Bob Normand is laughing all the way to the bank – literally.

During an interview, the CEO of ATB Financial, North America’s only government-owned retail bank, is zealously pounding the table over his bank’s remarkable performance.

And there’s much to pound the table about these days at ATB.

With the Montreal-born former teller and one-time Bank of Montreal regional vice-president playing a leading role in the past six years, including occupying the CEO post for the past two years, Edmonton-based ATB has emerged from the brink of collapse over bad loans and various scandals, rebounding into a financial powerhouse on the Alberta banking scene with about $13.2 billion in assets to rank as the eighth-largest bank in Canada.

Jack Dagley photos, for Business Edge
Bob Normand believes ATB is poised to tap into Alberta’s surging economy.

ATB’s vastly improved balance sheet is reflected in the giddy enthusiasm of the boss.

1. As a youngster, did you ever consider following your father’s footsteps into the Canadian Navy?

“What I really, really wanted to be was a cowboy. That was my dream in life for a quite a long time. I thought about the navy, but I wore glasses and I realized that it was very difficult in those days to think about the navy if you wore glasses.”

2. What happened to the cowboy dream?

“Well, (laughing) y’all grow up, right? But I did get out to the West eventually and (now) we sponsor rodeo. I started working at the Bank of Montreal in a suburb of Montreal, as a summer job while I was in high school. I actually kind of liked it. When I graduated from university, I met a recruiter from the Bank of Montreal and joined them on a management-training program.”



3. Why did you take your retirement from the Bank of Montreal six years ago to join ATB Financial?

“I was recruited by ATB Financial. I’d worked for the Bank of Montreal for 26 years, I was in my 50s and I realized that I was never going to be the president of the Bank of Montreal.”

4. What was the transition like going from one of the big banks to ATB?

“In part, it was like going back in time – and I mean that in a positive sense. When I joined the Bank of Montreal, it wasn’t a whole lot bigger than ATB and it was a time when the branch managers still had a pretty significant role. Over the ensuing 35 years, the big chartered banks became bigger and more specialized. People found themselves in narrower silos. So, in a sense, it was kind of like going back to the future because you had a chance to work in an organization where you could kind of wrap your arms around it and be involved in all aspects of running it.”

5. Do you think the fact that you worked in various roles, starting as a teller, as been beneficial in your role as CEO?

“It certainly helped that I was involved in various roles at Bank of Montreal as a teller, branch manager and an account manager. It never hurts to tell people that you were what we call a CSR (customer service representative) today, looking across the counter at customers.”

6. What went into your decision to join ATB during the trying times the bank endured in the 1990s?

“After being offered the job, I ‘mystery-shopped’ some of their operations in the Edmonton area and talked to some staff. I inquired about opening an account and that sort of thing. By doing that, I could see that there was a terrific service orientation and there were people in the branches who wanted to help their customers. It was a company that had a pretty long and honorable history of helping Albertans. At the same time, it was a company that was in some turmoil and they were wounded. Every day, the staff would pick up the newspaper and see some story about something that didn’t make them feel motivated. So the first thing you had to do was work on the morale, what a great job they did and how much the customers loved them. Frankly, throughout all the stuff we saw in the press, and I’m not knocking the press, our customers stayed very loyal to ATB. What kept them coming in was the people they were dealing with, not what they were reading about in the paper.”

7. Did you have reservations about joining a company that was in crisis and mired in controversial lawsuits and so on?

“There were concerns about whether the company would survive. At the same time, Paul Haggis, who was the head of the company at the time (as CEO), and the minister of finance at the time, Jim Dinning, did a wonderful job in setting up a separate governance structure with an independent board of directors that was selected from the community by an outside group of advisers. I met with some of the board members before I joined the company. It was important to assure people that we had a very viable business and there was a real gem locked in here. All we had to do was free it up, and happily we started to see results very quickly and people could see the results of their efforts.”

8. What in your mind has been the key to ATB’s turnaround to consistent profitability?

“I think the Alberta economy has to take a lot of credit, but I think the big issue was that this was an organization that had existed for 60 years and it continued to grow through that period because it was answering a need. You can set up an organization, but organizations don’t grow and spread and prosper if they’re not answering a need. Once we got some of the underbrush cleared away and cleared the air over some of the previous loan problems, people were able to gather their confidence about them and do what they did so well. You know, a lot of financial institutions had loan problems in the mid-’80s. ATB wasn’t unique. I think ATB was just a little later in recognizing the impact on their balance sheet.”

9. What’s the key to managing risk and guarding against bad loans such as those made by ATB to entrepreneurs like Peter Pocklington?

“No bank bats a thousand. I mean, we’re in the business of taking risk. If we have no loan losses at all, then we’re missing opportunities and we’re not doing the job. It’s a question of degree. The board of directors has put into place sound lending policies that compare very well with those that you would see at any other major financial institution in North America. There are policies to loan size in relationship to your balance sheet, diversification across industries, geography, across borrowers and across different kinds of products. That’s the best defence you have. It’s a question of keeping your losses in proportion with the business volume that you’re doing and we have done that.”

10. What's your growth strategy?

“Our growth strategy is to go to where the people are and give them the products that they’re asking for. We’re continuing to expand in the fastest growth parts of Alberta. Edmonton and Calgary obviously figure very largely in our strategy, but at the same time Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Red Deer, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are all major growth centres, as well as some of the smaller centres along Highway 2. We focus on the areas where the population is growing the fastest. At the same time, we focus on growing our book of business where we’re not very well developed. We’ve shown quite a bit of success in growth in our wealth- management area and, as our balance sheet has gotten bigger, we’ve been able to do more to serve the mid-market commercial and agriculture customers, and we’ve been able to take on larger loan relationships and larger business relationships.”

11. In what sector do you see the most growth potential?

“We’re putting a lot of focus on the energy industry and related downstream activities. Energy in all its forms will continue to be a major driver of the Alberta economy. We’re already the largest supplier of credit to the agriculture and small business sectors, and we think we’re going to see much more value-added components develop here in Alberta in the next 10 years.”

12. What’s your outlook for the Alberta economy?

“We live in one of the fastest growth economies in North America and I don’t see any signs that that’s likely to slow in the next little while. I think the economy will continue to diversify and grow. I think ATB is very well placed to continue to grow with that economy, and frankly, take market share. I think we’re going to become a more significant player as time goes by. One of the things we have in our favour is that we offer an excellent career opportunity for bright, young people who want to have a career in the financial-services sector, but don’t figure they have to go to Toronto or Chicago or New York.”

13. Why hasn’t ATB been privatized?

“I think that’s a question you’ll have to address to the provincial minister of finance. I don’t think I’m competent to comment on it.”

14. What’s your view of that issue?

“My view is that the ownership issue is quite separate from the day-to-day running of the business. My job and the job of all our associates – there are over 3,000 people working at ATB – is to do the best job we can do for our customers every day. If we’re doing it, we’ll make a profit and profit isn’t a bad word. And we’ll reinvest those profits and keep growing the business. The ownership is really not for me to comment on. I think we’re doing a good job the way we’re organized, and if the shareholders decided that they wanted to change it, I think we could do a good job in some other mode. But it’s not something that’s holding us back at all.”

15. What did you think of recent comments by Larry Pollock, CEO of Canadian Western Bank, that his bank would be interested in ATB if it were put up for sale?

“I applaud his motion. I’d return the compliment to him. If I ever got the chance and Canadian Western Bank was put up for sale, I’d say to Larry: ‘Gee, Larry, let’s talk – I’d be interested.’ I’m being a little facetious. I think that, given our current (government) ownership, that would be an impediment. But I think Canadian Western Bank is doing a good job.”

16. Do you foresee further consolidation in the Canadian banking industry?

“I do. I think that once the political paralysis at the federal level is put behind us in pretty short order, my personal view, and I don’t have any insider information, is that the economic tide will roll in. We’re seeing it in the U.S. I think the consolidation phase isn’t over yet and I think that we’ll perhaps be down to three big banks (from five) in Canada.

"That’s good for ATB because they’ll spend more of their time looking to purchase things in the United States, and there will be branches and opportunities and customers that will be waiting for us to knock on their door.”

17. What kind of impact do you anticipate the strengthening Canadian dollar to have on your bank?

“I think the issue for us is that the dollar has risen pretty darn close to 20 per cent in less than a year. Our major exports have been in the agriculture area and they are going to face increased competition from already subsidized U.S. exports. Our oil and gas exports, which are very important to us, are less affected directly because, of course, these products trade in U.S. dollars. The reality is that our Canadian (oil and gas) producers are receiving a lower price. That has had some impact but the (commodity) prices are still quite strong and the pace of drilling activity as a forerunner is looking very good for this fall and winter.”

18. Describe your management style?

“My style is not to typically over-manage. I like to work with people who know what they’re doing and people I have confidence in so that I can just get out of the way and let them do it. Regardless of the role, what I say to people at ATB is that you don’t leave your brains at the door when you come in in the morning. They run pretty complicated lives at home and just because you’re a CSR or a personal lending officer or whatever your role is, you’ve got a lot of competencies. You’ve got elderly parents to worry about, you’ve got children to worry about, you’ve got college planning and retirement planning to worry about. I tell them to put that knowledge and judgment that they use at home to work at ATB and people actually seem to respond quite well to that. They like to take responsibility.”

19. How long would you want to remain as CEO of ATB?

“You know, my personal view is that with anyone occupying a CEO role, there’s probably a best-before date. After five to 10 years, you’ve probably accomplished what you could hope to accomplish and it’s time for someone else to come along at that point. I’m 57 so I think that’s a reasonable horizon for me to think about. I’m having fun. I’m motivated. I get up early and look forward to coming into work. There’s still all those millions of Albertans who don’t yet deal with ATB and haven’t had the opportunity to experience our great service.”

20. What are your ambitions beyond business?

“I’ve accomplished a fair bit, business-wise. I think it’s hard when you’re the CEO to separate your personal life a whole lot from what you do, but I think ATB Financial does make a difference in this province, and to the extent it continues to be successful is important to a lot of people because it gives them another access to the financial services sector.”

IN PROFILE: Bob Normand
* Born/raised/age: Montreal; Montreal, Halifax; 57.
* Title: President/CEO, ATB Financial.
* Education: Bachelor of arts, economics, Sir George Williams University; MBA, Concordia University.
* Career: Normand joined ATB in 1987 as executive vice-president of sales after a 26-year career with the Bank of Montreal and was appointed CEO in 2001. His last job with BMO was VP for the Edmonton region. His 30-year career in banking management has spanned three provinces – Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
* Moonlighting: Normand is a director with STARS and the Citadel Theatre.
* Passions: Downhill skiing, sailing, reading, science fiction.

THE COMPANY: ATB Financial
* Brass: Bob Normand, president/ CEO; Craig Warnock, chief financial officer; Amolak Grewal, chief operating officer.
* Profile: ATB, established by the Alberta government in 1938, is a $13.2-billion full-service financial institution that serves half a million Albertans in 240 communities through 145 branches, 129 agencies and a Customer Contact Centre. The organization has 226 automated
banking machines and offers Internet and telephone banking.
* Focus: ATB’s growth initiatives are focused on three key areas: personal and business banking; wealth
management; and energy and commercial banking. ATB targets markets such as small business and agriculture.
* Dollar Signs: Since 1997, ATB has reported a profit in every quarter. Through March 31, it had net annual income of $198.9 million, assets of $13.2 billion, deposits of $12.1 billion, loans totalling $11.6 billion and equity of $790.9 million.
* Website/e-mail: www.atb.com ; atbinfo@atb.com
* Corporate Office: 9888 Jasper Ave., Edmonton, T5J 1P1.
* Phone/Fax: 780-408-7000, 780-422-4178.