U.S. Bancorp, Banking's Bore, Is Thriving

At a November panel discussion, Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan was asked who he worried would steal his customers. “Richard,” he said, nodding to U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis, drawing laughter from the bankers and regulators in the New York ballroom. Then it was William Demchak’s turn to answer. “Yeah, I’d say Richard,” said Demchak, the head of PNC Financial Services Group.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, with assets of $364 billion, hasn’t posted an annual loss during Davis’s seven-year tenure. With branches in 25 states, mostly in the Midwest and West, Davis has concentrated on retail customers and the trust business, managing money for corporations and governments. Eschewing investment banking, proprietary trading, and subprime mortgage lending has helped him avoid the worst of the mounting legal costs that plague larger peers. “We are still boring,” says Davis. “Boring means we won’t get in and out of stuff we don’t know.”