Derek Cunningham

Managing Director

Derek Cunningham is a Managing Director of the Bank Development Group. He is responsible for national new business development and has grown the bank development team from a Southeastern-focused group to a national player in the capital markets arena. From 2005 to 2007, Derek was a senior vice president at SAMCO Capital Markets where he was credited for raising more than $260 million for community banks throughout the U.S. with a 100 percent success rate for the capital campaigns. Prior to his tenure at SAMCO, Derek worked with Southeast Financial Holdings, in Atlanta, consulting with community banks on capital planning and asset quality.

Derek is a true entrepreneur and from 2001 to 2004, he founded Cunningham & Associates, a Jacksonville, Florida franchise for Vector Marketing of New York. Out of 95 offices, his company was the No. 1 first-year franchise in total revenue in the Southeast and he increased his profitability each year. Derek also was the No. 1 sales representative, out of nearly 900 contenders, in the state of Georgia for Vector in 2000.

Derek earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Georgia. He also attended Louisiana State University’s Graduate School of Banking and holds multiple securities licenses.