AmeriServ Financial

Jan 12, 2023

3 Min Read REGISTER NOW After accumulating an 8% ownership stake in AmeriServ Financial, a prominent activist investor is seeking a big say in how the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, community bank is run. Abbott Cooper, founder and managing member of Driver Management Co. in New York, has a track record of pursuing change at community banks he deems "underperforming." Cooper says he believes the $1.4 billion-asset AmeriServ — which  reported a return on assets of 0.65% and an efficiency ratio north of 81% through the first nine months of 2022 — is ripe for a shake-up. To that end, Cooper is seeking three seats on AmeriServ's board. Cooper said he is likely to occupy one of the seats himself. He wants the other two for a pair of colleagues, though he has yet to identify them. AmeriServ has 10 directors, including President and CEO Jeffrey Stopko. According to the company's most recent proxy statement, three directors are up for reelection in 2023. AmeriServ hasn't ruled out agreeing to Cooper's terms. It said Thursday in a written statement it was "always open to considering director candidates put forth by shareholders." Driver Management's Abbott Cooper is seeking a bigger voice in charting a course for AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Abbott Cooper "In addition to asking Driver to share its ideas for enhancing our ongoing value-creation efforts, we have invited the firm to provide director-candidate biographies and make individuals available for interviews," the company added. However, Cooper said he is disinclined to give the board a say in the matter. "We've asked them to make changes at the board level," Cooper said in an interview. "If they're not ready to do that, we'll take the matter to the shareholders. … We don't have any interest in letting a board that has done nothing for shareholders over the past 20 years limit who shareholders can vote for as directors." AmeriServ has been a presence in Johnstown for well over a century, with community-banking roots stretching back to 1901. Founded as United States National Bank of Johnstown, it rebranded as AmeriServ in May 2001. It put Stopko in charge in 2015. For the first nine months of 2022, AmeriServ reported net income of $6.5 million, up 23% from the same period in 2021. Cooper is focused more on AmeriServ's performance metrics, most notably its efficiency ratio and return on assets, both of which lag industry averages. The efficiency ratio in particular "is way too high," Cooper said. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the average ROA for community banks was 1.13% on Sept. 30. The average efficiency ratio was 60%.