Douglas L. Kennedy is the president and chief executive officer of Peapack Private Bank & Trust. He is responsible for developing and executing on the bank’s strategic vision to position it as an alternative to large banks throughout metropolitan New York. Kennedy leads Peapack Private’s wealth, lending, and deposit lines of business, along with its branding, human capital, operations and technology functions, to deliver the bank’s unique private-banking style of client service and superior financial and advisory solutions.
With more than 40 years in the industry, Kennedy is a passionate, highly competitive, creative, and versatile financial services leader with a proven track record of building and repositioning businesses. He is dedicated to the communities where he lives and works and is an innovator who has made it his mission to transform Peapack Private Bank & Trust into a financial services powerhouse, able to compete at the highest level. For seven consecutive years, the Bank has been recognized by American Banker as a “Best Bank to Work For,” and in 2024, the Bank was named to Crain’s NY Business 2024 list of “Best Places to work in NYC.”
Kennedy challenges his employees to live by a set of strategic and visionary core principles that put clients, each other, and the community above all else. He encourages both corporate and individual responsibility, and proactive reinvestment in communities with the greatest needs. He values volunteerism and generously gives to local organizations that are important to the fabric of everyday life.
Kennedy is a graduate of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA in finance. He sits on Sacred Heart’s board of trustees. Kennedy is a former NJBankers Association and New Jersey Chamber of Commerce board member. In 2023 he was named to City & State NY’s Economic Development Power 100 List. He has been named to the NJBIZ “Power 100” list each year since 2020 and was named to the NJBIZ “Power 50 Banking” list in previous years. In 2020, Kennedy was named an NJBIZ “Icon.” He has also been named to the ROI-NJ “Influencers: Power List - Banking & Finance” each year since 2021. Kennedy was appointed to the New York Fed’s Board of Directors in January 2020 and was reelected for a three-year term in 2022.
