The year-end numbers reported by Old National Bancorp, the publicly held operator of Evansville, Ind.-based Old National Bank, appear compelling..Consider: • Adjusted return on average tangible common equity = 16.9 percent • Adjusted return on average assets = 1.14 percent • Adjusted efficiency ratio = 52.2 percentBut that doesn’t mean the bank is on autopilot. “We know what got us here may not be what keeps us here,” said Tim Burke, president and chief operating officer. Strong financial performance requires investment in people and processes. Some recent efforts: • The wealth management division of Old National, which is named after the year the bank was founded—1834—opened an office at the end of last year in Naples, Fla. The division offers wealth management services to high-networth individuals and families throughout its territory, as well as in Scottsdale and Nashville. • In February, Old National Bancorp named Joe Chasteen as its chief revenue enablement officer, a newly-created strategic leadership position focused on organic growth and revenue generation. • The company is deploying artificial intelligence to its call center so it can more efficiently route calls. AI also might be used in other backroom functions.As one of the country’s oldest banks, Old National has survived multiple financial panics and crises, including the Civil War and the Great Depression, not to mention Y2K and the covid pandemic. Old National formed ts holding company in 1982 (Old National Bancorp). Since then the company has racked up 50 mergers and acquisitions that have pushed its footprint far beyond southern Indiana.The latest acquisition was Bremer Financial Corp., St. Paul, Minn. That $1.4 billion cash and stock deal brought Old National $16.5 billion of assets, including $11.8 billion in loans. The deal included $13 billion of deposits. Real estate included 70 branch locations in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. The Bremer acquisition lifted Old National to $72 billion, or into position as the sixth-largest bank based in the Midwest. It now is on a par with UMB Financial Corp., ($73 billion) of Kansas City, Mo., and Wintrust Financial, ($71 billion) of suburban Chicago. It’s still smaller than Ohio neighbors Fifth Third Bancorp ($214 billion), Huntington Bancshares ($225 billion) and KeyCorp ($184 billion). While Old National does not consider Ohio to be part of its market, it does business in nine states to the south, west and northwest of Indiana. With the Bremer acquisition, the Twin Cities now account for 15 percent of Old National’s deposits. Old National has invested more than $2 billion establishing business in Minnesota. First came its $303 million deal in 2017 to acquire Anchor Bank. Just a year later it spent $434 million to acquire Chaska, Minn.-based Klein Bank. And the most recent deal, the privately held Bremer, (the Otto Bremer Trust, formed by bank founder Otto Bremer, is now the largest shareholder of Old National Bancorp) which closed about a year ago.Old National’s ramp-up in Minnesota has not gone unnoticed, or unchallenged. Late in 2025, competitor Bridgewater Bank of St. Louis Park, Minn., rented 52 billboards across the Twin Cities with declarations like “Not Old. Not National. Just Right.” Or “Ditch the Old & National.”Bell Bank, of Fargo, N.D., has extensive operations in and around Minneapolis, and its competition with Old National has taken a more serious tone. In December, Old National filed a lawsuit against Bell Bank (Old National v. Adams, 0:25-cv-04636, U.S. District Court Minnesota) accusing Bell of a coup d’etat for orchestrating the resignation of senior employees. The claim of unfair competition and breach of fiduciary duty centered on the departure of Old National staffers from offices in the central Minnesota communities of Baxter and Brainerd.In January the federal judge overseeing the case denied Old National’s request for a restraining order that would stop Bell Bank from soliciting its customers, saying it would improperly restrict lawful competition. Meanwhile, Bell Bank opened a new branch in Baxter in early March.Chicago is the largest city with a major Old National presence. In 2022 it acquired the $22 billion First Midwest Bancorp. About a third of Old National’s deposits originate in the Chicago market, where the bank is the market’s ninth-largest local player.In its other major metros, Old National holds down fourth place in Minneapolis-St. Paul, 12th place in Indianapolis, and 12th place in Milwaukee. It remains No. 1 in hometown Evansville, which is Indiana’s third-largest city.“We have local market presidents that deliver” into these cities, said Burke. They and deputies are in charge of cementing relationships with local businesses, as Burke believes “people make decisions on who they bank with by who they trust.”Old National is now of the size where Burke said they can compete against the super-billion dollar banks. Old National positions itself as a community bank, and in going forward he thinks their biggest opportunity will be in the commercial and industrial loan space in the middle market.“We feel very good about the middle,” Burke said. “We’re of the size where we feel we can compete. We can deliver in commercial.”Commercial Banking CEO Jim Sandgren closed out a 35-year Old National career last month; he was instrumental in shaping the company’s commercial banking strategy. Chris Doyle, who previously worked at KeyBank, has been named the bank's new president of commercial banking.Analyst John Rodis with Brean Capital LLC of St. Paul, Minn., said Old National indeed can deliver. “It has all the products to compete,” he said.Old National is a fairly conservative lender, Rodis said. It doesn’t appear to have any special niche beyond a focus on commercial and industrial space. And he said they’re good at controlling expenses. While Old National marches along with general banking, Rodis said he sees opportunities for the company with its work in capital markets and wealth management.Old National’s Capital Markets Group stays profitably busy arranging and distributing syndicated loans, while the wealth management business is overseeing $28 billion in assets (and growing if the Florida office succeeds). Their efforts in that area create fees, without credit risk, which Rodis likes.Old National has plenty of competitors in wealth management. Northern Trust in Chicago is an obvious top competitor. Old National, including its wealth management business, is active in the Chicago area. Old National reported $39 million in wealth management fees in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 30 percent jump over the year-ago period. Its capital markets sector recorded $13 million in income, a 160 percent rise over fourth quarter of 2024. Total adjusted non-interest income, which includes bank, mortgage and other fees, amounted to $126 million, compared to $96 million a year ago.Old National has noted in its investment thesis that it is a proven acquirer, and indeed 50 acquisitions back up that assertion. It may be a while before acquisition 51 occurs, though, as Burke said the company is hitting the pause button on M&A.“Not doing deals for a while makes sense,” said Rodis, implying there’s lots of business opportunities in Indiana and other Old National states.If Old National finds itself with extra capital, Piper Sandler banking analyst Scott Siefers said share buybacks would be a “prudent use of their funds.” The company recently announced a $400 million buyback plan, which is double the amount of the plan that was due to expire.Old National also has boosted the quarterly dividend paid on its common shares.For this article, Burke was asked whether “Old National” works as a name now that it has spread so far from its roots. Does Old National ring as true and trusted in Fargo in 2026, as it has for 192 years in Evansville? After all, Regions Bank started as First Alabama Bankshares. Key Corp., sprang up from the Cleveland Society for Savings.“We feel very comfortable with who we are as a bank,” said Burke. And Old National it remains.
