M &T B A N K C O R P O R AT I O N
2 0 1 9 M E S S A G E T O S H A R E H O L D E R S
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M U R A L S F E AT U R E D O N T H E C O V E R
1. LaToya Peoples, Our Hope, 2019, 1601 N. Calhoun Street, Baltimore.
2. Joel Bergner, Love in Search of a Word, 2011, 436 E. Lafayette Avenue, Baltimore.
3. Megan Lewis, The Thoughts in My Head, 2015, 1855 Kavanaugh Street, Baltimore.
4. F. Michelle Santos, Historic Druid Heights, 2011, 1940 Druid Hill Avenue, Baltimore.
5. Ernest Shaw Jr., Sankofa, 2015, 2426 Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore. Featured in full on the next page.
6. Gaia (Andrew Pisacane), Madonna, 2018, 400 W. 23rd Street, Baltimore.
7. Jessie Unterhalter and Katey Truhn (@jessieandkatey), Clap Clap Parade, 2014, 1400 Warner Street, Baltimore.
Also featured on page iv.
8. Jessie Unterhalter and Katey Truhn (@jessieandkatey), New Day, 2011, 1137 Harford Avenue, Baltimore.
9. Gaia (Andrew Pisacane), Orange Cat and Friends, 2018, 301 Wyman Park Drive, Baltimore.
All murals photographed by Jonathan Dimes.
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The Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts (BOPA) established the Baltimore Mural Program
in 1975 with the goal of beautifying the city while providing employment for local artists. In 2015,
the BOPA launched the Art @ Work apprenticeship program (in partnership with Jubilee Arts)
to encourage youth to contribute to their communities through art.
The murals created by these artists and their apprentices not only combat graffiti but also
instill pride in each neighborhood. To date, the Baltimore Mural Program has produced more
than 250 murals across the city, creating an outdoor museum to be enjoyed by the public.
M&T Bank is a proud supporter of the arts and organizations like the BOPA. Much like M&T, these
organizations focus on community engagement, education, inclusivity and empowerment.
This message to shareholders continues the tradition of featuring works and artists with strong
connections to the communities served by M&T Bank.
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M &T BA N K C O R P O R AT I O N
C O N T E N T S
Financial Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
The Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Officers and Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiv–xxxvi
A N N U A L M E E T I N G
The annual meeting of shareholders will take place at 11:00 a.m. on
April 21, 2020 at One M&T Plaza in Buffalo.
P R O F I L E
M&T Bank Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in
Buffalo, New York, which had assets of $119.9 billion at December 31, 2019.
M&T Bank Corporation’s subsidiaries include M&T Bank and Wilmington
Trust, National Association.
M&T Bank has banking offices in New York State, Maryland, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and the
District of Columbia. Major subsidiaries include:
M&T Insurance Agency, Inc.
Wilmington Trust Company
M&T Realty Capital Corporation
Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, Inc.
M&T Securities, Inc.
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M & T B A N K C O R P O R AT I O N A N D S U B S I D I A R I E S
Financial Highlights
For the year
Performance
2019
2018
Change
Net income (thousands). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,929,149
$ 1,918,080
Net income available to common
shareholders — diluted (thousands) . . . . $ 1,849,511
$ 1,836,035
Return on
Average assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.61%
Average common equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12.87%
Net interest margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.84%
Net charge-offs/average loans. . . . . . . . . . .
.16%
Per common share data
Basic earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$ 13.76
Diluted earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cash dividends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.75
4.10
1.64%
12.82%
3.83%
.15%
$ 12.75
12.74
3.55
+
1%
+
1%
+ 8%
+ 8%
+ 15%
Net operating
(tangible) results(a)
Net operating income (thousands) . . . . . . $ 1,943,508
$ 1,936,155
—
Diluted net operating earnings
per common share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Net operating return on
Average tangible assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Average tangible common equity . . . . . .
Efficiency ratio(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.86
12.86
+ 8%
1.69%
19.08%
55.66%
1.72%
19.09%
54.79%
At December 31
Balance sheet data (millions) Loans and leases,
net of unearned discount . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 90,923
119,873
Total assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94,770
Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15,717
Total shareholders’ equity. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14,467
Common shareholders’ equity . . . . . . . . . .
Loan quality
Allowance for credit losses to total loans .
Nonaccrual loans ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.16%
1.06%
Capital
Common equity Tier 1 ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.73%
Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio . . . . . . . . . . .
10.94%
Total risk-based capital ratio . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.05%
Leverage ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.59%
Total equity/total assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.11%
Common equity (book value) per share . . $ 110.78
Tangible common equity per share . . . . . .
75.44
Market price per share
Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
169.75
High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
176.11
141.11
+ 3%
—
+ 5%
+ 2%
+ 2%
+ 8%
+ 9%
+ 19%
$ 88,466
120,097
90,157
15,460
14,225
1.15%
1.01%
10.13%
11.38%
13.68%
9.88%
12.87%
$ 102.69
69.28
143.13
197.37
133.78
(a) Excludes amortization and balances related to goodwill and core deposit and other intangible assets and merger-related expenses
which, except in the calculation of the efficiency ratio, are net of applicable income tax effects. A reconciliation of net income and
net operating income appears in Item 7, Table 2 in Form 10-K.
(b) Excludes impact of merger-related expenses and net securities gains or losses.
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Black + PMS 376 + PMS 341 + PMS 7544
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PMS 341 + PMS 376 + PMS 130 + PMS 7544 + Black
DILUTED EARNINGS
PER COMMON SHARE
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
PER COMMON SHARE AT YEAR-END
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
$7.74
$7.18
$8.08
$7.78
$8.82 $12.86 $13.86
$12.74 $13.75
$8.70
$93.60 $97.64 $100.03 $102.69 $110.78
$ 69.28 $ 75.44
$64.28 $67.85 $ 69.08
Diluted net operating earnings per
common share(a)
Diluted earnings per common share
Shareholders’ equity per common share
at year-end
Tangible shareholders’ equity per common
share at year-end
NET INCOME
In millions
RETURN ON AVERAGE COMMON
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Black + PMS 376 + PMS 341 + PMS 7544
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PMS 341 + PMS 376 + PMS 130 + PMS 7544 + Black
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$1,156.6 $1,362.7 $1,427.3 $1,936.2 $1,943.5
$1,079.7 $1,315.1 $1,408.3 $1,918.1 $1,929.1
13.00% 12.25%
8.16%
8.32%
13.00% 19.09% 19.08%
8.87% 12.82% 12.87%
Net operating income(a)
Net income
Net operating return on average tangible
common shareholders’ equity(a)
Return on average common shareholders’
equity
(a) Excludes merger-related gains and expenses and amortization of intangible assets, net of applicable
income tax effects. A reconciliation of net operating (tangible) results with net income is included
in Item 7, Table 2 in Form 10-K.
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T H E L E T T E R
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O
ur performance in 2019 can be characterized as strong and stable,
notwithstanding an environment that exemplified the adage “the only
constant in life is change.” After raising its federal funds rate target four
times in 2018 with a concomitant benefit to banking industry net interest
margins, including M&T’s, the Federal Reserve reversed course and
reduced its target rate three times in 2019. Despite a strong U.S. economy,
with continued GDP growth and the unemployment rate at a 50-year low,
the Federal Reserve took action amidst concerns over the global economic
outlook, trade friction and negative interest rates that are exerting
pressures on economies in Europe and the Far East.
In 2019, M&T reached new all-time highs in net income and
earnings per share and sustained a steady, industry-leading return on
tangible common equity. We are pleased to have achieved these results
during a year in which we also markedly enhanced the capabilities and
talent that will carry us forward, whatever change the future may bring.
Net income for 2019, prepared in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles (GAAP), amounted to $1.93 billion, up
approximately 1 percent from 2018. Earnings per diluted common share
were $13.75, improved by 8 percent from the prior year. Those results
when expressed as a rate of return on average assets and average common
equity came to 1.61 percent and 12.87 percent, respectively.
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M&T’s results on a “net operating” or “tangible” basis are intended
to help investors better understand the impact of mergers and acquisitions
on M&T’s income and returns. Reported consistently since 1998, these
measures exclude expenses from the amortization of intangible assets
as well as any merger-related gains or expenses in years when they are
incurred. In addition, intangible assets are excluded from total assets
and from common shareholders’ equity when calculating returns. Net
operating income for 2019 came to $1.94 billion, up modestly from 2018.
Net operating income per diluted common share last year totaled $13.86,
a rise of exactly $1.00 or 8 percent from the previous year. Those results
equate to 1.69 percent when expressed as a percentage of average tangible
assets and 19.08 percent when expressed as a percentage of average
tangible common equity. Last year marked the second year in a row in
which the latter exceeded 19 percent.
Net interest income, which is interest collected on loans and
investments less interest paid on deposits and borrowings, continues to
be the largest component of M&T’s earnings—and one that, of course,
is impacted by changes in interest rates. Net interest income for 2019,
expressed on a taxable-equivalent basis, was $4.2 billion, improved by
1 percent compared to 2018. Notwithstanding the rate volatility noted
earlier, rising in 2018 and falling in 2019, the net interest margin, which is
net interest income expressed as a percentage of average interest-earning
assets, was 3.84 percent in 2019, little changed from 3.83 percent the
previous year. Following the decline in short-term interest rates during the
second half of 2019, we enter 2020 with a net interest margin that is lower
than what was recorded for all of 2019 but which still remains the highest
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among our regional bank peers, institutions of a comparable size and with
a business model similar to our own.
The past year marked a turning point for M&T’s loan portfolio,
when growth in higher-return categories—commercial and consumer
loans—outpaced the ongoing planned runoff of the mortgage loans
acquired in the 2015 merger with Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (Hudson
City). Average commercial and industrial loans grew by 7 percent over the
previous year, a notable result during a timeframe when the pace of capital
investment by businesses was perceived to have slowed. Similarly, average
commercial real estate loans grew by 4 percent and average consumer
loans by 8 percent. The aggregate 5 percent or $3.8 billion growth in these
three categories exceeded the 9 percent or $1.7 billion contraction in
residential mortgage loans. Importantly, redeployment of Hudson City’s
residential mortgages has partially funded increased growth in other
types of loans, facilitating our transition back toward a more commercial-
oriented and more profitable balance sheet. In total, average loans
increased by $2.1 billion, or 2 percent, over the prior year, compared with
a decline from 2017 to 2018.
As noted earlier, the state of the U.S. economy remains healthy
and we see that reflected in the fortunes of our customers and their ability
to service their loans. Net charge-offs increased by $15 million, up slightly
from 2018. Net charge-offs as a percentage of loans outstanding were just
16 basis points (hundredths of one percent), essentially unchanged from
15 basis points in the prior year. This marked the sixth consecutive year
that the net charge-off rate remained below 20 basis points, remarkable
when compared with M&T’s long-term average of 34 basis points over the
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36 years since 1983, the year in which M&T adopted the operating model
that has brought us significant success and to which we continue to adhere
today. Nonaccrual loans, those on which we no longer accrue interest
due to concerns as to the borrower’s ability to repay them, increased by
8 percent or $70 million at the end of 2019, compared with the end of
the previous year. Nonaccrual loans as a percentage of loans outstanding
increased to 1.06 percent from 1.01 percent at the end of 2018.
Noninterest income increased to $2.1 billion in 2019, an
improvement of 11 percent from 2018. Mortgage banking fees and trust
income were the largest drivers of the increase. Contributing to the $97
million or 27 percent increase in mortgage banking fees was the purchase
of mortgage servicing rights (MSR) and contracting for sub-servicing on
behalf of another owner of MSRs. These added more than $30 billion to
the principal balance of serviced loans and contributed almost $60 million
of the $97 million increase in mortgage banking fees. Trust income from
our Wilmington Trust business increased by 7 percent to $573 million in
2019 reflecting higher sales and growth in assets under management. Most
other categories of noninterest income improved as well.
Noninterest expenses in the past year grew to $3.5 billion, up $181
million or 5 percent from 2018. This year’s expenses included a $50 million
addition to the litigation reserve relating to employee stock ownership plans
(ESOPs) for which we served as trustee, thereby reducing the potential
uncertainty and financial impact of those matters. We also saw an opportunity
with respect to Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn (CRM), an asset manager in
which we gained an interest through our acquisition of Wilmington Trust.
This business was a valued partner for nearly a decade, distributing in excess
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of $120 million during that time period—however, as the competitive
environment for asset managers rapidly evolved, we mutually determined
that a transfer of ownership to CRM management would best position it
for future success. We reached agreement on the terms of separation and
completed the divestiture, resulting in a $48 million write-down of that
investment, but we retain a revenue sharing interest in whatever success
this group of talented entrepreneurs may achieve going forward.
The remaining growth in noninterest expense reflects business
expansion and our effort to bring in new capabilities, as the boundaries
between banking and technology continue to blur—most of which were
in the form of human capital. We have made significant progress toward
building or internalizing the capabilities needed to adapt and prosper in
the face of accelerating change—investments that, in other industries,
might be considered “research and development” (R&D). We take a broad
view of the concept of R&D, treating our branches, offices and markets
as laboratories, where our ever-evolving teams can experiment with new
ideas, approaches, tactics, tools, technologies and ways of working to
make us more effective and help us better serve our customers.
Enhancing our team meant searching for diverse talents in
non-traditional fields and geographies. We sought to attract colleagues
with unique backgrounds in customer experience, design engineering,
data science, user experience, customer advocacy, talent development,
system architecture, computer engineering and problem solving. Our
recruiting recognized that candidates with such skills have many
options but we relied on the assumption that talent would gravitate to
an organization whose culture exuded authentic community support,
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robust talent development and a customer-centric philosophy. It is true that
employees choose us as much as we choose them. We have grown our ranks
by 979 colleagues in the last two years—coming to us from multinational
corporations as well as “fintechs,” across many industries and from as
far away as Silicon Valley and Europe. To fully recognize the value of our
deep investment in human capital and capabilities, we realized the need to
create an environment that facilitated collaboration and idea-sharing. To
that end, we are outfitting a new Tech Hub in Buffalo and relocated to the
new One Light Street campus in Baltimore, both of which are designed as
contemporary open spaces with digital connectivity to foster inclusivity
and creative interactions. The result of integrating outside experience
with tenured bankers has been a renaissance in building new, enduring
capabilities that serve as shared resources for all our colleagues, enhancing
our mission to make a real difference in the lives of our clients and in the
broader communities we serve.
M&T’s performance in 2019, against the backdrop of a generally
benign economic environment, may seem, almost, “boring.” Our team
delivered relative outperformance in a year that required navigating the
rate environment and executing on R&D investment while simultaneously
identifying risks early and addressing them. Operating earnings per share
grew at 8 percent while tangible book value per share grew at 9 percent.
We achieved top quartile performance within our peer group for return
on average tangible assets and net interest margin. Our return on tangible
common equity was not exceeded by any peer. It would seem oftentimes
“perfectly boring,” that is, quietly playing our role, has proven to be in the
best long-term interest of our shareholders.
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E V E RY T I M E I S D I F F E R E N T
In the analysis of economic and market cycles one will often hear the
assertion, “this time is different.” The problem with the assertion is not
that some particular feature of the current cycle is different; it is the
underlying premise that any previous cycles were similar. The reality
is that every cycle is different.
Economic and financial market cycles and their distinguishing
features are the outcome of the ever-changing interactions between
slowly evolving, underlying structural trends and more rapidly changing,
shorter-term factors. The most fundamental of these structural drivers
are demographic shifts, notably the size and growth of the labor force
and overall population of a community. These trends develop gradually
but inexorably in response both to decisions made by individual families
a generation earlier and to broader societal decisions regarding matters
such as education, immigration and public policy. An economy’s long-
term growth potential is influenced not only by the resulting changes to
the labor force, but also by innovation and productivity, which are in turn
driven by R&D efforts and capital expenditures made over time. Those
investments may contribute to long-lived surges in productivity that
increase growth and drive down inflation. Such structural factors are
the underpinning of each economic cycle.
Yet there are also important shorter-term phenomena that
coalesce with the longer-term structural forces to generate the unique
features of each cycle. Therefore, answering the question “What is
different?”—or more to the point, “What could be different this time?”—
is easier said than done. Distinguishing between “signal” and “noise”
is very clear in hindsight, less so in the moment.
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We have long recognized that the nature of risk is always changing
and are keenly aware that continued success depends on our ability to
identify emerging trends and prepare for, not just react to, any situation
that might occur. While it would be fruitless to try to predict economic
cycles, we believe it is important to understand their nuances to help avoid
risk, allocate capital or identify solutions to uneven economic growth—
both creating value for shareholders and protecting the interests of the
customers and communities we serve. What follows are a few of the trends
that our team continues to monitor.
From a demographic perspective, it is unprecedented to have such
a large proportion of the population in or approaching retirement. In
2005, near the peak of the last recovery, the number of older Americans
at or above the traditional retirement age of 65 approximated 37 million,
or 12 percent of the population. However, as the Baby Boom generation
approaches retirement, the number of older Americans has increased to
52 million and is projected to reach 77 million in just another 14 years,
constituting more than a fifth of the population. While many Boomers
transition out of the workforce, the so-called Millennial generation, the
youngest of whom were not yet 10 years old in 2005, now average 30 years
of age and constitute the largest portion of the workforce.
The impact of these broad national trends is not felt evenly across
all communities. Among the 53 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with
populations exceeding 1 million, the labor force grew by 10 percent during
the last decade—yet during that period there were three MSAs in which
growth exceeded 25 percent and three that actually experienced a decline
of more than 1 percent. The median age of the population in the former
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three metropolitan areas was five years younger than that in the latter
three, a significant difference in the context of a region’s overall workforce.
Commercial customers in many of our markets are experiencing first-hand
the impact of a slow-growing or declining labor force in combination with
very low unemployment, making it a challenge to find skilled labor—in
effect, slowing economic growth in those communities. We know from
our own experience that many mid-tier cities in America are in a race for
relevance when it comes to promoting in-migration, through programs
to retain and attract new workers, including new Americans. While some
cities have initiatives designed to provide training and career opportunities
to previously overlooked members of the community, many of these
programs remain in their infancy.
The shifting population is not just affecting the workforce, but
also the business owners themselves. Indeed, more than half of the
owners of privately held enterprises with employees in the United States
are Baby Boomers or members of older generations—by one estimate,
83 percent of those businesses may change ownership within the next
decade. To effectuate an ownership transition, three broad options
exist—transfer to the next generation, sell outright to another business
or investor, or sell to the firm’s own employees. The 1974 Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) created the legal status for
ESOPs to facilitate the sale of a firm to its employees. The intended
benefits of an ESOP are noble—broaden the base of participation in the
free enterprise system, promote local economic development through
long-term investments, share a company’s success with those who
drive its performance and foster better relations between management
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and labor. ESOPs have been particularly beneficial for businesses in the
manufacturing and construction industries, which comprise only 15 percent
of U.S. firms but have established 33 percent of all ESOPs. These plans are
even more important for many slower-growth, rust belt communities, in
which manufacturing and construction firms represent a greater share of
the number of locally owned businesses and the employment base.
Despite their critical role in mid-tier communities across
America, from 2010 through 2017 there were more ESOP enforcement
actions against employee-owned companies and their trustees than in
the prior 35 years. One cannot help but wonder whether those actions, in
the absence of updated guidance, have played a role in the diminishing
prevalence of ESOPs. The number of ESOPs in use has declined by
7 percent over a six-year period and new ESOP formations have remained
relatively flat, while overall transfers of business ownership are on the rise.
As trustees abandon the business, ESOPs become less viable. This increases
the likelihood that ownership of a business, and its associated value, may
be transferred from its local community to a larger entity headquartered
elsewhere. This pain when jobs, value creation and a community’s
livelihood are stripped away—a transfer of wealth if you will—is perhaps
most deeply felt by mid-sized cities.
It was a small but welcome development that Congress recently
reaffirmed its goal of promoting employee-owned firms by passing the
Main Street Employee Ownership Act of 2018. This is an acknowledgement
that ESOPs are a boon to community vibrancy, keeping companies and
jobs alive, while retaining the local leadership necessary to tackle the
community’s challenges.
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A natural consequence of the broader population trends is the
rapid growth in supply of senior housing. The concept makes sense:
provide residents with independence while offering the convenience
and security of access to on-site medical and personal support. Yet as
overall assisted living capacity has not grown faster than the number
of Americans over the age of 65, the occupancy rate for these facilities
has declined to a 15-year low. While the long-term structural trends are
undeniable, other countervailing trends have, perhaps unexpectedly,
limited the demand. Most notably, the cost of residing in such facilities
has outpaced that of other housing options—here again, policy decisions
have played an important role. Minimum wage increases and the cost of
complying with new regulations have each contributed to accelerating
growth in costs, simultaneously making assisted living less affordable for
many middle-class families and less profitable for private operators. In
addition, services that were not readily available as recently as a few years
ago, such as mobile health care and the burgeoning food delivery industry,
have made remaining in one’s home a more viable and cost-effective
option for many.
It should not be surprising that construction of these facilities has
slowed as operators better align supply with demand and simultaneously
address short-term cash flow challenges. While occupancy rates have
declined to a greater extent in certain markets such as Houston and Atlanta,
we have also witnessed certain regions within our own footprint, such as
central and eastern Pennsylvania, that have seemingly been more affected.
Within our portfolio, we remain consistent in our underwriting standards
with respect to such facilities, and diligent in working with any customers
who may be affected by this temporary imbalance.
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We have also observed the growth of housing prices, particularly in
the cities where new job growth has been disproportionately concentrated.
Median home values have climbed nearly $50,000 in the 50 largest U.S.
markets since 2009 and skyrocketed by an average of $243,600 in three of
the very largest markets, raising the cost of homeownership beyond the
means of many families. The same uneven demographic trends previously
noted have contributed to accelerating growth in rental costs in these cities,
spurring several states to expand rent control regulations.
These recent rent control changes have affected markets including,
most notably, New York City. Building values, sales, loan demand and
refinance activity are already declining for the types of multifamily
properties that are subject to these rules. Indeed, New York City
multifamily transactions declined sharply following the passage of rent
control legislation in June 2019, with total citywide unit and sales volume
both subsequently plunging 45 percent year-over-year. A recent survey
of landlords with affected properties suggests that, with less financial
benefit for investing in renovations or building improvements, 80 percent
are planning to curtail such investments by more than half. In New York
City, the contractors completing these upgrades pay the price through lost
revenue. While some tenants will initially benefit from greater stability
in rent costs, longer-term implications likely include fewer low-cost
housing options as the economics for landlords cease to make sense. Our
own exposure to properties affected by this legislation is modest, and
our underwriting decisions did not assume rent increases from then-
current levels. As such, we remain well-secured and are confident in our
customers’ ability to support their properties, yet we continue to monitor
the broader implications for the New York City market.
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Beyond the intersection between demographic trends and policy,
we continue to look for repercussions stemming from the historically low
level of interest rates, particularly long-term rates. As just one example,
the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds today stands within 30 basis points
of the lowest level during the 230 years since the first such bond was issued.
This is due in no small part to the sustained but surprisingly slow pace
of growth throughout the economic expansion which, at 128 months,
has become the longest in U.S. history, with inflation remaining below the
2 percent level set as a target by the Federal Reserve for 89 percent of the
months since 2012. The duration of this low interest rate environment
has only reinforced the expectation that these conditions will persist,
supporting broad-based growth in borrowings. Total debt and borrowings
of U.S. businesses recently reached a record level of nearly $16 trillion,
equivalent to 74 percent of annual U.S. economic output. Even as
borrowers are assuming more leverage, investors are willing to underwrite
that debt at historically low costs despite the associated risk—based on an
assumption of continued benign conditions, much of this new debt appears
“priced for perfection.” Should conditions reverse course, the impact may
not be limited to businesses and their investors.
These are just some examples of the developments that we
are watching and the impacts they have on our business, customers
and, consequently, our portfolio. They serve to demonstrate the ways
in which long-term trends such as demographics coalesce with short-
term forces such as interest rates and public policy to impact different
communities. However, it is important to keep in mind that there can
be many false positives. Our role as a community-focused bank is not
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to predict economic cycles, but to understand them at a granular level
and act on them in ways tailored to our many constituents. Over long
periods of time, this approach has proven effective not only for our
shareholders but also in enabling the security, long-term growth and
prosperity of all stakeholders.
BA LT I M O R E : FA M I L I A R C H A L L E N G E S
It is tradition, in this Letter, to reflect on the condition not just of our
bank but of the diverse communities we serve. Doing so provides us a way
to illustrate our approach to banking and how we can better serve our
customers amidst the larger forces that influence our constituents at a local
level. Last year, in this space we focused broadly on the gap in economic
growth and capital formation between mid-tier cities like Buffalo,
Harrisburg and Syracuse—among many others—and the smaller number
of more prosperous, larger cities—ones in which the small group of mega-
banks tend to specialize. Our mission—our responsibility—as we noted, is
to address this gap by working with our customers, community partners
and governments, so as to accelerate inclusivity in our economy.
This year, our focus turns to the city of Baltimore and its surrounding
metropolitan area. M&T first came to Baltimore in 2003, following our
acquisition of Allfirst Financial, itself the successor to the great banking
tradition of the First National Bank of Maryland, established in 1864. We
are proud heirs to that tradition, which helped to build the city of Billie
Holiday, H.L. Mencken and Thurgood Marshall.
The Baltimore MSA is currently ranked as the 21st-largest
in the nation. In 2018, the city was named a top travel destination by
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The New York Times, Forbes and others, and won accolades for its food,
art and cultural treasures. In 2019, The New York Times profiled Baltimore
as a “cultural beacon,” highlighting the city’s energy, bold visions, creativity,
rich underground, strong sense of community and local culture and
underdog identity. Indeed, Baltimore’s future is as bright as its past—
however the city is not without its challenges.
On its accolades alone, the Baltimore metropolitan area would
appear to be thriving, but looking under the surface, we observe that while
the broader metropolitan area prospers, the city continues to miss out on
economic revival. The city of Baltimore, notwithstanding its 278 thriving
neighborhoods and great institutions, lags other major cities in ways not
dissimilar to the mid-tier cities that M&T also serves. Challenges exist in
most of our markets and we choose to lean in—starting with the facts no
matter how stark they may be. The city of Baltimore is challenged by high
violent crime rates, an education system that struggles to prepare students
for the workforce or higher education, a population in decline, high
unemployment and low labor participation, a staggeringly low owner-
occupied housing rate and suffering commerce as a result of a declining
number of small businesses.
None of Baltimore’s challenges is a secret. It is a shame that we
cannot hear from politicians, op-ed writers or pundits without experiencing
someone—often those in the best position to be a catalyst for change—
casting aspersions at the city of Baltimore. We bring attention to the
challenges faced by Baltimore or, for that matter, any market we serve
because we believe it is our duty—our mission—to be part of the solutions.
To solve a problem is to understand it—in detail—and to drive change one
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must face reality and get involved. Progress always begins with strong local
leadership that is on the ground, living the struggle, day to day—leaders
that are proud to be part of the solution instead of someone proud to point
out a shortcoming.
Baltimore ranks as the fourth most dangerous large city in
America, with a violent crime rate that is more than 4 times the national
average, and has witnessed a staggering 20 murders in just the first 21
days of 2020. These crime statistics should come as no surprise given
that, in 2019, the Baltimore Police Department had more than 470 vacant
positions and had 850 fewer officers patrolling the streets than in 2001.
The city’s poverty rate is 22 percent compared with 9 percent for the state
of Maryland. Abandoned properties stand at nearly 17,000—a number that
has barely moved since January 2010 as homes are vacated as quickly as
the city of Baltimore can address them.
The Baltimore City high school graduation rate in 2018 was 72
percent, 12 percentage points below the national average and nearly 15
percentage points below the Maryland state average. With 5,195 students
in the class of 2018, this means that the education system left behind a
sobering 1,445 Baltimore City youths.
Population trends tell part of the story. From 2000 to 2018, the
city of Baltimore’s population declined by 7 percent, or 48,659 people,
in stark contrast to the 13 percent average increase for the 50 largest U.S.
cities. Only Detroit and New Orleans had a larger population loss. Of those
who remain, 63 percent are African American, however, this group owns
just 46 percent of Baltimore’s small businesses, which in turn account for
a mere 2 percent of total jobs and 1 percent of sales.
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The city of Baltimore’s shrinking population base has been a major
drag on labor force growth over the past decade. Six thousand fewer city
residents participated in the labor market in 2018 compared with 2010.
In percentage terms, this 2 percent decrease compares with an 8 percent
average increase for the top 50 cities. Baltimore was one of only seven
major U.S. cities to experience a contracting labor force from 2010 to 2018,
and only three cities had a larger workforce decline. Despite a smaller
workforce, the city of Baltimore’s 5.7 percent unemployment rate in 2018
was higher than that of all but two of the top 50 cities, ahead of only Detroit
and Fresno, and was 1.7 percentage points worse than the large city average.
Collectively these factors adversely impact one of the truest
measures of economic performance—and one of which M&T is acutely
aware—growth in small business. Since the end of the Great Recession,
small business loan originations in the city of Baltimore have grown at a
much slower pace than in surrounding suburban counties and remain well
below pre-recession levels. Since 2001, the number of private business
establishments located in the city of Baltimore has declined by 6 percent—
compared with a 20 percent increase in suburban Baltimore counties and
a 26 percent increase in the U.S. overall.
From our perspective, leadership is required on two fronts. The
national narrative surrounding Baltimore must be re-shaped to attract
visitors, professionals and investors from outside to the Baltimore region,
building on the outreach work of initiatives such as Visit Baltimore and
Baltimore Homecoming, where we proudly stand alongside 36 corporate
supporters. Simultaneously, the local organizations that work on the
ground every day to continue to make Baltimore a great place to live,
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work and play need our support. To that end, we commend our fellow
corporate partners within the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore with
its 45 corporate sponsors and the Neighborhood Impact Investment
Fund, in which we are the lead syndicate bank among a group of four
that have partnered to make transformative real estate investments in
high-need areas within the city and spur economic activity. Long-term
prosperity must be the result of the work of many, aligned in purpose
and commitment. We applaud the efforts of key anchor institutions in
the city, such as Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Institute College of
Art, Morgan State University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore;
important corporate partners like CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield,
BG&E (Exelon) and T. Rowe Price; key foundations including the Abell
Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Baltimore Community
Foundation; and, while the Baltimore Ravens certainly entertained us on
the field this year, our collective impact outside of M&T Bank Stadium
continues to be the hallmark of our 17-year relationship. Along with
many others, they are shining examples within the community of sharing
the responsibility to support long-lasting initiatives such as housing
development, local job creation, economic development, public safety,
equality and education. Indeed, this is a winning formula for a stronger,
more prosperous Baltimore.
Along this journey there will be opportunities for the local
government to improve the effectiveness of public services as well—
education, public safety, arts and entertainment, recreation, code
inspection and other core services—that are fundamental to attracting
the type of diverse talent and investment necessary to thrive. Indeed,
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a review of the budgets of the nation’s 100 largest cities shows that
Baltimore City Government spends $2,649 per citizen annually—a
number that is more than two and a half times what Columbus, Ohio,
spends, more than four times what Colorado Springs spends and 42
percent more than our headquarters city of Buffalo, New York.
Enterprise and government need to work together to solve
the problems of the day. Our mission is not to throw stones or lay
blame—just the opposite: this is our community and we share in its
challenges and successes alike. We possess a deep sense of ownership
in serving our role as a community partner—one small part of the glue
that binds together all the constituents of this community. At M&T, we
are committed to doing our part. After all, our commitment to Baltimore
is only in year 17 of forever.
M I S S I O N M A RY L A N D
We take pride in our track record of success—but what drives success in
an enterprise? For as long as companies have organized themselves into
business enterprises that were distinct from their ownership, the frequent
course of evolution has been for firms to drift far away from the passions
that drove their initial success—as they migrate from an entrepreneurial
insurgency to an established, time-tested corporation. As companies
track through this natural life cycle, they grow—gaining scale, efficiencies,
brand recognition and returns—all of which appear highly desirable on
their face. However, at the same time, centralized bureaucracy can take
the place of federated, rapid decision-making and standardization takes
the place of independent thought and customer focus. The consequence
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is a less entrepreneurial, less innovative firm that is, in some ways,
disconnected from the founder’s original vision. How, then, does a company
grow without losing its roots? How does a company like M&T remain
differentiated by staying close to customers as it continues to grow?
As we do our part to help Baltimore, we are also working on
ourselves. Despite our leading position in branch and deposit share,
Small Business Administration (SBA) lending and lead commercial
relationships, we cannot take the view that past protocols will continue to
deliver success. Though not dire, some leading indicators had become less
favorable in recent years. We noticed that our retail checking customers
decreased by 1 percent annually between 2015 and 2018; a key metric,
Millennial customers, was in decline, dropping 2 percent in 2018; our
retail customer satisfaction lagged; and our leading commercial market
share had shown signs of reaching an inflection point. Meanwhile, our
competitors were increasing their presence in the Baltimore market—
a market that has now become attractive to them. In the context of our
success in serving the market for the last 17 years, these trends may be
likened more to a mild cold than a severe illness. Nonetheless, we dug
deeper and decided to take action—a decision that proved beneficial in
how we go to market, deploying our new capabilities and accelerating
decisions that make a difference for our customers.
Perhaps counter-intuitively for some, this was not an effort that
could start at the top nor be directed from afar. The right strategies for
Baltimore must be designed in Baltimore, by Baltimoreans—with corporate
headquarters as sounding board and facilitator. Our regional president,
who has lived in the Baltimore market for 17 years, framed the challenges
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and looked to the team for ideas. In a sense, we used the Baltimore market
as a laboratory to test our new capabilities and bring more of the bank to
the community.
In Baltimore, the distance between the company and the
voice of the customer felt bigger than in the past. To rejuvenate the
entrepreneurial spirit and ownership culture, the team engaged all
constituencies in an outcome-driven “shark tank”-like approach to
kill the good ideas in favor of the best. The rallying cry is now known
internally as “Mission Maryland”—an effort to foster entrepreneurship
and apply a modern toolkit to deliver our community-focused approach—
founded on the fundamental beliefs that we must double down and
prioritize, to remind our employees that they have not only the permission
but the expectation to take ownership of outcomes. In other words,
employees are free to test, to take calculated risks, and, we hope, to
succeed. These simple changes have begun to empower those close to
the customer to make decisions and promote localized approaches.
Early on, the team became aware that small changes driven by
our employees had profound impact on customers. The survey system to
gauge customer experience following a branch visit was producing limited
data because we lacked the means to query enough visitors. The solution:
reduce friction by leveraging M&T’s first mass deployment of iPads in
branches—initially utilized to immerse our customers in our digital
banking experience—now with a dual purpose of capturing customer
feedback faster. Additionally, upon discovering that it took an average
of five phone calls to refer our customers to the correct business line,
the team launched the Maryland Ambassador Program—a directory for
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business-line specific questions for Maryland customers and colleagues,
which reduced referral touchpoints from five to one.
The local advertising team in Baltimore sought not to create
an advertising campaign, but to bring M&T and our customers to the
community in a way tailored uniquely to Baltimore. Enter the M&T
Spotlight Shop. Using a long-vacant lot in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, a
premier tourism and retail district, the team created a pop-up storefront
to showcase our customers. A highly refashioned shipping container
became an avenue for M&T customers to gain exposure and capture new
customers by conducting business in the Inner Harbor. The exhibition was
a win-win-win for featured customers, M&T and the city of Baltimore.
Change has continued to occur at all levels. The leaders of our
major business groups—commercial banking, business and retail banking,
and our Wilmington Trust businesses—began to hold weekly standups at
8 AM every Friday to communicate successes and remove impediments—
an essential practice in running a community bank. They approach their
work with what might be called an ownership mentality—running their
own bank in Baltimore. As the team increased its knowledge of all M&T
customers instead of just those in their immediate lines of business,
cross-pollination began to occur faster with a broader reach.
The opportunities afforded to M&T by being embedded within
the community come with responsibility. For example, in the city of
Baltimore, minorities comprise 70 percent of the population, and own 55
percent of existing businesses. Traditionally, this has been a vastly under-
banked segment of the population, with African American-owned firms
being denied credit 2.4 times more frequently than non-minority-owned
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businesses. It is not enough to say that we will be receptive to loan
applications; we need to help seed new businesses. Consequently, in 2019,
we launched a Minority and Women Owned Business Team in Baltimore—
with a leader and a team that reflect the underserved Baltimore business
population they are committed to supporting. This initiative, in turn,
led us to launch the Zero to 100 Accelerator Program for Minority and
Women Owned Businesses, a business education-focused initiative that
provides targeted, thoughtful guidance to these customers and colleagues.
The program graduated its first 22 businesses in December 2019.
The team redoubled their focus on community. One of our
colleagues was passionate about the large Korean community in
Howard County. Recalling his own experiences at a young age, acting as
a translator between his parents and a bank, he understood how stressful
it can be to move into a community that speaks a different language. This
banker did more than “reach out” to the community—he created a sense of
empathy and understanding. He proposed that we begin to staff branches
in this footprint with Korean-speaking employees to remove potential
stress from the branch experience. The result has been the establishment
of a deep relationship within that community first, and which now also
includes financial services. This is the essence of community-focused
banking—understanding the needs of a community and what is important
beyond banking.
Our Baltimore team is producing results, albeit early—and the
change is accelerating—across all lines of business. We grew our Baltimore
retail checking customers by 2 percent after several years of modest
decline. The Baltimore outperformance is even more dramatic among
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Millennials. After declining at a 3 percent annualized rate for four years,
we reversed course with Millennial customers in Baltimore, growing by
2 percent in 2019. Leveraging our branch iPads, we gathered 1.5 times
more customer feedback in one month than we gathered throughout
the entirety of 2017. While this represents only the first year of progress,
we observed that our customers’ willingness to recommend M&T to
others improved from a score of 53 percent to 61 percent. The number of
new commercial customers doubled compared with the prior year. The
Minority and Women Owned Business Team onboarded 28 new-to-M&T
relationships—24 of which are Minority and Women Owned Businesses.
Since 2009, we have accounted for nearly half of the total number of SBA
loans in the city of Baltimore—making us the city’s premier SBA lender
for over a decade. In 2019, we extended our lead, initiating more than 52
percent of such loans throughout the region, up from 42 percent in 2017;
an acknowledgement that we can always do more.
We believe this is just the beginning. Our encouragement over
the early-stage, positive results of “Mission Maryland” is only eclipsed
by our excitement for what lies ahead. We learned that this approach
is scalable, able to be deployed anywhere—giving ourselves permission
to flourish in cities large or small. While our tactics may change—
customized to each market we endeavor to serve—the model is
constant—locally tailored solutions that deliver a uniquely identifiable
M&T customer experience.
The big picture here is well worth keeping in mind. As banks grow,
they must approach their business in ways that imply scale and uniformity.
If not careful, a one-size-fits-all approach may become convention. At the
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other end of the spectrum, the smallest community banks, by definition,
tailor their services to a specific community. At M&T, we constantly
strive to retain and, in the spirit of Mission Maryland, maintain the
essential values of far-smaller institutions. By tailoring our services, our
lending and our businesses to the needs of the communities we serve,
M&T can be a hometown institution—and thus, the bank of choice—in
every market we serve.
O U R P U R P O S E
A mission—it is important to note—must be more than a mission
statement. Rote mantras can too easily be acclaimed and repeated by
anyone—and the “strategy du jour” that changes from quarter to quarter
or year to year may sound eloquent in investor presentations and public
forums. Yet this is not indicative of an ingrained way of behaving that
galvanizes every employee of an institution. At M&T, we strive to conduct
ourselves and our business in a way that has been carefully tailored
and cultivated—proven over decades, though not applauded every
quarter. In this sense, M&T’s mission-driven culture cannot be easily
replicated—even though we are gaining scale, efficiencies, brand recognition
and returns. We are different and our way of banking is different.
Our success is built on a lot of “little things” that come
together to produce sustainable, long-term outperformance. Where,
if the question “what does M&T stand for?” is posed to any one of our
17,773 colleagues—they can each answer all at once in their own words.
We understand that we can only succeed if our communities succeed.
We believe in simple products and prudent lending. We endeavor to bank
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the entire community—learning about and helping to fix problems
that our constituents face, at a deep, local level. We plant roots and
we stay. Our community is our home. We live, work and share in the
struggle to make our home prosper—one person, one business, one
location at a time.
T R E N D S I N STA K E H O L D E R C A P I TA L I S M
The ecosystem in which corporations exist and the role of companies
within it is evolving. Private enterprises are, more frequently, taking
on responsibilities that previously fell within the clear purview of
government. In recognition of this new phenomenon, the Business
Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading American
companies, last year withdrew its endorsement of shareholder primacy in
favor of stakeholder capitalism—the philosophy that managers of modern
firms have a duty to serve all stakeholders. The idea that the interests of
shareholders are best served when those of all constituents—customers,
employees, governmental agencies, the community, the market and
shareholders—are advanced is not new to M&T. In fact, we have always
viewed our network of stakeholders as our partners and measured our
success through the creation of long-term, sustainable value for all our
stakeholders. In that sense, what was old is now new. We firmly believe
that to create value, one must first care about values. The value we have
generated by focusing on the collective whole of our constituency greatly
exceeds what we would have achieved had we instead exclusively aimed
to benefit the individual parts. The common saying applies: the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts.
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A H E A RT F E LT T H A N K YO U
Some common themes repeat throughout this year’s Letter that
define the M&T culture and business model. Some of these include
looking ahead and broadly across the economy to identify risk, addressing
problems quickly when they arise, acting like owners and focusing on
customers. Underpinning all of these characteristics is talent—the great
equalizer—in a world where the size of your budget seems to define your
odds of success. As a management team, we never forget, nor take for
granted, how fortunate we are to work with such tremendously talented,
dedicated and thoughtful colleagues. We thought this vignette of one of
our colleagues, a retiring M&T veteran of 57 years, captured the esprit de
corps that is uniquely M&T.
Our story begins at M&T Bank’s original headquarters branch at
Main and Swan Streets in downtown Buffalo on November 19, 1962. Enter
a 23-year-old teller—a young man who trained as a classical pianist at The
Juilliard School and performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
He played ice hockey throughout his youth and has been an ardent fan of
the Buffalo Sabres since they entered the National Hockey League in 1970.
As it turned out, this new employee embodied the spirit of what
M&T has always stood for—treat our customers the way you would want
to be treated. His most important job, he says, was to help people and
build relationships with each and every customer. Such was his rapport
with customers that they would follow him from branch to branch—
20 branches in total during his career with M&T. Like so many of his M&T
colleagues, he worked not only to help his customers, but his community
as well. He volunteered to help rehabilitate homes and neighborhoods,
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and spent time assisting the elderly. Even after he moved from a front
office role to new roles within the bank, he brought the same approach
to dealing with people, believing that teamwork and service are the keys
to achieving common goals. Perhaps it was because he did 300 pushups
a day through his 50s and well into his 60s that he didn’t retire until 57
years later. At his retirement celebration this past December—attended
by some 400 of his colleagues—he reflected on the tremendous changes
that M&T has undergone throughout his career—adding process
automation and computerization over the years. He noted that any bank
could have installed the same “machines” that M&T has, but what has
made M&T successful, and his career gratifying, has been its people—
people who unify around, and never lose sight of, a common purpose:
to serve the customer.
Every day we honor the legacy of those who came before us
by nurturing and growing the seeds they have planted and hiring and
developing new stewards of the enduring M&T culture. We acknowledge
the contributions of our alumni and those who are retiring this year,
who laid the foundation upon which our next generation of M&T team
members is building a better version of M&T. We would not be the bank
we are today without their passion for community banking, years of hard
work, shared institutional knowledge and stewardship of the M&T brand.
And to our current colleagues—thank you for the work you do to connect
with your customers, colleagues and communities. You bring everything
we write about in this Letter to life. Our tools, capabilities and ways of
working are changing, but our purpose remains unwavering—to keep
making a difference in people’s lives. Thank you.
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Our friend and colleague, Brent D. Baird, intends to retire as a
director of M&T Bank Corporation and M&T Bank following the annual
meeting of shareholders on April 21, 2020. Brent casts a long shadow at
M&T, not just because he has been a director for 37 years—yes, you read
that correctly—but because our corporate DNA of doing the right thing,
acting with honesty and integrity and being simultaneously results-
and community- oriented are all embodied by him. His background in
securities and investment management greatly enhanced our prudent,
shareholder-driven capital allocation—an M&T hallmark. Those same
skills were an integral part of our growth from a $2 billion institution to
the company that we are today, along the way personally reviewing the 24
bank acquisitions completed during his tenure. Brent has played a special
role as a link to M&T’s history and a source of institutional memory—in
short, Brent is the M&T culture and the M&T culture is Brent.
If I close my eyes, I can hear our dear friend Bob Wilmers grousing,
“Brent, you’re too young to retire,” and I must admit, I feel the same way.
Nevertheless, on behalf of M&T employees, retirees and shareholders, I
extend to Brent our sincere gratitude for his long service, his counsel—both
wise and modest—and his invaluable contributions to the success and
reputation of our company. We will miss you as our colleague but cherish
your friendship and wish you all the best in your well-deserved retirement.
René F. Jones
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
February 21, 2020
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2/27/20 11:59 AM
Denis J. Salamone
Former Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
Hudson City Bancorp, Inc.
John R. Scannell
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Moog Inc.
David S. Scharfstein
Professor
Harvard Business School
Herbert L. Washington
President
H.L.W. Fast Track, Inc.
M & T B A N K C O R P O R AT I O N
Officers and Directors
OFFICERS
DIRECTORS
René F. Jones
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
René F. Jones
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Richard S. Gold
President and Chief
Operating Officer
Kevin J. Pearson
Vice Chairman
Robert J. Bojdak
Executive Vice President
and Chief Credit Officer
Janet M. Coletti
Executive Vice President
John L. D’Angelo
Executive Vice President
and Chief Risk Officer
William J. Farrell II
Executive Vice President
Brian E. Hickey
Executive Vice President
Christopher E. Kay
Executive Vice President
Darren J. King
Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer
Gino A. Martocci
Executive Vice President
Doris P. Meister
Executive Vice President
Laura P. O’Hara
Executive Vice President
and General Counsel
Michael J. Todaro
Executive Vice President
Michele D. Trolli
Executive Vice President and
Chief Technology and
Operations Officer
Julianne Urban
Executive Vice President
and Chief Auditor
D. Scott N. Warman
Executive Vice President
and Treasurer
Michael R. Spychala
Senior Vice President
and Controller
Robert T. Brady
Vice Chairman of the Board
Former Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Moog Inc.
Brent D. Baird
Private Investor
C. Angela Bontempo
Former President and
Chief Executive Officer
Saint Vincent Health System
T. Jefferson Cunningham III
Former Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Premier National Bancorp, Inc.
Gary N. Geisel
Former Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Provident Bankshares
Corporation
Richard S. Gold
President and Chief
Operating Officer
Richard A. Grossi
Former Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer
Johns Hopkins Medicine
John D. Hawke, Jr.
Retired Partner
Arnold & Porter
Richard H. Ledgett, Jr.
Former Deputy Director
National Security Agency
Newton P.S. Merrill
Former Senior
Executive Vice President
The Bank of New York
Kevin J. Pearson
Vice Chairman
Melinda R. Rich
Vice Chairman
Rich Products Corporation
and President
Rich Entertainment Group
Robert E. Sadler, Jr.
Former President and
Chief Executive Officer
M&T Bank Corporation
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M & T B A N K
Officers and Directors
OFFICERS
René F. Jones
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Richard S. Gold
President and Chief
Operating Officer
Kevin J. Pearson
Vice Chairman
Executive Vice Presidents
Robert J. Bojdak
Janet M. Coletti
Atwood Collins III
John L. D’Angelo
William J. Farrell II
Brian E. Hickey
Christopher E. Kay
Darren J. King
Gino A. Martocci
Doris P. Meister
Laura P. O’Hara
Michael J. Todaro
Michele D. Trolli
Julianne Urban
D. Scott N. Warman
Senior Vice Presidents
Timothy S. Avendt
John M. Beeson, Jr.
Keith M. Belanger
Deborah A. Bennett
Michael D. Berman
Beth Beshaw
Daniel M. Boscarino
Arthur J. Bronson
Ira A. Brown
Christina A. Brozyna
William S. Buccella
Daniel J. Burns
Nicholas L. Buscaglia
Matthew S. Calhoun
Mark I. Cartwright
Kevin J. Cavalieri
Rajeev Chadda
Christine R. Chandler
August J. Chiasera
Thomas H. Comiskey
Francis M. Conway
Cynthia L. Corliss
R. Joe Crosswhite
Carol A. Dalton
Peter G. D’Arcy
Ayan DasGupta
Dominick J. D’Eramo
F. Jim Della Sala
Donald P. DiCarlo, Jr.
Shelley C. Drake
Michael A. Drury
Gary D. Dudish
John D. Hawke, Jr.
Retired Partner
Arnold & Porter
Richard H. Ledgett, Jr.
Former Deputy Director
National Security Agency
Newton P.S. Merrill
Former Senior
Executive Vice President
The Bank of New York
Kevin J. Pearson
Vice Chairman
Melinda R. Rich
Vice Chairman
Rich Products Corporation
and President
Rich Entertainment Group
Robert E. Sadler, Jr.
Former President and
Chief Executive Officer
M&T Bank Corporation
Denis J. Salamone
Former Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
Hudson City Bancorp, Inc.
John R. Scannell
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Moog Inc.
David S. Scharfstein
Professor
Harvard Business School
Herbert L. Washington
President
H.L.W. Fast Track, Inc.
Matyas W. Egyhazy
Steven H. Epping
Thomas F. Esposito
Jeffrey A. Evershed
Bethany D. Fancher-Herbert
Eric B. Feldstein
James M. Frank
Matthew D. Glaser
Mark D. Gould
Robert S. Graber
Carol N. Grosso
Andrew J. Hartridge
Jarod T. Haslinger
Thomas Hayes
Melissa J. Heavern
Cecilia A. Hodges
Paul Hogan
Harish A. Holla
Gregory Imm
Glenn S. Jackson
Michael J. Keane
Michael T. Keegan
William T. LaFond
Nicholas P. Lambrow
Michele V. Langdon
Jason W. Lipiec
Elizabeth P. Locke
Mary Kate Loftus
Joseph A. Lombardo
Robert G. Loughrey
Susan F. MacDonald
Paula Mandell
Louis P. Mathews, Jr.
Matthew J. McAfee
Richard J. McCarthy
William P. McKenna
Frank P. Micalizzi
Christopher R. Morphew
Aarthi Murali
Michael S. Murchie
Allen J. Naples
Peter G. Newman
Tracy C. Nickl
Peter J. Olsen
Mark J. Perry
Anabel I. Pichler
Eileen M. Pirson
Drew M. Pullen
Christopher D. Randall
Rajiv Ranjan
Michael M. Reilly
Blair Ridder
Kirk J. Ringer
Daniel J. Ripienski
Paris F. Roselli
Anthony M. Roth
John P. Rumschik
Allison L. Sagraves
Kyle Samuel
D. Jack Sawyer
Jean-Christophe Schroeder
Douglas A. Sheline
William M. Shickluna
Ann Silverman
Glenn R. Small
Sonny J. Sonnenstein
Sean P. Spiesz
Michael R. Spychala
Mark J. Stellwag
David W. Stender
Douglas R. Stevens
Patrick J. Tadie
George Taylor
John R. Taylor
Luke Tilley
Christopher E. Tolomeo
Patrick M. Trainor
Scott B. Vahue
Neil Walker-Neveras
Leslie M. Wallace
Ellen M. Wayne
Indy N. Weerasinghe
Linda J. Weinberg
Jeffrey A. Wellington
John J. Whalen
Michael A. Wisler
Tracy S. Woodrow
Brian R. Yoshida
DIRECTORS
René F. Jones
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Brent D. Baird
Private Investor
C. Angela Bontempo
Former President and
Chief Executive Officer
Saint Vincent Health System
Robert T. Brady
Former Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Moog Inc.
T. Jefferson Cunningham III
Former Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Premier National Bancorp, Inc.
Gary N. Geisel
Former Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer
Provident Bankshares Corporation
Richard S. Gold
President and Chief
Operating Officer
Richard A. Grossi
Former Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer
Johns Hopkins Medicine
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M & T B A N K
Regional Management and Directors Advisory Councils
AREA EXECUTIVES
Ira A. Brown
R. Joe Crosswhite
Peter G. D’Arcy
Michael T. Keegan
Paula Mandell
Michael S. Murchie
Peter J. Olsen
Jeffrey A. Wellington
REGIONAL PRESIDENTS
Daniel J. Burns
Rochester
Shelley C. Drake
Western New York
Frank P. Micalizzi
Tarrytown /Connecticut
Allen J. Naples
Central New York
Peter G. Newman
Southern New York
Blair Ridder
New York City
Mark J. Stellwag
Albany/Hudson Valley
August J. Chiasera
Baltimore and Chesapeake
Thomas H. Comiskey
New Jersey
Stephen A. Foreman
Central/Western Pennsylvania
Cecilia A. Hodges
Greater Washington and
Central Virginia
Philip H. Johnson
Northern Pennsylvania
Thomas C. Koppmann
Southeast Pennsylvania
Nicholas P. Lambrow
Delaware
Bernard T. Shields
Philadelphia/Southern
New Jersey
Richard A. Gieseler
Florida
DIRECTORS
ADVISORY COUNCILS
NEW YORK STATE
Albany Division
Kevin M. Bette
Nancy E. Carey Cassidy
Richard A. Fuerst
Michael Joyce
William Lia, Jr.
Lisa M. Marrello
Michael C. McPartlon
Lauren Van Dermark
Central New York Division
John A. Breuer
Carl V. Byrne
Mara Charlamb
James A. Fox
Karyn Korteling
Robert L. Lewis
Robert H. Linn
Joseph T. Mancuso
Scott A. Shatraw
Meghan Sarah Tidd
Melissa F. Zell
Hudson Valley Division
Elizabeth P. Allen
Kevin J. Conroy
T. Jefferson Cunningham III
John K. Gifford
Michael H. Graham
William Murphy
Patrick D. Paul
Lewis J. Ruge
Thomas R. Smiley
Thomas G. Struzzieri
Charles C. Tallardy III
Peter Van Kleeck
Jamestown Division
Sebastian A. Baggiano
John R. Churchill
Steven A. Godfrey
Joseph C. Johnson
Stan Lundine
Randall P. Manitta
Michael D. Metzger
Kim Peterson
Tim M. Shults
Michael J. Wellman
New York City/Long Island
Division
Jay I. Anderson
Brent D. Baird
Louis Brause
Martin Seth Burger
Patrick J. Callan
John F. Cook
Anthony J. Dowd III
Lloyd M. Goldman
Peter Hauspurg
Leslie Wohlman Himmel
Gary Jacob
William J. Mulrow
Mickey Rabina
Don M. Randel
Michael D. Sullivan
Alair A. Townsend
Rochester Division
Marlene Bessette
William A. Buckingham
R. Carlos Carballada
Daniel J. Chessin
Christopher J. Czarnecki
Oksana S. Dominach
Timothy D. Fournier
Jocelyn Goldberg-Schaible
Marc L. Iacona, Sr.
Laurence Kessler
Jett Mehta
Dwight M. Palmer
Ronald S. Ricotta
Victor E. Salerno
Derace L. Schaffer
Sankar D. Sewnauth
Kevin R. Wilmot
Southern New York Division
Lee P. Bearsch
John M. Carrigg
Joseph W. Donze
Sheila Doyle
Albert Nocciolino
James Pennefeather
Robert R. Sprole III
Frank H. Suits, Jr.
Terry R. Wood
NEW JERSEY / PENNSYLVANIA /
DELAWARE / MARYLAND /
VIRGINIA /WEST VIRGINIA
Baltimore-Washington Division
Thomas S. Bozzuto, Jr.
Jeffrey S. Detwiler
Scott E. Dorsey
Steve Dubin
Kevin R. Dunbar
David D. Flanagan
Gary N. Geisel
Nancy Greene
Richard A. Grossi
John H. Phelps
Marc B. Terrill
Ernest J. Vaile
Central Pennsylvania Division
Mark X. DiSanto
Ronald M. Leitzel
John P. Massimilla
Craig J. Nitterhouse
Ivo V. Otto III
William F. Rothman
Herbert E. Sandifer
Michael J. Schwab
John D. Sheridan
Glen R. Sponaugle
Daniel K. Sunderland
Christopher D. Trogner
Angela M. Ulen
Sondra Wolfe Elias
Central Virginia Division
Robert J. Clark
Daniel Jon Loftis
Bart H. Mitchell
Brian R. Pitney
Debbie L. Sydow
Chesapeake Upper
Shore Division
Hugh E. Grunden
William W. McAllister, Jr.
Lee McMahan
Chad J. Nagel
Chesapeake Lower
Shore Division
Michael G. Abercrombie, Jr.
John H. Harrison
John M. McClellan
James F. Morris
John M. Stern
Eastern Pennsylvania Division
Paul J. Datte
Steven I. Field
Roy A. Heim
Joseph H. Jones, Jr.
David C. Laudeman
Eric M. Mika
Jeanne Boyer Porter
New Jersey Division
Michael W. Azzara
Dante Germano
L. Robert Lieb
Paul Silverman
Robert Silverman
Northeast
Mid-Atlantic Division
Richard Alter
Christopher A. Boyle
Linda Sue Comer
Thomas C. Mottley
Paul T. Muddiman
John Thomas Sadowski, Jr.
Kimberly L. Wagner
Northeastern
Pennsylvania Division
Richard S. Bishop
Christopher L. Borton
Maureen M. Bufalino
Stephen N. Clemente
Thomas F. Torbik
Murray Ufberg
Northern
Pennsylvania Division
Sherwin O. Albert, Jr.
Jeffrey A. Cerminaro
James E. Douthat
Steven P. Johnson
Kenneth R. Levitzky
Robert E. More
John D. Rinehart
J. David Smith
Donald E. Stringfellow
Philadelphia Division
Nick Bayer
Emily L. Bittenbender
Jeffrey N. Brown
Edward M. D’Alba
Linda Ann Galante
William A. Golderer
Ronald V. Jaworski
Eli A. Kahn
Ashish Parikh
Ann D. Thomas
Joseph J. Volpe
Western
Pennsylvania Division
Jodi L. Cessna
Paul I. Detweiler III
Philip E. Devorris
Michael A. Fiore
Joseph A. Grappone
Daniel R. Lawruk
Gerald E. Murray
Robert F. Pennington
Joseph S. Sheetz
William T. Ward
J. Douglas Wolf
FLORIDA
Atwood Collins III
Rohit M. Desai
Rebecca G. Doane
Kenneth R. Kennerly
Hans E. Kraaz
George E. Marucci, Jr.
Michael Picotte
Robert E. Sadler, Jr.
xxxvi
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D I R E C T S T O C K P U R C H A S E
A plan is available to common shareholders and the general public whereby
A N D D I V I D E N D
shares of M&T Bank Corporation’s common stock may be purchased directly
R E I N V E S T M E N T P L A N
through the transfer agent noted below and common shareholders may also
invest their dividends and voluntary cash payments in additional shares of
M&T Bank Corporation’s common stock.
I N Q U I R I E S
Requests for information about the Direct Stock Purchase and Dividend
Reinvestment Plan and questions about stock certificates, dividend checks,
direct deposit of dividends or other account information should be addressed to
M&T Bank Corporation’s transfer agent, registrar and dividend disbursing agent:
(First Class, Registered and Certified Mail)
(Overnight and Courier Mail)
Computershare
P.O. Box 505000
Computershare
462 South 4th Street
Louisville, KY 40233-5000
Suite 1600
Louisville, KY 40202
866-293-3379
E-mail address: web.queries@computershare.com
Web address: www.computershare.com/mbnk
Requests for additional copies of this publication or annual or quarterly
reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC Forms 10-K and 10-Q), which are available at no charge, may be
directed to:
M&T Bank Corporation
Shareholder Relations Department
One M&T Plaza, 8th Floor
Buffalo, NY 14203-2399
716-842-5138
E-mail address: ir@mtb.com
All other general inquiries may be directed to: 716-635-4000
W E B A D D R E S S
www.mtb.com
Q U O TAT I O N A N D T R A D I N G
M&T Bank Corporation’s common stock is traded under the
O F C O M M O N S T O C K
symbol MTB on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”).
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