First Tennessee Bank is expanding its focus on businesses with specialized banking needs by hiring bankers with extensive experience in four areas: franchise finance, healthcare finance, music industry banking and structured equipment finance. By attracting experienced bankers with established relationships to lead these specialty areas, First Tennessee will expand its expertise and grow its business throughout Tennessee and with selected customers across the country.

The new specialty areas and executives who will lead the teams:

Franchise Finance
First Tennessee has hired Todd Jones, former senior managing director for brand management for General Electric Capital Corp., to lead the franchise finance team. With the hiring of Jones and expansion of the team of bankers experienced in meeting the unique needs of franchise finance customers, First Tennessee is significantly expanding its franchise finance business following the acquisition of approximately $537 million in restaurant franchise finance loans from GE Capital. 

Healthcare Finance
Brooks Hubbard has joined First Tennessee to lead a specialty healthcare finance group focused on sponsor-backed healthcare transactions in Tennessee and throughout the United States. Before joining First Tennessee, Hubbard was managing director of healthcare banking for one of the country’s 25 largest banks.     

Music Industry Banking
Andrew Kintz, one of the leading bankers on Nashville’s Music Row, is establishing First Tennessee’s first dedicated music industry banking group. Kintz and his team will spearhead a new strategy focused on music industry businesses and individuals including publishers, management firms, agencies, labels, producers, artists, songwriters, attorneys and other music industry centers of influence in Tennessee, the Southeast and nationally.

Structured Equipment Finance
Lee Palm, a financial industry veteran experienced at developing successful de novo business segments, will lead First Tennessee’s new structured equipment finance banking group. Palm and his team will focus on business aviation, construction, marine, rail and trucking finance.

“Banking is a relationship business, and we’ve been able to attract some very talented bankers who have developed great relationships and deep expertise in a variety of specialized finance areas,” said David Popwell, president of banking for First Tennessee’s parent company, First Horizon National Corp. “Our specialty banking businesses have traditionally been among our strongest, and we are building on that success with these new members of the talented First Tennessee team.”

First Tennessee Bank, the largest bank headquartered in Tennessee, was founded during the Civil War in 1864 and has the 14th oldest national bank charter in the country and one of the highest customer retention rates of any bank in the country.