Banks struggle to cut back on perks, but TCF isn't sorry for resort trip

Bill Cooper, chief executive officer of TCF Financial Corp., says he expected criticism when word leaked out that he had invited 180 of his bank managers and vice presidents on a corporate outing last weekend to a ski resort near Aspen, Colo.

Never mind that the Wayzata bank has held the team-building event at Snowmass Village nearly every year since the early 1990s. Never mind that employees who attend must foot part of the bill. And never mind that, according to Cooper, the trip cost TCF just $200,000 -- less than what the bank makes in a single day.

In the current environment, in which hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs each month and Wall Street executives are getting slammed for fat bonuses, a corporate retreat to a ski resort was bound to raise eyebrows -- particularly when TCF is receiving $361 million in taxpayer assistance. It was only Tuesday that Wells Fargo & Co. abruptly canceled a Las Vegas casino junket after news reports said the bank had booked hundreds of rooms for 12 nights at the Wynn Las Vegas and the Encore Las Vegas. Wells Fargo has received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money.

"Someone was going to say we shouldn't be doing it at this time," Cooper said Wednesday when a reporter called to confirm a tip about the excursion. "But this wasn't 12 days in Vegas. It wasn't a bunch of executives partying down," he said. "This was about team-building and it was done pretty much on the skinny."

Cooper's not the only financial executive having to justify his company's expenses in public. Corporate retreats, junkets for top employees and executive getaways have come under intense criticism since the federal bank bailout last fall.

Fearing public wrath, financial institutions have canceled outings and other perks. A U.S. Bancorp spokesman said Wednesday that the Minneapolis bank has canceled reward trips for high performers. Morgan Stanley told employees Monday that their trip to Monte Carlo was off.

Even so, it's clear that some corporate events must go on. Even companies that are receiving bailout money want to recognize high performers and train employees. Corporate conferences and retreats will still happen -- they just won't be as ostentatious, said Tim Nantell, a finance professor at the University of Minnesota.

"A lot of people would say that we should just cut this out, and it's possible that it may go away for a while," Nantell said. "But will they go away forever? Not a chance."

Ameriprise spokesman Ben Pratt confirmed Wednesday that the Minneapolis-based financial planning company just held a meeting for advisers at the Phoenician Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. The advisers feasted on $6.50 pistachio-crusted lamb lollipops, a banquet built around beef filet and crab cakes with cilantro remoulade that cost $105 a plate, and $49 bottles of Murphy-Goode merlot, according to bills from the event obtained by the Star Tribune.

Pratt said the advisers paid for their own travel and hotel costs and attended lengthy continuing education sessions.

"It's not a boondoggle," he said. "Training is a critical part of not just running the business but also meeting your compliance requirements."

But given the economic climate and the fact that Ameriprise recently laid off more than 300 workers in Minnesota, Pratt figures the company "will scale back very significantly" at future events. Ameriprise recently applied for assistance from the U.S. Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

As for Cooper, he makes no apologies for TCF's Colorado retreat, noting that employees need a "pep rally" in times of economic duress. The employees, who stayed at the Silvertree Hotel, got awards, watched the Super Bowl and sang karaoke. Cooper said he sang "Sweet Georgia Brown" in front of his co-workers. "In this time," he said, "it's really important to get people wowed up and enthused in terms of where we're going."

The Associated Press contributed to this article. cserres@startribune.com • 612-673-4308 kmcguire@startribune.com • 612-673-7293