved," Meister said. "But I also think it aligns very much with Wilmington Trust, because both are high-expertise, intellectual-capital organizations very focused on a mission."
