CEO Blair moved legacy Synovus bankers onto Pinnacle’s incentive model tied to company-wide revenue and EPS, accelerating the program into 2026 and incurring a $30M pull-forward expense to extend equity and bonus eligibility to about 8,500 employees. The combined firm won 50 Greenwich Awards and recorded team engagement scores of 93% for Pinnacle and 89% for Synovus.

Pinnacle guides 9%-11% loan growth for 2026, backed by Q4 combined loan and deposit growth of 10%, with legacy Synovus production up 117% year-over-year and 50% sequentially despite a 5% decline in CRE balances. Management emphasized growth driven by existing hires rather than new recruiting.

The firm reaffirmed $250M in net cost synergies but now expects to realize 40% in 2026, down from an initial 50% target, net of dis-synergies like pay normalization. It projects $100M–$130M of revenue synergies over three years, with less than 0.5% embedded in 2026 guidance due to the time required for behavioral and cross-sell shifts.

Pinnacle plans a phased FIS core platform conversion through March 2027, having selected 222 technology vendors while assessing both legacy platforms. A “white glove” approach will transition complex commercial clients, and non-core systems such as mortgage platforms will migrate ahead of the core conversion to minimize disruption.