A year after Brookline Bank and Berkshire Bank merged to form Beacon Financial, the surviving company is making a change at the top.
Beacon named its chief operating officer, Sean Gray, as president and CEO of its bank and holding company, effective Monday.
Gray replaces Paul Perrault, who informed the Boston-based bank and holding company’s boards last week that he would retire, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.
In a press release, Beacon dubbed Gray’s appointment “the result of the Company’s succession planning process … in preparation for” Perrault’s retirement.
Perrault will remain a consultant for Beacon for a year and receive $120,000 a month, according to the SEC filing. He also remains eligible for a performance-based bonus for 2026, as well as the continuation of certain benefits, Beacon disclosed.
The leadership transition caps the ascent of Gray, who joined Berkshire in 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile, Gray served as Berkshire’s president and COO from 2018 to 2025.
In that role, he led Berkshire’s retail and commercial banking, specialty lending, and wealth management, as well as technology, risk management, human resources, marketing, corporate development, strategy and analytics, and regional market leadership, according to Monday’s press release.
More recently, he oversaw the systems integration related to the merger that created Beacon. He also led Beacon’s enterprise operations, the bank said.
“Sean is an established leader with broad operating expertise, deep institutional knowledge and proven relationships with our colleagues, clients, shareholders and communities,” David Brunelle, Beacon’s board chair, said in a statement. “His appointment represents an important catalyst for Beacon’s next phase of profitable growth as the Company remains focused on delivering the commitments established through the merger: accelerating execution, strengthening performance and fully realizing the promise of the combined company.”
Gray has joined the boards of both Beacon Bank and its holding company. He has experience as chief executive, too – albeit temporary. He served as Berkshire’s interim CEO from August 2020 to January 2021, after the bank’s then-chief executive, Richard Marotta, stepped down.
“Beacon is well-positioned to grow, with greater scale, expanded capabilities and a stronger operating platform that allows us to accelerate our progress as a relationship-driven commercial bank,” Gray said in a statement. “At the same time, we will continue to support our regional operating model, local decision-making and market-centered leadership so we remain close to our clients and communities.”
Gray emphasized organic growth as a path forward for the $22.3 billion-asset bank, which in February completed its core systems conversion and rebranding and, by July, had realized the merger's projected $52 million cost savings, executives said at the time.
“We have important opportunities ahead to fully realize merger efficiencies, optimize our expense base and strengthen performance,” Gray said in Monday’s statement. “Our focus must be on disciplined execution, enhancing performance, and accountability to all stakeholders as we operate as one company with one culture and one commitment.”
Karl Shepard, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, noted Monday the transition “should help resolve investor questions around succession planning … that have lingered” at Beacon. The retiring Perrault, who led Brookline ahead of the merger, is 74.
In his statement Monday, Brunelle credited Perrault for exhibiting “exceptional leadership, service and many contributions to Beacon and to the banking industry throughout his fifty-year career.”
“We now have a stronger banking franchise with exceptional colleagues and deep client relationships that is well positioned for future success under Sean’s leadership,” Brunelle said.
