Annual Meeting

Average deposits grew over the course of the year. Total average loans also grew, in significant measure due to the success of our effort to pivot our focus toward home equity credit lines. We did this to adjust for limited inventory of homes for sale in some markets and to work around other challenging elements of the lending environment. Originations of this product were up 19% over the prior year. We also grew commercial loans by 10% for the same period. Quality underwriting and attentive loan servicing are other fundamentals at which our team members excel and which contribute to our consistently strong results. Further, we maintained our best-in-peer group capital position – the strength upon which all other components rest. And we remained independent of easy-fix borrowings and other gimmicks.

Always looking forward, over the past year we rolled out a new business line providing banking services to the cannabis industry. We saw meaningful alignment between the financial needs of this industry and the Trustco Bank branch network and other infrastructure. We are working to establish ourselves as a leader in this space. We also renewed our contract with Fiserv for back-office support and added a number of technology features that will serve to enhance customer experience and improve operational efficiency. Also looking toward the future, we purchased a new building in Longwood, Florida that will allow us to accommodate existing operations that have outgrown our current Florida headquarters and provide room for future growth.

More than anything else being an essential element of the hometown in the communities that we serve is fundamental for us. Last May we celebrated the 100th anniversary of our branch location in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood in Schenectady, New York by giving away 100 bicycles to children who attend a neighborhood school. Mont Pleasant is a neighborhood that has been abandoned and forgotten by other businesses, but not by Trustco Bank. We also increased our support of Ronald McDonald House Charities, supporting the good works of that organization by naming a newly constructed home on their campus to provide housing and services to the families of hospitalized children.

Also with an eye toward the future, we promoted two long-tenured executives to growth-oriented roles. Robert Leonard was promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Kevin Curley was promoted to Chief Banking Officer. Between them, Bob and Kevin have over 70 years of experience at Trustco Bank. They have been charged with finding new ways to grow and improve upon our already excellent franchise. We also have expanded the roles of the next tier of leaders, ensuring that the bank will have robust leadership for many years to come.

Sadly, this year we lost Judge Barry Kramer, who was not only a great friend of the bank, serving as an advisor in our Wealth Management Department, but also a great man. Judge Kramer was a gifted athlete and a distinguished lawyer and judge. He will be missed.

We are proud of what we accomplished in 2024 because it represents the product of honest and skillful work by the many members of the Trustco Bank family. We look forward to the years to come because we have done the work necessary to build the fundamental skills that will carry us to success. As the owners of this great company, you can be assured that we are ready for what may come.

Very truly yours,

Robert J. McCormick
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Trustco Bank Corp NY