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Real estate appears to be the key to a unique financial services empire being formed in San Francisco.
Much mystery surrounds the plans of H.F. Holdings (H.F.H.), a newly created savings and loan holding company being run by Preston Martin, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
Martin is tight-lipped about the company's goals other than to repeat what is already publicly known. But those who have followed the careers of Martin and his backers say the group has the expertise, the contacts and the financing to turn the troubled real estate portfolios of failed S&Ls into handsome profits.
H.F. Holdings already controls Honolulu Federal Savings in Hawaii and is bidding on two or three failed S&Ls in California. Each of the thrifts has major real estate holdings that could be refinanced and sold at a profit.
But H.F. Holding's longer-term strategy is less clear. Martin and his investors appear to be in the process of creating a "regional chain of busted S&Ls," according to one analyst. Others believe the plans go far beyond that.
Martin himself speaks of forming "a financial services mosaic that will look toward the Pacific Rim." He adds that while the "mosaic" will be made up of thrifts, "the traditional model of the S&L doesn't apply."
Although Martin won't reveal the outlines of these larger plans, his investors and their business connections suggest an intriguingly wide range of interests -- real estate, S&Ls, banking, investment banking and international trade.
"They have so many irons in the fire that no one is quite sure what they are up to," says Sal Serrantino, banking expert with California Research Corp. in Santa Monica. "One thing is certain. You have a group of sophisticated personalities who have clearly identified the S&L business as one hell of a way to earn money."
H.F. Holdings was formed in June to purchase Honolulu Federal Savings and Loan, a $1.7-billion S&L in Hawaii which ran into financial trouble in 1984. The group is planning to put in about $20 million in...