Anthony Saravanos
About Anthony Saravanos
Anthony Saravanos, age 54, serves as non-executive Chair of the Board at BayFirst Financial Corp (BAFN). He joined the Board in 2011 and is considered independent, serving on Compensation and Nominating committees; he is also a member of the Executive Committee . Saravanos earned a B.A. (Economics and Spanish) from Ursinus College (1992) and an MBA from Villanova University (1997); he holds the CCIM credential and has over two decades in commercial real estate and investment banking . He also sits on the Board of HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE: HCI) and is President of Greenleaf Capital, a division of HCI Group .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Boardwalk Company | Vice President | 2005–2013 | Led commercial real estate sales/leasing and property/project management |
| BayFirst Financial Corp. | Director | 2011–present | Advanced to Chair of the Board; committee service in Compensation, Nominating, Executive |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE: HCI) | Director | Not disclosed; serving by 2025 | Public company board experience |
| Greenleaf Capital (division of HCI Group) | President | 2013–present | Investment leadership within HCI Group |
Board Governance
- Committee assignments: Compensation Committee (member), Nominating Committee (member), Executive Committee (member). He is not on the Audit and Risk Management Committee .
- Chair roles: Non-executive Chair of the Board (Company); committee chairs are DeLoach (Compensation), Zipperian (Audit), Politis (CSR), and Mark S. Berset (Executive, Nominating) .
- Independence: Compensation Committee and Nominating Committee members are affirmed independent under Nasdaq and SEC rules; thus Saravanos is independent .
- Attendance: Board held 9 meetings in 2024; all directors attended at least 75% of Board and committee meetings; all then-current directors attended the 2024 Annual Meeting .
- Bank board service: The Bank’s Board includes all Company directors except Mark S. Berset .
- Shareholder support: 2025 director election — votes For 2,376,787; Withheld 193,033; implied support ~92.5% of votes cast (For ÷ (For+Withheld)) .
Fixed Compensation
| Component | 2024 Amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| Cash fees earned (Company + Bank director service) | $64,250 |
| Meeting fees (policy) | $1,500 per Company Board meeting; $1,500 per separate Bank Board meeting |
| Chair retainers (policy) | Board/Bank Board Chair: $22,500; Audit Chair: $10,000; Nominating Chair: $7,500; Compensation Chair: $7,500; CSR Chair: $5,000 |
| Committee meeting fees (policy) | $500 per Audit, Compensation, CSR, Credit & Loan, Asset Liability, Compliance committee meeting |
Notes:
- As Chair of the Board, Saravanos is eligible for the Chair retainer under policy; his 2024 cash earned reflects aggregate fees across Company and Bank director service .
Performance Compensation
| Item | 2024 Value/Terms |
|---|---|
| Stock awards (director grant fair value) | $14,625 |
| Equity plan capacity | EIP reserve equals 15% of outstanding shares, capped at 1,500,000 shares |
| Equity grant timing policy | In development; awards to be granted only in open trading windows and when not in possession of MNPI to avoid spring-loading risk |
| Grant timing practice | February 2024 grants made four days after year-end earnings release, consistent with prior years and based on full-year performance |
| Non-Qualified Stock Purchase Plan | Employees may buy shares via payroll deduction (up to 10% pay) with up to 10% discount; directors may purchase via fee deduction but are not eligible for the discount |
Compensation mix signal:
- 2024 mix for Saravanos: Cash $64,250; Equity $14,625; equity comprised ~18.6% of disclosed director compensation for the year (computed from cited amounts) .
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Company | Role | Potential Interlock Considerations |
|---|---|---|
| HCI Group, Inc. | Director | No related-party transactions with HCI disclosed by BayFirst; monitor for any future business ties given Saravanos’ dual roles at HCI |
| Greenleaf Capital (HCI division) | President | Executive role within HCI ecosystem; same monitoring caveat as above |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) credential; licensed real estate broker .
- 22+ years in commercial property sales, leasing, and property/project management; investment banking background .
- Education: B.A. in Economics & Spanish (Ursinus, 1992); MBA (Villanova, 1997) .
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Beneficial Shares | Right to Acquire (≤60 days) | % of Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Saravanos | 55,991.03 | 23,700.00 | 1.92% (base 4,129,027 shares) |
Policy signals:
- Hedging/short selling prohibition applies to all directors, officers, employees; no pledging policy disclosed in proxy and no pledging by Saravanos disclosed .
Governance Assessment
- Independence and committee leverage: As an independent Chair serving on Compensation and Nominating, Saravanos is positioned to influence pay governance and board refreshment; independence is explicitly affirmed for his committees . This supports investor confidence in oversight.
- Engagement and shareholder support: Documented attendance threshold (≥75%) and strong 2025 vote support (~92.5% of votes cast) suggest acceptable engagement and shareholder endorsement .
- Pay structure: Director compensation is modest and largely fee-based, with a small equity component ($14,625), aligning incentives without excessive risk; Board is formalizing grant timing to mitigate spring-loading optics .
- Ownership alignment: Meaningful personal stake (55,991.03 shares plus 23,700 rights) at ~1.92% of shares outstanding indicates skin-in-the-game; no hedging/short selling permitted; no pledging disclosed .
- Conflicts and related-party exposure: Proxy discloses related-party transactions involving other directors (Politis family lease; Berset family insurance agency payments) and loans to insiders in the ordinary course (~$9.26M, 0.87% of loan portfolio, current per terms) with disinterested director approval requirements; no specific related-party transactions disclosed for Saravanos. This is a board-level reputational risk to monitor, but not directly tied to him based on current disclosures .
- Compensation governance: Compensation Committee uses independent consultant Pearl Meyer; independence assessed with no conflicts, and executive sessions exclude the CEO when setting CEO pay—positive governance hygiene .
Red flags to monitor:
- Board-level related-party dealings (real estate lease and insurance agency payments) could pressure perceived independence of the board overall, though not attributed to Saravanos personally .
- Dual roles at HCI (director; division president) create potential future interlocks if BayFirst engages with HCI entities; no such transactions disclosed to date .
Appendix: Committee Membership Snapshot (Saravanos)
| Committee | Role |
|---|---|
| Compensation | Member |
| Nominating | Member |
| Executive | Member |
| Audit & Risk Management | Not a member |
Appendix: Director Election 2025 (Saravanos)
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Votes For | 2,376,787 |
| Votes Withheld | 193,033 |
| Abstentions/Broker Non-Votes | 1,559,207 (reported column value) |
| Support (% of votes cast) | ~92.5% (computed from For and Withheld) |
Sources: BayFirst DEF 14A filed April 4, 2025 ; DEF 14A filed April 5, 2024 ; Form 8-K (Item 5.07) filed May 19, 2025 .