Ex-Bryn Mawr Trust chief seeks shares in takeover-bait, turnaround banks

Ted Peters, newly retired chief executive of Bryn Mawr Trust Co., and Jason O'Donnell, past investment research director at Merion Capital Group and Boenning & Scattergood, have joined partners with Lee Calfo, a former Cohen & Co. executive who is a principal at Bluestone Capital in Wayne, to set up the Bluestone Financial Institutions Fund.

Peters says the group will invest in up to 30 small-bank stocks, which have been out of favor with many investors because of low profit margins due to low U.S. interest rates. Calfo will serve as portfolio manager and Bluestone Capital analyst Andrew Giannone will serve as an analyst for the fund.

Peters says they will focus on banks with "strong turnaround prospects," high potential takeover values, or good growth potential. O'Donnell said the group will work closely with executives of the banks it invests in, not as an antagonistic "activist" investor but to help boost growth or sale prospects where appropriate.