News Releases

Harris Names Kathy Weber & Andrea Ward to Key Rockford Leadership Positions

CHICAGO, May 11, 2010 –Harris today announced the appointments of Kathy Weber to Managing Director of Harris Private Bank-Rockford and Andrea Ward to Regional President-Rockford as it continues to fill key leadership positions following its recent acquisition of AMCORE.

Kathy Weber, a Rockford native and former head of AMCORE's Private Banking, has been named Managing Director of Harris Private Bank-Rockford. She will lead a highly experienced team of wealth management professionals including portfolio managers, trust administrators, private bankers, and wealth advisors.

Harris Private Bank delivers integrated wealth advisory services across 19 U.S. markets that include: personal trust, investment management, private banking, brokerage, insurance, comprehensive family office services, and Harris enCircle – a financial management product designed for clients dealing with aging parents.

"Kathy is a proven leader in wealth management and an executive whose business and civic life is deeply woven in the fabric of the Rockford community," said Terry Jenkins, Harris Private Bank president & CEO.  "As managing director –Harris Private Bank's top market leadership position—she will build awareness of our best-in-class wealth advisory model."

Weber joins the Harris Private Bank leadership team with 25 years of experience advising high net-worth clients. 

She is a board member of the Rockford Health Careers Foundation, the Swedish American Hospital Women's Advisory Committee and the Coronado Performing Arts Center.  She serves on the Rockford Park District financial advisory committee, is an Ambassador of Rockford Health System, and is a Rockford Pro-Am Committee member.  She also is serving as the 2010 Chair of the Rockford Health System Gala and is an account executive for United Way of Rock River Valley.

Andrea Ward has nearly 20 years of banking experience, and most recently served as Regional President of Harris' Far Northwest region.  She now will lead the retail banking team across all branches in the Rockford region.  She is responsible for working with her team to drive retail performance and deliver customer experience excellence in her region, while ensuring a seamless integration to the Harris technology platform. 

Prior to this appointment, Ward led the Harris retail team across branches in Algonquin, Carpentersville, Cary, Crystal Lake, Fox Lake, Fox River Grove, Huntley, Marengo, McHenry, West Dundee and Woodstock.

She is a board member of the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation, Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce and past chair of the Leaders in Action committee for the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce. Ward and her family are relocating to the Rockford area.

"Our priority during this integration phase has been on delivering the strongest possible introductory customer experience for AMCORE customers with Harris," said Chris McComish, executive vice president and head of Retail Banking.  "We know people are at the core of our ability to deliver on that promise.  Andrea represents the seasoned leadership and industry experience that will be essential to our retail banking services in this market."

On April 23, 2010, Harris N.A., a part of BMO Financial Group (NYSE:  BMO; TSX: BMO), announced its acquisition of certain assets and liabilities of Rockford, Ill.-based AMCORE Bank, N.A. from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), effective immediately.

About Harris Private Bank
Harris Private Bank offers a comprehensive range of wealth management services that include investment advisory, trust, banking and financial planning to meet the financial needs of high net worth clients. Through integrated teams of experienced financial professionals, Harris Private Bank helps its clients realize their financial and lifestyle goals with solutions that are custom tailored and delivered with the highest level of personalized service. Harris Private Bank is a member of the Harris family of wealth management services.

About Harris
Harris is an integrated financial service organization providing more than 1.2 million personal, business and corporate clients with banking, lending, investing and wealth management solutions. The organization is a member of the BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), which also provides corporate and investment banking services in the U.S. under the BMO Capital Markets name.

Harris^® is a trade name used by various financial service subsidiaries of Harris Financial Corp. Banking products and services are provided by Harris N.A., The Harris Bank, N.A. and their bank affiliates, Members FDIC. Brokerage products are offered through Harris Investor Services, Inc. (HIS), a registered broker/dealer, member FINRA/SIPC, and SEC-registered investment adviser. Insurance and annuities are offered through Harris Bancorp Insurance Services, Inc. (HBIS). Investment banking services are provided by BMO Capital Markets Corp. (BMOCM), a registered broker dealer and member NYSE, FINRA and SIP C. HIS, HBIS and BMOCM are affiliated companies and are wholly owned subsidiaries of Harris Financial Corp. Products offered by HIS, HBIS and BMOCM are Not Insured by the FDIC or any Federal Government Agency, Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by Any Bank or Bank Affiliate, May Lose Value. The purchase of insurance or an annuity is not a condition to any bank loan or service. Financial planning and investment advisory services are provided by Sullivan, Bruyette, Speros & Blayney, Inc., an SEC registered investment adviser. Family Office Services are provided by Harris myCFO, Inc. Investment advisory services are offered by Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services LLC, a SEC-registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of Harris myCFO, Inc. Investment advisory services to institutional clients are provided by Harris Investment Management (HIM), a SEC-registered investment adviser. Not all products and services are offered in every state and/or location.