Anthony Perettine has spent his career building equipment finance businesses inside larger banks, and he says the pattern was never about the institution. “The common thread throughout my career has been working for organizations that put the client first every day,” he says of his moves through Capital One, Signature Bank and Flagstar Financial en route to becoming president of Peapack Capital. What drew him to this seat was Peapack’s “culture of ownership — where leadership, accountability and results are directly connected to reward and compensation, creating highly motivated teams focused on delivering exceptional client experiences.”
That instinct for building rather than maintaining resurfaces when he discusses scaling. Having launched ground-up platforms at Capital One and Signature Bank, Perettine has reached a counterintuitive conclusion about his current assignment: “Integrating and scaling an existing platform can be even more complex than a de novo build.” His response has been to organize around three priorities: “building one unified team, accelerating client confidence in our platform and leveraging technology across the business,” while inheriting a portfolio that had reached $923.4 million by year-end 2025 through mostly indirect originations.
Strategically, he describes the approach in restrained terms. “Our philosophy is building depth before breadth,” he says, prioritizing the firm’s three established verticals — capital markets, intermediary funding and direct originations — over chasing new ones.
On what separates Peapack Capital from competitors, he points past the balance sheet to something less tangible: “What truly differentiates us is the culture,” referring to a white-glove service ethic he says Peapack Private has cultivated for more than a century.
His leadership style follows the same thread. “My leadership philosophy is fairly simple: stay relentlessly focused on clients, remain results-oriented and lead with tough-mindedness when it comes to execution and accountability,” he says. He pairs this with a belief that “high-performing teams are built on trust, respect and shared purpose.” On risk, he is direct: “At Peapack Capital, everyone is a risk manager first,” a principle he credits for disciplined growth through volatile cycles.
Asked what success looks like three to five years out, Perettine keeps the bar high but the framing simple: build a national platform with a strong foundation, an experienced team and a clear strategy, where growth alone is not the objective, but profitable, risk-adjusted growth is.
“Our philosophy is to build depth before breadth — maximize the opportunities within our existing platforms, then selectively expand where we can bring differentiated expertise and value to the market.”
Rita E. Garwood is editor in chief of Monitor.