Pinnacle Financial Partners added five leadership positions to it Riverside office in Jacksonville, including Abel Harding, a Jacksonville financial services veteran and civic leader.
Most recently, Harding was executive vice president and market president for First Horizon Bank. He left First Horizon in late May for a then-undisclosed opportunity.
In a June 9 news release, Pinnacle said the new positions reflect its accelerating expansion in the region.
Harding joins Pinnacle as a financial advisor and area manager to help drive market growth and continue building the firm’s work with Jacksonville’s business and professional communities, the release said.
Harding has extensive experience in financial services, market development and civic engagement.
“Abel is a game-changer for our expansion in Jacksonville,” said Scott Keith, regional president at Pinnacle, in the release. “His deep roots in the community, his reputation as a connector, and his proven ability to drive growth make him exactly the kind of leader we want representing our firm. Abel will be instrumental in helping us grow our presence and build lasting relationships across the region.”
Harding joined IberiaBank as market president when it entered the Jacksonville market with the acquisition of Florida Bank in 2015. IberiaBank announced its merger with First Horizon Bank in 2019.
At First Horizon Bank, he led commercial and consumer banking growth across key Florida metro areas, the release said.
Harding is the volunteer-appointed board chair of JAXUSA Partnership, the economic development division of JAX Chamber. He also serves on the JAX Chamber board of directors and is a member of the Jacksonville Civic Council.
“I was drawn to Pinnacle by the opportunity to be part of something entrepreneurial in Jacksonville,” Harding said in the release. “The firm is a highly regarded major financial institution but has the energy and culture of a start-up.
The four other new team members and their roles are:
• Ross McWilliams, as a financial advisor. He most recently led homebuilder banking at Ameris Bank, working with builders and developers.
• Austin Davis, as office leader. He has more than 16 years of experience in banking. Davis came to Pinnacle from Truist Bank, where he was as a vice president and market leader focusing on small-business growth. He has also served as an assistant vice president and store manager for Wells Fargo Bank.
• Chris Winsett, as a financial advisor. He has more than 26 years of experience in relationship banking and strategic financial advising, including roles at Regions Bank and Truist Financial. Winsett will focus on helping Jacksonville business clients manage working capital, credit needs and long-term financial strategies.
• Megan Kiker, as a treasury sales analyst. She was a treasury management analyst at Wells Fargo, where she worked for more than 17 year. She will serve commercial clients with treasury solutions tailored to their growth needs.
Pinnacle entered the Northeast Florida market in 2024 and opened a Jacksonville headquarters office in the Downtown Brooklyn area at 501 Riverside Ave., on the sixth floor. It has a full-service branch on the ground floor of that building.
It announced May 13 it expanded its Ponte Vedra Beach office into a full-service location.
Pinnacle Financial Partners began operations in a single location in Nashville in October 2000 and has since grown to about $54.3 billion in assets as of March 31, the release said.
As the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, the firm operates in 17 primarily urban markets across the Southeast.
Pinnacle recruited Keith, former North Florida regional president for Truist Financial Corp., and Debbie Buckland, who had worked alongside Keith as Jacksonville market president at Truist, to lead its Jacksonville office when it entered the market.