HUNTINGTON -- Mike Perry is happy with what he sees today in banking in his hometown of Huntington.

He can remember when the average banker in West Virginia couldn't loan more than $75,000.

"That wouldn't even cover some significant house loans at the time, let alone taking care of businesses and all those things," said Perry, retired CEO and chairman of Bank One West Virginia.

When he switched from a career in law and joined First Huntington National Bank around 1980, "only two banks in the state could loan $2 million to a customer," he said. Needless to say, the state's wealthiest families and business owners headed right out of state for their banking needs. And many of the entrepreneurs who needed capital for local projects were out of luck.

Thankfully, Perry says, all that is changed now after some legislative reform. His former bank is now J.P. Morgan Chase, which has a team of employees the world over and right here in Huntington.

According to Federal Reserve data from June 2009, J.P. Morgan is the largest bank in the United States. Others banks in Huntington that made the top 35 include BB&T, No. 11, as well as Fifth Third, No. 26, and Huntington Bank, No. 32.

There are certain advantages to having the largest bank in the world right in your hometown, Perry said, namely having those resources available.

"That's what creates the jobs and pays the taxes and makes the economic engine run -- the people willing to take those risks and make those major investments," Perry said. "There wouldn't have been much of a state in West Virginia if we hadn't built railroads, and if we hadn't built the railroads, we wouldn't have much of a coal industry."

J.P. Morgan, the private banking and wealth management arm of Chase Bank, provides wealthy families and individuals in Huntington access to the same financial guidance that is offered to billion-dollar-net-worth families listed on the Forbes 400. J.P. Morgan Chase, in fact, serves more than half the families on that list, said Mark Prince, CEO and managing director of J.P. Morgan Chase in West Virginia.

J.P. Morgan Chase Bank as a whole has $2.2 trillion in assets, $108 billion in common equity. As of March 2009, the wealth management arm, J.P. Morgan, managed more than $249 billion in client assets, serving clients from 25 states and 11 countries.

Locally, it's just a growth of what started as trust departments of local banks.

"Huntington had large, capable trust departments, but not the large, global powerhouse that we have today," Prince said. "We're very proud of the trust business that we have had for generations."

It's hard to describe the anguish of getting archaic banking laws changed back in the 1980s, Perry said -- laws that wouldn't permit banks to have branches or off-premise ATMs, let alone make substantial loans. Eventually, however, the West Virginia Legislature did make changes.

In 1981, First Huntington National merged with about 20 banks to form an organization called Key Centurion, and that was West Virginia's first billion dollar banking organization, Perry said. In 1995, it merged with Bank One in Columbus. Then Bank One became part of Chase.

Perry said he's proud after seeing First Huntington National Bank grow to a $150 million bank, then a $3 billion bank to what it is today as Chase.

J.P. Morgan brings to the mix an extremely robust investment capability, combined with the personal touch you get by working with bankers who live and work right in your state and community. At the same time, it can bring in key experts in wealth management from cities like Columbus, Lexington and New York to offer advice as well.

Trust and estate specialist Melony Pickens started with the group 17 years ago when it was part of First Huntington National Bank, and said that while they offered the best service available at the time, they were limited in what they could do for their customers.

"The depth and breadth of what is available now ... is very exciting," she said.

J.P. Morgan offers customized lending solutions for its clients, investment expertise and a variety of plans to optimize wealth. One example is currency baskets that have a mix of the global currencies most likely to appreciate in the coming months. They can help determine the European and Asian equities with the best values.

"Anybody can do international investing, but we actually have people who live in those economies and have feet on the street in those economies," Pickens said. That gives them an edge, she said.

J.P. Morgan offers access to world-leading private equity managers, Prince said.

"If you were to see their average returns over the past 20 years, they're very impressive numbers," he said. "We're putting them to work for people right here."

They may be one of the biggest banking institutions in the world, but the key is maintaining personal relationships, said Pickens, who has some clients just blocks away, and some as far away as Hawaii. As generations pass, some beneficiaries move out of area but have maintained her services.

A person's trust is a very intimate thing, she said, and she's seen her bank come a long way in terms of tax and charitable planning, and watching Congress to stay updated on how the latest legislation might affect clients.

It's not a matter of making a commission. J.P. Morgan's staff do not earn commission, but get pay that coincides with growth of the company.

And the bank has held its own through the recession, Prince said.

"Our firm has weathered this financial storm extremely well," he said. Leaders of J.P. Morgan Chase have been sought out for advice from central banks around the world, he said.

Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan has continued growing its wealth management services and team.

Randy Atkins was recently hired onto J.P. Morgan's team for his extensive experience in working with high-net-worth clients on their investment management, banking, financial and wealth transfer needs. He's had 30 years in the business and has extensive experience in the energy field.

Most recently, as principal of Brook Investment, Atkins advised public and private coal companies, as well as private equity and hedge funds in over $3 billion of capital market transactions over the past six years.

Joining J.P. Morgan allows him to do that sophisticated work here in his hometown, rather than commuting so frequently to New York, he said.

Along with Prince, Atkins and Pickens, J.P. Morgan's Huntington team includes client service associate Eva Ellis, administrative assistant Rebecca Fetty and the newly hired wealth manager associate Jason Davis.

"We're constantly looking for the opportunity to add talent to our team," Prince said. Despite the recession, J.P. Morgan is one of the few firms expanding aggressively and still looking to hire talent from the industry, he said.

Perry, for one, is very pleased with what he sees.

"I'm proud of what Mark and these people are doing by bringing in bright new people in addition to the people that were there when I retired," Perry said. "Randy is a good example -- people who have been in New York and are familiar with large financial transactions. Particularly because West Virginia is an energy-dependent state, it's nice to have people like Randy -- familiar with the coal, oil and gas industry -- as part of our community and our bank."

And Prince, he said, "was part of the board of the Bank One organization in Portsmouth, Ohio. ... He's been one of our superstars, and I'm excited to see him doing well."

"All these years later, I'm proud of the fact that we're part of one of the largest, best capitalized financial institutions in the world," Perry said.

There's plenty of room for all sizes of banks, he said.

"There's nothing wrong with small banks and local banks and regional banks, but there's nothing wrong with being part of an international bank," he said.

AP Video

Lori Wolfe/The Herald-Dispatch

Eva Ellis (front left), Rebecca Fetty, Melony Pickens, Jason Davis, along with Mark Prince (back left) and Randy Atkins all work on the Wealth Management team at J.P. Morgan Chase, which is the private investment/wealth management arm of Chase Bank.

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