New York Banker Chosen to Serve as CalFed Chairman

John R. Torell III, the former president of Manufacturers Hanover Corp., will become chairman and chief executive of CalFed Inc. Aug. 1, the Los Angeles-based savings and loan company announced Thursday.

Torell, 49, succeeds Robert R. Dockson, 70, who is retiring as chairman after 19 years with the thrift. George P. Rutland, 55, who had been the company’s president and chief executive, resigned Wednesday, a day before the announcement was made public, said James F. Hurley, a CalFed spokesman.

“Our board is in unanimous agreement that John Torell is a superb executive with the requisite experience, talent and energy to lead CalFed in the toughly competitive times ahead for the financial services industry,” Dockson said in a statement.

Dockson, CalFed’s chairman since 1977, said he will retire when Torell takes over but will remain on the board, where he will continue to serve as chairman of the executive committee.

Rutland expressed no hard feelings over the board’s decision, and said he would look at a number of opportunities in financial services. “The board of directors evaluated me and evaluated another man and they chose the other man,” he said. “I support their decision.”

Though a successful thrift company with assets in excess of $24 billion, CalFed under its recent leadership never gained the respect on Wall Street accorded such other California thrifts as Great Western Financial, H. F. Ahmanson and Golden West Financial. Torell’s challenge is “to make the firm a really stellar performer as opposed to a so-so performer,” said Peter Treadway, an analyst with the Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. investment firm in New York.

Wall Street responded favorably if undramatically to the news, with CalFed stock rising 50 cents a share on the New York Stock Exchange to close at $23.25.

Reached at his home in Bronxville, N.Y., Torell described his new job as a great challenge, but added: “My background has a lot of things in it that fit beautifully with CalFed. I think it will be a very nice marriage all the way around.”

Torell’s 27-year stint with Manufacturers Hanover included work in credit, corporate planning, marketing and other areas. He became became bank president in 1982. In March, he surprised the financial community by resigning.

‘Formula Good’

He explained at the time that he felt frustrated that there was no sign the bank’s top job--long held by John F. McGillicuddy--would become available soon. “After 10 years being the No. 2 guy, you’d like to have the chance to run your own show,” Torell said in the interview Thursday. “That was the substance of it.”

At the time of his resignation in March, however, some speculated that the resignation was a sign of the board’s determination to shake up management and improve the bank’s poor performance. Last year, the bank had a loss of $1.1 billion, largely because of a $1.7-billion addition to reserves for possible losses on risky Latin American loans.

Turning to CalFed, Torell said he had no plans to change the direction of the company, which he described as a widely diversified, consumer-oriented financial institution. “Their formula is good,” he said.

‘Not a Big Deal’

Analysts interpreted the management changes more as business as usual than as a hint of behind-the-scenes troubles.

“It’s not a big deal,” said Jerome I. Baron, an analyst with Prudential-Bache Securities in New York. “It’s my understanding from CalFed that John (Torell) is not being hired to change the institution, but for his broad experience.”

He added that “perhaps they viewed John (Torell) as having a little broader, more diversified experience than George (Rutland).”

Although CalFed did not disclose how much it was paying Torell, spokesman Hurley said “It’s my understanding that he was presented with a very attractive package.”

Dockson was paid more than $1.1 million in 1987, including a $400,000 bonus, according to CalFed documents. Rutland was paid $948,894, including $350,000 in incentives. Torell reportedly earned $675,000 in salary and bonuses at Manufacturers Hanover last year.