Even in retirement, Dick Ehst an asset to Customers Bank
Less than 24 hours after Customers Bank announced Richard “Dick” Ehst will retire from his position as president and CEO, Ehst was insisting he isn’t the story here.
“It really is about the new leadership and new vision of the company,” Ehst said last week, referring to his successor, Samvir “Sam” Sidhu.
“I’m smart enough to get out of the way when I should, but I’m fortunate enough to have Sam in the role that he’s in because I think he’s going to lead this company to great things.”
But after more than 50 years in the financial industry — including over a decade at West Reading-headquartered Customers Bank — not to mention a distinguished record of community service, Ehst also earned some time off.
“I really haven’t taken a vacation in five years,” Ehst said.
Ehst, 75, is set to retire effective July 1, though he isn’t leaving the bank or the industry entirely just yet.
Instead, he’ll transition into a less demanding role as an independent director, where he’ll continue to advise Customers Bank management on fiscal matters and governance.
“I reside over the best interests of the shareholders, the regulators and our customers to make sure that the company does achieve its goals, and to provide whatever assistance is necessary to help that happen,” Ehst said.
“You’re not telling managers how to do their business, and it’s not your part. Your part is to create the governance environment that allows the efforts of the company to move forward in a safe and sound manner.”
And should his successor require mentorship for any reason, the line will remain open.
Why retiring now
Ehst actually led the search for not only his own replacement, but for a probable successor to Customers Bancorp and Customers Bank chair, Jay Sidhu, as well.
Following a lengthy and thorough review of potential candidates, Ehst realized the best person person for the job was right under their nose in Sam Sidhu, Jay Sidhu’s son.
“I spent six months canvassing the U.S. to try to come up with a possible replacement for Jay because Jay is only five years behind me,” said Ehst.
After serving on the Customer Bank’s board for eight years, Sam Sidhu joined the bank’s executive team as head of corporate development for its parent, Customers Bancorp.
Sam’s growth in his new position was apparently rapid.
“It’s important to understand when it’s time for other folks to take over,” Ehst said. “My decision was really based upon the way Sam adapted to his new responsibility, and he has been absolutely remarkable in that respect.”
Ehst sees Sam Sidhu as somebody with a firm grasp of the direction of banking and the financial industry is heading, thus making him the ideal fit for the position.
“The world is changing and it’s going to take a different view to look upon how you can continue preserve and improve shareholder capital in future years,” Ehst said. “The other way you’re going to be able to do that is make sure you have a management that’s aligned with the changing external environment, and that’s where Sam comes in.”
Customers Bank is different from other institutions Ehst has worked, he said, in no small part due to its forward-looking culture.
“We’re always looking at five to 10 years down the road,” Ehst said. “We’re always looking at what we have to do to understand what the marketplace might look like.
“Some banks take forever to change their course, and that’s fine. That’s the way they’re managed, the way they see the future. That’s their style. Our style is to really understand what the world is going to look like make sure that we are able to play in the game and still protect our shareholders and customers.”
Plans for the future
With the big decision made, Ehst is looking forward to spending more time helping his family.
“I think the responsibility that you have as a human being is to make sure I do whatever I can do to help my grandkids and their families through the challenges in their life,” Ehst said. “I take that very seriously.”
“(My wife Angela) and I do a lot of that already, but this is gonna take more time now. I’m the oldest of nine kids, so when you have family and direct extended families totaling almost 100 people and you’re in the position I’m in, you find yourself dealing with those family issues almost on a daily basis,”
A Marine who served in the Vietnam War, Ehst has dedicated a good portion of his life to doing good for the community, whether it be through his military service or working with local nonprofits.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he views the crowning achievement from his time at Customers Bank and working in the industry as bettering the lives of others — customers and employees alike.
“A great source of pride for me is the impact that we’ve improved the lives of a lot of people,” Ehst said.
“There were two things that drove us. We think that everybody in the company should know that someone cares about them, and we think everybody should feel like they’ve got something to look forward to. What I’m most proud of is continually trying to live up to those two expectations, as a leader should.”
Ehst also suspects he’ll keep up with longtime friend and colleague, Jay Sidhu. The two have worked together on and off since 1973, but even when they haven’t, seldom has more than a week gone by without a conversation.
“The people I work with I will miss the most,” Ehst said. “The environment at Customers Bank, quite frankly, is unlike any other bank. And I say that with a lot of knowledge of how other banks operate.”
And of course, Ehst’s institutional knowledge will remain available to Sam Sidhu and the bank, which is no small detail.
“I went through the oil embargos of the early 70s, the historic interest rates of 79, 80 and 81, the debacle of the commercial real estate industry in 89, 90 and 91, the bubble burst of the tech companies in 99 and 2000, and obviously the financial crisis and this pandemic.
“If you learn from it, it enables you to — I don’t want to say forecast the future, because I’ll tell you my crystal ball wasn’t any better than anybody else’s — but there are trends in our business that suggest to us that the economic environment of tomorrow is going to be different from the economic environment of yesterday.”