Rich Wacker out, Ann Teranishi in as American Savings CEO

American Savings Bank President and CEO Rich Wacker, who navigated the company through the pandemic and helped oversee the transition to a new $100 million, 11-story downtown headquarters in April 2019, is stepping down from his positions, effective today.

Wacker, 58, had been at the helm since November 2010 after relinquishing his role as chairman of Korea Exchange Bank, the fifth- largest Korean commercial bank. He received a pay package worth just under $2 million in 2020, according to ASB parent company Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bank, which announced Wacker’s departure Thursday, said he was leaving to pursue other interests and that its board has appointed Executive Vice President of Operations Ann Teranishi, 46, as the new president and CEO, also effective today.

Wacker, who is leaving Hawaii shortly to attend his daughter’s in-person graduation from Quinni­piac University in Connecticut, said he’s going to wait until he returns to figure out his next move.

“The board decides who the CEO is, and they had their succession plan and were implementing it,” Wacker said in a phone interview. “The timing wasn’t my decision, but Ann’s a great successor and I’m confident in her success. I’ve got a number of things I’m still active in with some of the boards that I’m on, so it’s not like I’m going to be taking up needlepoint. I’ve got a lot of good stuff going on that’s going to keep me busy.”

American Savings said its board considered a number of candidates as part of its succession planning process.

“It became apparent that Ann was a natural choice, given her outstanding record of accomplishments,” ASB Chairwoman Connie Lau, who is also president and CEO of HEI, said in a statement. “Ann has a gift for building high- performing teams and has the leadership qualities and operational skills that will enable her to lead ASB’s continued growth. She is a strong, collaborative leader with deep banking industry knowledge and a long track record of success at ASB.”

Wacker credited his co-workers for the bank’s success.

“The most rewarding achievement of my time at ASB has been working with amazing people who are as passionate about delivering great banking and making people’s dreams possible as they are about giving back and making our community stronger,” he said in a statement. “I’m deeply proud of all that we’ve accomplished together. Having worked closely with Ann for many years, I am confident that under her leadership, ASB will remain a leading financial institution for many years to come.”

Lau praised Wacker’s accomplishments during his time at the bank.

“Under Rich’s leadership, ASB has grown its assets, improved products and services, implemented contemporary risk management and analytic disciplines, and upgraded the bank’s tech­no- logy and facilities across the state,” Lau said. “His intelligence, energy and personal warmth have been a terrific match for a bank committed to providing great customer serv­ice and making banking easy for customers.”

Lau said that through Wacker’s service on multiple nonprofit boards, he has “modeled ASB’s vision of bringing real impact to our island community, particularly helping to lead innovation and entrepreneurism to diversify our state’s economy.”

A week ago American Savings announced that its first-quarter earnings jumped nearly 88% to $29.6 million amid record deposit growth and the release of $8.4 million from its loan-loss reserve.

In 2020 the bank’s net income fell 35.3% to $57.6 million while enduring financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ASB set aside $50.8 million during the year for potential loan losses.

Teranishi, in her role as executive vice president of operations, was responsible for delivering operational improvements to enhance overall customer experience. The bank said she played a key role in transitioning ASB from more traditional branch- centric operations to online and other self-service options, which have become increasingly popular with customers during the pandemic.

“It is my true honor and privilege to be selected to lead the incredible team at American Savings Bank,” Teranishi said in a statement. “When I joined ASB nearly 14 years ago, I knew there was something special about this company — the way we genuinely care about our customers, how we work together and our willingness to roll up our sleeves to support our community. I look forward to building on that success and I thank Rich for his leadership and tremendous contributions to ASB and our state.”

Teranishi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and economics from Claremont McKenna College, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington’s Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Graduate School of Business Emerging COO program.