After McKinsey Musings, Texas Bank Aims to Escape Fate of Rivals

A cadre of McKinsey & Co. consultants strode into a meeting with Houston’s most prominent local bank to dwell on the problem bedeviling thousands of regional banks: How to stay relevant.

“The thing that I laugh at, though, is they had a chart,” said Steve Stephens, the CEO of Amegy Bank, recalling the presentation to the board of its parent company in late 2022. McKinsey’s message was that banks such as Amegy could find a lucrative business niche, like the so-called specialty regional banks that it spotlighted in slides, he said.

“Well, that was First Republic, Silicon ...