Peapack Private was founded in 1921 as Peapack-Gladstone National Bank by visionary business leaders who sought to provide a more efficient, safe, and personalized banking experience for their community. Back then, banking was done with passbooks and ledger cards, long before the advent of debit or credit cards, ATMs, drive-in teller windows, mobile banking, or cryptocurrencies.

By the end of 1925, PGNB was growing briskly and looking to expand its services. The surrounding area’s wealthy residents made the Trust business a natural choice. Thus, on November 30th, the bank reorganized as Peapack-Gladstone Trust Company with capital stock of $120,000 (well more than the state required minimum of $100,000) and ended the year with total bank assets of $542,189.

During the depths of the Great Depression, directors and others in the area agreed to purchase near-worthless securities in the bank’s investment portfolio for $73,984 to provide capital and keep the bank afloat. Concurrent with this recapitalization, the bank reorganized as Peapack-Gladstone Bank.

In 1972, PGB established today’s Trust Department. By year-end 1974, total client assets under administration in the trust department totaled $3.3 million.

From the 1970’s through the early 2000’s both the bank and the trust department grew significantly. New branches were established, the company moved its corporate headquarters two times and, in 2000, PGB made its first and only bank acquisition, acquiring Chatham Savings, FSB.

In 2012, under the guidance of the Board of Directors, the bank welcomed a new CEO. Together with the management team, they launched the “Expanding our Reach” strategy. This vision transformed the bank from a local community institution with a small trust and investment department into a high-performing, growth-oriented boutique private bank. The strategy leveraged the bank’s strong local reputation for service and trustworthiness, focusing on building a top-tier commercial banking business and significantly expanding trust and investment services.

Today, Peapack Private is recognized as a market leader within the metro New York region offering boutique banking solutions, which are deeply rooted in the tradition of building relationships and offering client-centric, single point of contact private banking.  We provide a range of value-added banking services and innovative wealth, commercial, personal, and investment banking solutions to our clients and the community. We pride ourselves on balancing personal interactions with self-service technology, always prioritizing what is best for our clients. We are proud to uphold the core principles and culture established in 1921, which have been key to our longevity and success: Clients First, Professionalism, Invested In Our Communities, Teamwork and Competing To Win.

 

Peapack Private continues to pursue the original mission established by our founders in 1921: providing value-added banking services to our community, steeped in an environment of integrity and trust.