Live Oak Bank now has a new leader. The Wilmington-based financial institution announced Wednesday that Huntley Garriott was appointed president effective Monday.
 
Garriott's hiring was announced by Live Oak Bank in April with his tentative start date set for Oct. 1.
 
He replaces Scott Custer as the bank's president. Custer, according to Wednesday's news release, "will remain at Live Oak in a senior position to focus on strategic development goals."

Asked about his immediate goals in his new position, Garriott said he wants to find opportunities to foster the bank's continued growth.
 
"I'm excited to be here and impressed with the success of the company. I want to be part of it," he said in an interview Wednesday. "My background has been working with financial institutions; primarily with banks. I have a perspective on how the banking industry is evolving and the importance of technology."
 
Technology, Garriott said, is key to making Live Oak Bank competitive against much larger institutions.
 
"The last decade [for Live Oak Bank] has been incredibly successful, and we look forward to the next decade," he said, adding that Live Oak is "at the intersection of technology and banking."
 
Through the partners Live Oak has and what it is doing in-house, Garriott believes that it will be on the leading edge of banking in the years to come.
 
Prior to joining Live Oak, Garriott served as partner at Goldman Sachs in its Investment Banking Division and as co-head of the Banks and Specialty Finance team within the Financial Institutions Group, according to the release. During his 20-year career at Goldman, Garriott covered regional banks throughout North America and held a variety of roles focused on traditional investment banking, private equity investing, debt capital markets and risk management. He was named managing director in 2007 and partner in 2014. 
 
“We are in the business of making sure our country’s entrepreneurs have the capital they need to successfully support the backbone of America’s economy,” Live Oak Chairman and CEO Chip Mahan said in the release. “Huntley will continue to steer Live Oak in the direction of being a game changer in the industry.”
 
Founded in 2008 as a financial institution focused on providing SBA-backed loans to businesses in a select group of industries, Live Oak has grown significantly in both lending and deposits. At the close of the second quarter of 2018 it reported net earnings available to common shareholders of $14.3 million, a 46 percent increase over those of Q2 of 2017.
 
In early September, the bank announced the establishment of Live Oak Private Wealth, a wealth advisory unit.