Movers & Shakers: Heidi Pederson, Anchor Bank

A look at the people behind the numbers in area business:

Title: Director of investments and trust

Age: 46

Heidi Pederson brings financial services expertise and executive coaching experience to her new role as director of investments and trust at St. Paul-based Anchor Bank.

Pederson said she appreciated the opportunity to apply both skill sets as she leads Anchor's seven-­member investments team. Her responsibilities include setting strategic direction, building strong ties with customers and strategic partners, and enhancing investment and trust services.

"Financial products and services are a means to an end," Pederson said. "So it's important to understand what the customer's end game is, what their dreams are and why they're coming to the market for our products."

Working closely with clients to address their investment needs, Pederson also makes referrals for trust-related services to Trust Point, an independent trust company in La Crosse, Wis. Trust Point acquired Anchor Bank's trust division in January and has an exclusive trust-servicing relationship with Anchor Trust.

Pederson's two decades of financial services experience includes working as vice president at Chaffee and Associates in Minnetonka and president of M Holdings Securities, part of the M Financial Group in Portland, Ore. She has a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law and a bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College.

Privately held and family-owned, Anchor Bank has $1.4 billion in assets and 15 Twin Cities locations, describing itself as the largest community bank focused on the metro area.

Q: What appealed to you about joining Anchor Bank?

A: With my experience in financial services and as an executive coach, I found Anchor Bank to have an amazing focus on the customer and core values that really brought those two skill sets together.

Q: What are your goals in your new role?

Q: What does your coaching experience add to your work?

A: It helps me to be a leader who provides a different perspective on business and innovation and being the best in the marketplace. From a customer standpoint, it brings us down to really listening to our clients, understanding what they need and finding customized solutions to change their businesses and transform their lives. It's marrying the technical expertise with the coaching to provide a unique experience to our customers and to elevate our leadership.