Patrick K. Murphy
Title: Vice President, Commercial
Banking Division, Rockland Trust
Age: 43 years old
Experience: 17 years in finance; seven in commercial banking
Patrick Murphy has walked an interesting path, to say the least. The Milford native started out as a college hockey star, but during a stint in semi-pro hockey, he says, “I got my butt kicked.” From there, he worked as a stock trader at Tucker Anthony and a middle-market lender at PNC Bank, CitiBank and Middlesex Savings Bank. He credits his wife Michelle for supporting him the whole way. But after a career and education that took him up and down the East Coast. they’ve now settled in Mendon, and Murphy is enjoying a pretty comfortable position as Rockland Trust’s new vice president of commercial banking.
Q: Why did you transition from trading to commercial banking?
A: I love trading, but you were tied to the desk as soon as the 9:30 bell hit until 4. Especially on a busy day, you could not leave your desk. You were eating lunch at your desk, running to the bathroom, having someone watch your computer as you’re running to the bathroom.
The dot-commers and all the tech stocks were very volatile. No one carried a position overnight, and there was more movement. The bank stocks were a little more strategic because you had to have an idea of where things are going over a period of time. So one of the ways that I would get order flow – and that’s how you make your money – was through the buy-side firms. I loved dealing with those guys and building a relationship with them so they can give you order flow or selling them a block of stock that they carried in one of their portfolios.
I loved trading, and I loved talking to these buy-side guys, so when I went back to school, I asked myself, “How can I incorporate the two?” And I found commercial lending. You’re incorporating the skill set I built up on the finance side with the education, but then it’s client-facing. You’re out there and meeting with people, but then when you get back, you have to have an understanding of the financials.
Q: How are the markets different between Middlesex Savings Bank and Rockland Trust?
A: Middlesex was more of a suburban, smaller end of the middle market, where the majority of the companies that you’re running into are owner-founder-family run. We had a lending limit in-house at $20 million. Here it’s a little different, the sweet spots are about the same, that $1 [million] to $10 million range. But here my focus is Braintree and Boston, so it’s going to be much bigger companies, and they have a lending limit of $70 million, so it’s going to be a little closer to where I was at CitiBank.
But it wasn’t so much the client focus for me as it was the setup at the banks. At Middlesex, I was responsible for business development, the write-ups, the underwriting, the structuring, the pricing. A lot of times, if you run into a deal, you’re stuck at your desk for weeks at a time. The commercial focus is huge at Rockland. They’ve had their commercial arm there since 1907. They get that the banker has to be out there. So they have a portfolio manager that can help with the underwriting, so they have an analySt. they have product specialists, and that enables the banker to be out there more, meeting with clients, meeting with prospects, dealing with more face to faces, which is what I really enjoy.
Q: Have you learned anything playing hockey that you can apply to banking?
A: Oh, big time. I’m the oldest of four boys, so I’ve always been team-oriented. I love having people around, and that’s what I especially love about Rockland. You’ve got a portfolio manager to help you, you’ve got a credit analyst to help you, you’ve got product specialists, so each area you get into, you’re bringing these folks out to meet with prospects and clients. We’re all working together as a team to come up with a strategy to move them to where they want to be and help them out with any situation, whether it’s buying a building or a line of credit or a term loan for equipment. The team orientation that you get from playing sports, it teaches you how to work in that kind of team, too, I think.
Patrick Murphy’s Top Five Boston Restaurants:
1. Capital Grille
2. Mr. Dooley’s on Broad Street
3. The Sail Loft on Atlantic Ave.
4. Grille 23
5. Bangkok Blue
