CEO touts merger culture, 9%-11% loan growth, $250M synergies
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Pinnacle accelerated its incentive rollout, shifting legacy Synovus bankers onto Pinnacle’s company-wide revenue/EPS-linked program and pulling forward about $30 million of expense to 2026 to extend equity and bonus eligibility to roughly 8,500 employees.
Management reaffirmed net cost synergies of $250 million but now expects to realize about 40% of those synergies in 2026 (down from a prior 50% target), with the figure net of dis-synergies such as pay normalization.
Pinnacle is guiding 2026 loan growth of 9%–11%, supported by Q4 momentum (combined 10% loan and deposit growth) and existing hires, and estimates $100–130 million of revenue synergies over three years though minimal revenue benefit is embedded in 2026 guidance.
Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) executives emphasized cultural alignment, integration planning, and continued growth expectations following the company’s recently completed merger, during a conference fireside chat featuring President and CEO Kevin Blair and CFO Jamie Gregory.
Blair said the combined organization is leaning into areas of similarity between the legacy companies and addressing differences directly, with a focus on maintaining what he described as the “Pinnacle model”—a geographically based structure designed to support local decision-making, accountability, and what he called a “war on bureaucracy.”
He cited client satisfaction and employee engagement metrics as evidence that the two organizations are compatible. Blair pointed to a press release issued the same morning related to Greenwich Awards, saying the combined organization received 50 awards—32 for legacy Pinnacle and 18 for legacy Synovus—and that the aggregate results place the combined company at number one nationally for client satisfaction. He also cited team member engagement scores of 93% for Pinnacle and 89% for legacy Synovus and noted both companies’ high Glassdoor rankings among regional banks.
One of the larger integration items discussed was compensation. Blair said the company has moved legacy Synovus bankers onto Pinnacle’s incentive approach, which ties incentives to company-wide top-line revenue and EPS targets rather than individual performance measures. He said the fourth quarter included calibration work and that employees entered 2026 with the new structure in place.
Blair added that a broader rollout of the Pinnacle incentive model—extending annual equity grants and the incentive structure to all approximately 8,500 employees—was accelerated into 2026 from 2027, creating what he described as an incremental $30 million expense pull-forward. He said the company believes the program is important to align the workforce around shared goals, and characterized the expanded equity and bonus eligibility as a meaningful morale boost for legacy Synovus team members.
Gregory said purchase accounting adjustments and balance sheet marks have been progressing largely in line with prior disclosures. He said securities marks were straightforward and completed early in the year, while loan marks were still being finalized. He attributed changes primarily to interest rates moving lower—about a 25 to 30 basis point drop in the “belly of the curve” from the time of announcement to year-end—alongside a shift in where the loan book mark is concentrated, with more of the unrealized loss shifting toward mortgages with longer duration.
On expense synergies, Gregory reiterated that the company remains committed to total net cost synergies of $250 million. However, due to the accelerated incentive-plan-related expenses Blair described, management now expects to realize 40% of synergies in 2026 versus the 50% originally planned. Gregory emphasized that the synergy figure discussed is net of dis-synergies, including long-term incentive compensation and pay normalization across the combined company.
Blair said the longer systems conversion timeline—extending into March 2027—was intentional and framed around client impact. He described the combination internally as a “merger of clients,” saying the company prioritized evaluating products and capabilities across both legacy institutions before deciding the future state.
He said the firm is moving to an FIS core platform but, unlike peers that standardize quickly around core-native solutions, Pinnacle has been evaluating platforms and vendor capabilities and has already made 222 technology selections. Blair said the assessment process will not fully conclude until March, and he noted the company has not publicly disclosed vendor selections because it is still negotiating contracts.
Blair also said the company is using the 14-month window to address functionality gaps before clients migrate, and that complex commercial clients—whose payables, receivables, and ERP systems are integrated into banking platforms—will be transitioned through a “white glove” approach. He said some systems not tied directly to the core, such as mortgage platforms, will be converted before the core conversion.
Management discussed 2026 loan growth guidance of 9% to 11% and positioned it as supported by existing hiring momentum. Blair said the plan is not predicated on a new wave of hiring to generate the year’s growth, emphasizing that most expected growth comes from bankers already hired, given the lag between recruiting and balance sheet impact.
To support confidence in the range, Blair cited fourth-quarter performance: the combined company delivered 10% loan and deposit growth, with legacy Pinnacle at 12% and legacy Synovus at 8%. He said legacy Synovus production in the fourth quarter was up 117% versus the year-ago quarter and up 50% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, even as commercial real estate (CRE) balances declined 5%.
Gregory said upside to the high end of the loan growth range could come from CRE, line utilization, and continued strength in specialty businesses, which he characterized as among the company’s highest return-on-equity lines. Blair added that some revenue synergy items may be “turnkey,” citing equipment finance as an example, and said revenue synergies were estimated at $100 million to $130 million over three years. He also noted that revenue synergies embedded in 2026 guidance were minimal—less than half of 1%—reflecting a view that behavioral and cross-sell changes take time.
On deposits, Blair acknowledged a competitive pricing environment and said growth is expected to be supported by relationship-driven hiring and deposit specialty verticals. He also noted that clients often move treasury and deposits before loans due to loan prepayment penalties or refinancing frictions. Blair cited the opportunity to expand Pinnacle’s HOA-related deposit business into legacy Synovus markets, including Florida.
Gregory said the company’s interest rate risk philosophy remains intact: targeting neutrality at the front end of the curve while maintaining some asset sensitivity in the belly of the curve. He described current positioning as roughly 1% asset sensitive to the front end and 1.5% to the belly. He said rate cuts are not expected to be particularly impactful, though they could create some headwind due to loan repricing dynamics, and noted that guidance assumed two rate cuts.
Gregory also discussed BHG, calling it a strong-performing business with a “great team.” He said legacy Pinnacle generated $30 million of fourth-quarter revenue from BHG, but suggested normalizing that to roughly $25 million due to a $5 million true-up from the prior quarter. He said 2026 guidance implies a 25% to 35% revenue increase as BHG grows production. Gregory said discussions with BHG focused on the “best path forward” to maximize long-term valuation and that legacy Synovus experience with GreenSky and other partnerships could be additive.
On AI, Blair said legacy Synovus has a nine-person AI staff focused largely on back office use cases and reducing manual work. He highlighted an internal AI tool for querying policies and procedures and said the company is seeking approval to add 15 additional AI-focused roles as it redesigns processes leading into systems conversion. Blair said AI is expected to “capacitize” bankers and reduce errors rather than drive near-term headcount reductions. He also described AI use in fraud identification and said legacy Synovus fraud was down 40% last year, which he attributed in part to tools deployed in digital account opening.
Regarding credit, management said it sees a constructive environment with no systemic issues and expects credit to remain a “muted” topic in 2026, though losses may be episodic. Blair also said the company has roughly $200 million of exposure to software and that underwriting includes assessing risks from AI and other industry shifts.
On capital, Gregory said management estimates CET1 at roughly 10% at close, about 20 basis points lower when including AOCI, and said the company is above median when CET1 is viewed including AOCI. He said the company expects to generate about 35 basis points of capital per quarter after dividends, consume about 25 basis points to support growth at the midpoint of guidance, and accrete roughly 10 basis points per quarter. He said management aims to move into its 10.25% to 10.75% range and then reassess, and described the company’s $400 million authorization as a tool to remain nimble if industry growth slows.
Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc (NASDAQ: PNFP) is a financial services company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, that provides banking, wealth management and insurance solutions to business and consumer clients. The company operates through two primary segments—Banking and Wealth Management & Advisory—offering a comprehensive suite of products that includes commercial and consumer lending, deposit services, treasury management, trust and investment advisory, and insurance brokerage. Pinnacle’s client-focused model emphasizes relationship-based banking, leveraging local decision-making authority and specialized industry expertise to serve diverse sectors such as healthcare, technology, real estate and professional services.
In its banking segment, Pinnacle delivers commercial and consumer loans, lines of credit, equipment financing, and mortgage lending.
