North Bay Business Journal

NORTH BAY — While the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s record-breaking close above 15,000 was a highly watched milestone this month, wealth managers in the North Bay expressed caution. Those broader market gains are no doubt good for many investors, they said, but it is the ones with a long-term strategy who have stayed in the markets during the past few years of downturns that are reaping the greatest rewards.

Also: Redwood Trust calls first quarter strongest since recession

Rebalancing has been a topic of discussion and debate among academics and portfolio theorists for decades. But in the end, the payoff is easy to understand; rebalancing delivers the most essential investing payoff of all: buy low and sell high.

NORTH BAY — More capital is flowing to North Bay small businesses through loan programs backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, with a 10.4 percent increase in dollar volume funded in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties comparing the first half of the administration’s fiscal year to the same period one year ago, according to data from the SBA.

Spotlight on leading SBA lenders in the North Bay

Diana Brennan, who has worked in Sonoma Raceway media relations since 1999, was promoted from director to senior director of media and community relations. …

Altus Equity Group in Santa Rosa hired Kristy Brooks as operations manager. …

Kyle Young is the newest agent of commercial real estate brokerage Keegan & Coppin Company, Inc./ONCOR International’s Santa Rosa office….

Novato-based Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc., appointed Eric Yuen, MD, chief medical officer and senior vice president. …

Marla Carroll was named winemaker at Franciscan Estate Winery in St. Helena. …

NOVATO — Fueled by an acquisition that significantly increased its assets under management, Hennessy Advisors, Inc. (OTCBB: HNNA) today announced a 400 percent increase in earnings comparing the first three months of 2013 to the same period in 2012.

Bank of Marin Chief Financial Officer Christina Cook is leaving the bank. …

American AgCredit returned the largest dividend in its history to its members in 2012, the agriculture cooperative’s first year of positive loan growth since 2009. …

Citing an increase in income-generating assets and new loans, Summit State Bank (NASDAQ: SSBI) reported a 64 percent increase in net income for the first three months of 2013 and declared a larger quarterly dividend. …

AltaPacific Bank’s assets have grown steadily in the year since completing its merger with a Southern California-based bank, ending the first quarter 4.1 percent higher. …

So on a beautiful quiet day in pastoral Sonoma County, after almost three years, my 61-year-old client Diane finally received the final order from the court. It was ordered that a bank return the excessive prepayment/lockout fee that it had woven into the loan documents, unbeknownst to Diane at the time of origination.

MILL VALLEY — Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE: RWT) today announced net income of $61 million for the first quarter of 2013, equivalent to 69 cents per diluted share and up 45.2 percent versus earnings in the first three months of last year.

SANTA ROSA — American AgCredit returned the largest member dividend in its history in 2012, the agricultural cooperative’s first year of positive loan growth since 2009, the lender reported today.

NOVATO — Bank of Marin Chief Financial Officer Christina Cook to is leaving the bank to join Petaluma-based First California Mortgage Company. Bank of Marin has nearly doubled in size since Ms. Cook joined the bank as CFO and executive vice president in August of 2004, growing from $737 million in assets at the end of 2004 to $1.43 billion in assets as of March 31 of this year. The 35-year-old First California Mortgage has funded more than $200 billion in residential loans across the United States throughout its history.

SANTA ROSA — Citing an increase in income-generating assets and new loans, Summit State Bank (NASDAQ: SSBI) reported a 64 percent increase in net income for the first three months of 2013 and declared a larger quarterly dividend.

SANTA ROSA — AltaPacific Bank assets have grown steadily in the year since completing its merger with a Southern California-based bank, ending the first quarter 4.1 percent higher.

After returning from the annual executive conference for Western Independent Bankers, a community bank trade group, Russell Colombo, president and CEO of Bank of Marin, said that leaders in the industry are starting to express greater optimism after a historically challenging economic period. …

Loans and deposits have grown at Bank of Napa, N.A., with net assets growing 8.2 percent over the course of a year and approaching $150 million as of March 31. …

NOVATO — Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ: BMRC), parent company of Bank of Marin, today reported net income in the first three months of 2013 increased from the prior quarter and was level with income a year before.

The bank realized a net recovery on troubled loans for the first time in several years.

Exchange Bank announced its after-tax income for the first three months this year was 9 percent higher than a year before, partly attributed to improvements in efficiency and loan quality. …

A low interest rate environment a fierce competition for loans was cited for a decline in first quarter earnings for San Rafael-based Westamerica Bank, with parent company Westamerica Bancorporation announcing net income had fallen 17.6 percent versus the same period last year. …

Terry Davis has joined Santa Rosa’s SAFE-BIDCO as chief financial officer, his latest leadership role in a long history as a North Bay banking executive. …

Kimberly Kaselionis, who served as CEO of the former Circle Bank, has joined her mother, Kit Cole, as an inductee in the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame. …

NAPA — While assets and pre-tax income have grown at Bank of Napa, N.A. (OTCBB: BNNP), the bank announced today that net income was 9.4 percent lower comparing the first three months of 2013 to the same period in 2012. The change was largely attributable to a reduction in the bank’s income tax benefit from the prior year, according to the announcement.

SANTA ROSA — Exchange Bank today reported its after-tax income for the first three months this year was 9 percent higher than a year before, partly attributed to improvements in efficiency and loan quality.

WINDSOR — Santa Rosa’s Exchange Bank is preparing to recast its Windsor branch as a testing ground for the future of brick-and-mortar banking, optimizing the location for an era when advanced ATMs and Web services have encroached significantly on the role of the traditional bank branch, executives said.