Business Strategy and Outlook
| Eric Compton, CFA |Truist (the combination of BB&T and SunTrust), is set for its next step up in profitability, as merger-related costs are essentially cut in half in 2022 and then fall out completely in 2023. BB&T brought its conservative lending culture and solid community banking operations, along with its unique insurance brokerage capabilities. SunTrust brought its own unique investment banking franchise, Robinson Humphrey, into the merger, along with its digitally focused consumer lending operations, namely its LightStream platform. We think the combination has formed one of the better regionals in the U.S. from a competitive standpoint. Truist boasts some of the best scale among the U.S. regional banks, particularly along the east coast and in the southeast. The bank also has a uniquely complete platform across retail, commercial, advisory, wealth, and insurance.