Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services.
The bank is principally engaged in the business of attracting deposits from the general public and using these deposits, together with other funds, to originate or purchase loans for its portfolio and for sale into the secondary market. The company’s loan portfolio is primarily consisted of loans collateralized by commercial and residential real estate augmented by se...
Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services.
The bank is principally engaged in the business of attracting deposits from the general public and using these deposits, together with other funds, to originate or purchase loans for its portfolio and for sale into the secondary market. The company’s loan portfolio is primarily consisted of loans collateralized by commercial and residential real estate augmented by secured and unsecured loans to businesses and consumers. The company also maintains a portfolio of investment securities, primarily consisted of the U.S. agency mortgage-backed securities, obligations of state and political subdivisions, corporate bonds, asset-backed securities, and collateralized loan obligations.
The company operates from its administrative headquarters in Fairfield, New Jersey and other administrative locations throughout the state of New Jersey.
Business Strategy
The company has evolved its business model from that of a traditional thrift into that of a full-service community bank. This evolution has been accomplished by growing the company’s commercial loans and deposits, expanding the company’s product and service offerings, de-novo branching and the acquisition of other financial institutions. The key components of the company’s business strategy are advancing its technology transformation; focus on relationship banking and core deposits; and diversify loan portfolio.
Market Area
As of June 30, 2025, the company's primary market area consisted of the counties in which it currently operates branches, including Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, and Union counties in New Jersey, as well as Kings (Brooklyn) and Richmond (Staten Island) counties in New York. The company's lending is concentrated in New Jersey and New York, and its predominant sources of deposits are the communities in which its offices are located, as well as the neighboring communities.
Lending Activities
The company’s loan portfolio consists of multi-family mortgage loans, nonresidential mortgage loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, one- to four-family residential mortgage loans, home equity loans, and other consumer loans.
Multi-Family and Nonresidential Real Estate Mortgage Loans: The company originates a variety of types of commercial mortgage loans, including multi-family and nonresidential property loans, as well as loans on mixed-use properties that combine residential and commercial space. It generally offers fixed-rate and adjustable-rate balloon mortgage loans on multi-family and nonresidential properties, with final stated maturities ranging from three to 15 years and amortization terms that generally range from 15 to 30 years. The company's commercial mortgage loans are primarily secured by properties located in New Jersey, New York, and the surrounding states.
Commercial and Industrial Business (C&I) Loans: The company originates commercial term loans and lines of credit to a variety of clients in its market area. The company's commercial term loans generally have terms of up to 10 years. Its commercial lines of credit have terms of up to two years and are generally floating-rate loans.
Construction Lending: The company’s construction lending includes loans to individuals, builders, or developers for the construction of multi-family residential buildings or commercial real estate, as well as for the construction or renovation of one- to four-family residences. In some cases, the company converts a construction loan to a permanent mortgage loan upon the completion of construction.
One- to Four-Family Residential Mortgage Loans Held in Portfolio: The fixed-rate residential mortgage loans that the company originates for its portfolio generally meet the secondary mortgage market standards of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). In addition, the company offers a first-time homebuyer program that provides financial incentives for persons who have not previously owned real estate and are purchasing a one- to four-family property in its primary lending area for use as a primary residence.
One- to Four-Family Residential Mortgage Loans Held for Sale: As a complement to its residential one- to four-family portfolio lending activities, the company operates a mortgage banking platform that supports the origination of one- to four-family mortgage loans for sale into the secondary market. The loans originated for sale generally meet the secondary mortgage market standards of Freddie Mac. Such loans are typically originated by, and sourced from, the same resources and markets as those loans originated and held in the company's portfolio.
Home Equity Loans: The company's fixed-rate home equity loans and adjustable home equity lines of credit generally have terms of up to 20 years.
Other Consumer Loans: The company's consumer loan portfolio includes unsecured overdraft lines of credit and personal loans, as well as loans secured by savings accounts and certificates of deposit on deposit with the bank.
Investment Securities
As of June 30, 2025, the company’s securities portfolio consisted of debt securities, such as asset-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations, and corporate bonds, as well as mortgage-backed securities, including residential pass-through securities and commercial pass-through securities.
Sources of Funds
Retail deposits are the company’s primary source of funds for lending and other investment purposes. In addition, the company derives funds from principal repayments of loan and investment securities.
Deposits
The company’s deposit products include interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit accounts ranging in terms from 30 days to five years. Certificates of deposit with terms ranging from six months to five years are available for individual retirement account plans.
Deposits are obtained primarily from within New Jersey and New York through the bank’s network of retail branches, business relationship officers, and digital banking channels. The company maintains a robust suite of commercial deposit products designed to appeal to small and mid-size businesses, non-profit organizations, and government entities.
Subsidiary Activity
As of June 30, 2025, the bank was the only wholly-owned operating subsidiary of the company. The Kearny Wealth Management LLC subsidiary was formed in February 2024 for the purpose of providing insurance brokerage services via a third-party service provider.
Supervision and Regulation
The company is a unitary savings and loan holding company, regulated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank (‘FRB’) and conducts no significant business or operations of its own.
The bank’s deposits are federally insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund as administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (‘FDIC’) and the bank is primarily regulated by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (‘NJDBI’) and, as a nonmember bank, the FDIC.
The bank derives its lending, investment and other powers primarily from the applicable provisions of the New Jersey Banking Act and the related regulations.
The bank’s authority to extend credit to its directors, executive officers and 10% stockholders, as well as to entities controlled by such persons, is governed by the requirements of Sections 22(g) and 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act and Regulation O of the Federal Reserve Board.
Under the Community Reinvestment Act (the ‘CRA’), every insured depository institution, including the bank, has a continuing and affirmative obligation consistent with its safe and sound operation to help meet the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The bank received a satisfactory CRA rating from the FDIC in its most recent CRA evaluation.
The bank is a member of the FHLB of New York.
Interest and other charges collected or contracted for by the bank are subject to state usury laws and federal laws concerning interest rates. The bank’s operations are also subject to federal laws (and their implementing regulations) applicable to credit transactions, such as the:
Truth-In-Lending Act, governing disclosures of credit terms to consumer borrowers;
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, requiring that borrowers for mortgage loans for one- to four-family residential real estate receive various disclosures, including good faith estimates of settlement costs, lender servicing and escrow account practices, and prohibiting certain practices that increase the cost of settlement services;
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, requiring financial institutions to provide information to enable the public and public officials to determine whether a financial institution is fulfilling its obligation to help meet the housing needs of the community it serves;
Equal Credit Opportunity Act, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, creed or other prohibited factors in extending credit;
Fair Credit Reporting Act, governing the use and provision of information to credit reporting agencies; and
Fair Debt Collection Act, governing the manner in which consumer debts may be collected by collection agencies.
The operations of the bank also are subject to the:
Truth in Savings Act, prescribing disclosure and advertising requirements with respect to deposit accounts;
Right to Financial Privacy Act, which imposes a duty to maintain confidentiality of consumer financial records and prescribes procedures for complying with administrative subpoenas of financial records;
Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and Regulation E promulgated thereunder, governing automatic deposits to and withdrawals from deposit accounts and customers’ rights and liabilities arising from the use of automated teller machines and other electronic banking services;
Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (also known as ‘Check 21’), which gives substitute checks, such as digital check images and copies made from that image, the same legal standing as the original paper check;
Bank Secrecy Act and USA PATRIOT Act, which requires institutions to, among other things, establish anti-money laundering compliance programs, due diligence policies and controls to ensure the detection and reporting of money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit activity;
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which places limitations on the sharing of consumer financial information by financial institutions with unaffiliated third parties. Specifically, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires all financial institutions offering financial products or services to retail customers to provide such customers with the financial institution’s privacy policy and provide such customers the opportunity to opt out of the sharing of certain personal financial information with unaffiliated third parties; and
Regulations requiring banking organizations to notify their primary federal regulator as soon as possible and no later than 36 hours of determining that a ‘computer-security incident’ that arises to the level of a ‘notification incident’ has occurred. A notification incident is a ‘computer-security incident’ that has materially disrupted or degraded, or is reasonably likely to materially disrupt or degrade, the banking organization’s ability to deliver services to a material portion of its customer base, jeopardize the viability of key operations of the banking organization, or impact the stability of the financial sector. Bank service providers are also required to notify any affected bank to or on behalf of which the service provider provides services ‘as soon as possible’ after determining that it has experienced an incident that materially disrupts or degrades, or is reasonably likely to materially disrupt or degrade, covered services provided to such bank for four or more hours.
In order for the company to be regulated by the Federal Reserve Board as a savings and loan holding company (rather than as a bank holding company), the bank must remain a qualified thrift lender under applicable law or satisfy the domestic building and loan association test under the Internal Revenue Code.
History
Kearny Financial Corp. was founded in 1884. The company was incorporated in 2014.