Tayloe brings banking knowledge, energy to Financial Federal board

Feature profile for The Memphis Daily News

Special Emphasis: Financial Services

Nov. 12, 2012

At the age of 34, William Tayloe became the youngest president in the 27-year history of Financial Federal Savings Bank. Now, at 39, he has been named to the bank’s board of directors.

Financial Federal has a strong base in real estate banking, a natural for Tayloe, whose family is well-known in the area real estate market. He began as a loan officer and, like so many of the other employees of the bank, has worn many hats over the years.

“When I was looking around, Financial Federal had a pretty successful business and was a highly respected lender,” Tayloe said. “In particular in real estate, both residential and commercial, so that was probably what was attractive to me.”

He was named president in 2008, an inauspicious year for business in general and for the banking industry specifically.

Tayloe endured a trial by fire, leaning on the knowledge base of the many veteran employees, mentors such as Kent Wunderlich, shareholders, quality customers and, of course, “a strong capital base, a good foundation,” Tayloe said.

“I think he’s done extremely well,” said Wunderlich, chairman of the board and general counsel for Financial Federal. “I think every bank had some concerns in 2008, some things that we’d never seen before and we all had to adjust somewhat, and it took a lot of thought, a lot of energy, a lot of organization to keep moving on.” … (read more)