The Central Trust Bank

Overview

• Bank holding company headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri.
• Operates through its full-service subsidiary, The Central Trust Bank, offering consumer, commercial and wealth management products and services.
• Primary operations in Missouri, with growth in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Florida.

Scale and footprint (as of December 31, 2025)

• Total consolidated assets: $20.75 billion.
• Wealth assets under advice: $16.0 billion.
• Branch network: 155 full-service branches.
• Primary markets: 11 markets, serving 79 communities.
• Deposit market share in its footprint: approximately 24%.
• Markets served include Jefferson City; Kansas City, MO-KS MSA (and Lawrence, KS MSA); Columbia; St. Louis; Springfield; Lake of the Ozarks; Branson; Sedalia; Warrensburg; Oklahoma (Tulsa MSA and Oklahoma City MSA); Colorado (Denver-Aurora-Centennial MSA, Colorado Springs MSA, Durango µSA). Naples, FL operates as a separate market.
• Employees: approximately 3,036 total (2,765 full-time and 271 part-time).

Customer base

• Consumer Banking: serves approximately 257,000 households via 155 branches; includes mortgage team and residential mortgage operations.
• Commercial Banking: serves approximately 69,000 small, middle-market and commercial business entities.

Business model and lines of business

• Relationship-based, community banking model designed to serve the financial needs of businesses, individuals, government and community organizations.
• Consumer Banking: deposits, consumer lending (including home equity lines of credit), a digital banking platform, and in-house mortgage servicing for certain loans.
• Commercial Banking: full-spectrum relationship banking for businesses and government clients; comprehensive treasury/cash management, payments, card and liquidity solutions; government/business banking with approximately $2.6 billion in public funds across roughly 450 relationships.
• Wealth Management: two platforms — Central Trust Company (about $11.0 billion of assets under advice across nine locations) and Central Investment Advisors (in partnership with LPL Financial; 104 locations) offering investment management, fiduciary, retirement and financial planning services. Over 150 professionals across the wealth platforms as of 12/31/2025.
• Technology and client experience: in-house technology division with about 65 programmers and designers; strong digital and mobile focus — average iOS app rating 4.9/5 with over 53,000 ratings (as of 3/1/2026) and 310 mobile functionalities, including features comparable to larger banks.

Deposits and funding

• Total deposits: $15.9 billion (as of 12/31/2025).
• Deposit composition: ~35.4% noninterest-bearing; ~54.3% savings and interest-bearing demand; ~10.3% time deposits.
• Deposit mix by customer type: ~50% consumer; ~33% commercial; ~17% public funds.
• Cost of deposits (2025 averages): consumer 0.96%; commercial 0.92%; public funds 2.60%; total deposit cost 1.18% for the year.
• Government-related deposits (public funds) total about $2.6 billion as of 12/31/2025.
• Growth plan includes a mix of conventional deposit growth and targeted liquidity to support expansion and acquisitions.

Asset and loan composition

• Loans held for investment: about $11.5 billion (consolidated).
• Real estate concentration (as of 12/31/2025): Commercial Real Estate (CRE) and Construction & Development (C&D) total roughly $5.301 billion, with lending heavily weighted toward Missouri and other primary markets.
• CRE and C&D represent a substantial portion of the loan portfolio, diversified across property types and locations. As of 12/31/2025, 87.8% of total loans were to borrowers residing or organized in primary markets.

Wealth management

• Wealth assets under advice: $16.0 billion.
• Central Trust Company: manages about $11.0 billion across nine locations.
• Central Investment Advisors (with LPL): provides traditional brokerage and managed solutions across 104 locations.

Performance and customer experience

• Net Promoter Score (NPS) for 2025 is reported at the market level and included in consolidated market data.
• Employee satisfaction: 86% of employees would recommend working at the bank (most recent employee survey).
• Customer satisfaction: emphasis on relationship banking and “legendary service,” with market-specific customer satisfaction metrics tracked.

Strategy and growth

• Strategic plan, “The Road Ahead” (initiated 2022), focused on profitable growth through:
  • Customer growth and operational efficiency (opened six new branches in OK, CO, FL; closed three branches; plans for eight new branches in St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver).
  • Deepening customer relationships via cross-selling and expanded treasury management for wealth clients, including private banking and treasury management hires.
  • Pursuing acquisitions that are accretive to earnings per share with a target return on invested capital above 10%; balance sheet positioned with capital and liquidity to support transactions.
• Awards and recognition: Forbes #9 Best Bank in 2026; one of two banks to appear in Forbes’ Top 50 every year since 2009; Newsweek Best Customer Service Bank in 2023.

Summary

The company operates a community-focused banking franchise through The Central Trust Bank, offering consumer, commercial and wealth management services across 11 primary markets plus Naples, FL. It emphasizes relationship banking, local market leadership and ongoing investment in technology, private banking and treasury management to deepen customer relationships. The franchise maintains a sizable deposit base, a substantial real estate-related loan portfolio, and a growing wealth management business with significant assets under advice, and it pursues branch expansion and selective acquisitions supported by capital and liquidity.