Amy E. Curran
Executive Vice President and Director of Commercial Lending at HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORP /WA/
Executive
About Amy E. Curran
Amy E. Curran is Executive Vice President and Director of Commercial Lending at Heritage Bank, a role she has held since 2023; she joined the Bank in 2015 as a Commercial Team Leader in the Seattle region. She is age 62 and is listed among Heritage’s executive officers, but is not a named executive officer (NEO) in the proxy’s compensation tables, so individual pay details are not publicly disclosed . For context on the company’s recent performance underpinning incentive designs, Heritage’s 2023 results reflected industry headwinds with EPS and net income declines, offset by loan growth and a focus on cost actions .
| Performance Metric | FY 2022 | FY 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $6.98B | $7.17B |
| Net Income | $81.9M | $61.8M |
| Diluted EPS | $2.31 | $1.75 |
| Total Loans, Net | $4.00B | $4.29B |
| Total Deposits | $5.92B | $5.60B |
| Overhead Ratio | 2.06% | 2.33% (Adj. 2.31% for incentive) |
| Dividends Paid | $0.84 | $0.88 |
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage Bank | Executive Vice President, Director of Commercial Lending | 2023–Present | Leads commercial lending; aligns production, credit, and portfolio management to corporate objectives |
| Heritage Bank | Commercial Team Leader (Seattle) | 2015–2022 | Built and led regional commercial banking team; drove production and relationships in Seattle market |
External Roles
- No external public-company directorships or committee roles disclosed in HFWA proxy materials .
Fixed Compensation
- Individual base salary, target bonus, and equity grants for Curran are not disclosed (she is not a NEO and thus her pay is not itemized in Summary Compensation or grants tables) .
Performance Compensation
Heritage’s incentive architecture cascades through most executives and management, linking annual MIP payouts to objective corporate metrics and long-term PSUs to three-year, peer-relative goals .
- Annual MIP corporate scorecard (applies to NEOs and cascades to most executives):
| Metric | Weighting | Threshold | Target | Maximum | Actual FY 2023 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diluted EPS | 40% (NEO), 35% for CCO | $2.29 | $2.69 | $3.09 | $1.75 | EPS emphasis increased in 2023 vs. 2022 |
| Net Charge-Offs (Recoveries) / Avg Loans | 20% (NEO), 30% for CCO | 0.12% | 0.07% | 0.02% | (0.01%) | Credit quality remained strong |
| Overhead Ratio | 40% (NEO), 35% for CCO | 2.50% | 2.40% | 2.25% | 2.33% (Committee adjusted 2 bps for a one-time $1.5M fee) |
- Long-term equity (performance-vested PSUs) framework (NEOs; cascades to senior leaders as determined):
| Metric | Weighting | Threshold | Target | Maximum | Payout Mechanics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROATCE (peer-relative) | 50% | 25th percentile | 50th percentile | 75th percentile | 0%–150% of target; 4% incremental vesting per percentile point from threshold to target, 2% from target to max |
| 3-Year TSR (peer-relative) | 50% | 25th percentile | 50th percentile | 75th percentile | Same schedule as above |
- Vesting schedules (applies to NEO awards; used broadly across programs):
- RSUs: ratable three-year vesting (March 15 annually) .
- PSUs: three-year cliff vest based on peer-relative performance on TSR and ROA/ROATCE .
- Company enforces clawback policy (updated Nov 2023 per SEC/Nasdaq) on performance-based cash and equity .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual beneficial ownership (shares and RSUs) for Curran is not itemized in the Security Ownership table (which lists directors and NEOs only) .
- Stock ownership guidelines:
- CEO: ≥3x base salary; other NEOs: ≥1.5x base salary; all NEOs were in compliance as of Dec 31, 2024 .
- Directors: ≥3x annual cash retainer; all were in compliance as of Dec 31, 2024 .
- Hedging/Pledging:
- Anti-hedging policy prohibits hedging of HFWA stock; pledging discouraged, and to the company’s knowledge none of the NEOs or directors have pledged shares .
- Say-on-pay support:
- 2024 say-on-pay received >98% approval, signaling strong shareholder alignment with compensation practices .
Employment Terms
- No individual employment agreement, severance multiple, or change-in-control terms are disclosed for Curran in proxy materials (NEO agreements and CEO transitional terms are summarized, but not her) .
- Company policies:
- Clawback policy updated Nov 7, 2023 to comply with SEC/Nasdaq (superseding prior 2014 policy) .
- No tax gross-ups; no option repricing without shareholder approval; no single-trigger acceleration for service-based awards .
- Regulatory guardrails: compensation risk assessment confirmed incentives are not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect (Dec 2024) .
Performance & Track Record Context
- PSU cycle payout evidence (for NEO awards; illustrates program rigor and cyclicality):
| Metric (2021 Grant Cycle, measured through FY 2023) | Weighting | Threshold | Target | Maximum | Actual | Payout vs Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return on Average Assets (peer-relative) | 50% | 25th percentile | 50th percentile | 75th percentile | 45th percentile | 80% |
| 3-Year TSR (peer-relative) | 50% | 25th percentile | 50th percentile | 75th percentile | 17th percentile | 0% |
| Total Payout | — | — | — | — | — | 40% of target |
Compensation Peer Group (Benchmarking signals)
- Peer set used for compensation benchmarking in 2023 included 20 commercial banks (e.g., Amerant, TriCo, Byline, Veritex) with asset and market-cap ranges generally 0.5x–2.0x HFWA .
- HFWA ranked ~18th percentile market cap and ~13th percentile assets versus the peer median at 12/31/2023 .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Incentives tied to EPS, credit quality (net charge-offs), and cost discipline (overhead ratio), plus ROATCE and 3-year TSR for long-term equity, support shareholder-value creation and prudent risk-taking; these metrics cascade through senior management, likely including Commercial Lending leadership roles .
- Retention risk: Curran’s individual equity holdings and award vesting schedules are not disclosed, limiting visibility on unvested equity and potential selling pressure; monitor future proxies and Forms 4 for signal on ownership changes and vesting events .
- Governance strength: Anti-hedging, no tax gross-ups, clawback compliance, and strong say-on-pay (>98% in 2024) reduce misalignment and governance risk, supporting confidence in incentive quality even without individual disclosure .
- Watchpoints: Given bank-cycle sensitivity, changes to EPS/credit metrics and any revisions to performance targets or peer constructs should be tracked for pay-for-performance integrity and potential easing/tightening of goals .