CRYSTAL LAKE – Home State Bank recently acquired all of the trust accounts from Harvard State Bank, making the Crystal Lake-based banking corporation the only actively managed trust department headquartered in McHenry County.
Home State Bank Executive Vice President Robert Cormier said that although Harvard State Bank’s trust department employed a single trust officer and managed between $20 million and $25 million in assets, Home State Bank has three officers managing about $175 million in assets – with the intent of adding a fourth officer to the department.
“Geographically, we’re located very close,” Cormier said. “We have a trust guy who spends some days in Woodstock. Those customers aren’t going to experience transfers downtown [Chicago] or over a distance.”
The acquisition will affect about 200 customers with established relationships with the trust department for traditional trust services, land trusts and professional money management services.
Cormier said the larger trust department staff at Home State Bank will prove more beneficial for customers, without losing the appeal of a longstanding community bank.
Home State Bank has been a presence in McHenry County since it opened in 1915.
“We believe that the new trust customers, to Home State Bank, will be very pleased with our disciplined approach to investing, always insuring that all investments remain appropriate for the customers situation,” Cormier said.
The deal will not affect customers with checking or savings accounts at Harvard State Bank.