City National Bank has launched an official National Nonprofit & Institutional Banking team after operating in the space informally for years.

The aim of this team, which will be led by Senior Vice President Nuzha Bukhari, is to streamline efficiency and to standardize banking practices when serving nonprofit, institutional and other tax-exempt investors, especially as the bank’s assets have grown in recent years.

Since 2018, City National’s assets have increased by about 87%, currently siting at $94 billion as of October.

“Nonprofits have unique lending needs and as our portfolio grew, it was clear that implementing consistent underwriting standards across the footprint and instituting sound credit policies curated specifically for nonprofits was the right way to ensure we are well positioned to meet the credit needs of our clients,” Bukhari said.

With the team targeting a variety of sectors including education, health care, professional advisers, the public sector and more, Bukhari said the typical client profile for this group has $25 million or more in annual revenue and in balance sheet assets.

One of the bank’s clients is the Ronald McDonald House. The nonprofit’s former Southern California market Chief Executive Vince Bryson said CNB’s services allowed the organization to “streamline our cash flow and put our dollars to use the moment they are deposited,” in a statement.

CNB’s approach for these clients is driven by sustainability and growth solutions tailored to what Bukhari called a “mission-driven operating model.”

“When working with a nonprofit, we can leverage products and services, including credit solutions, across our banking and liquidity platform, capital markets, and philanthropic and trust services,” Bukhari said.

Currently, the 10-member team is spread out across Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and New York but the bank is actively hiring more experts to join, specifically in the East Coast.