Dec 10 (Reuters) - PNC Financial Services Group ( PNC )

would look at banks with core retail deposits in the right

markets for mergers and acquisitions, but would avoid lenders

with heavy real estate exposure, its CEO said on Tuesday.

"What we would look for is somebody with - think about what

our strategic need was - right core retail deposits in the right

markets," CEO William Demchak said at the Goldman Sachs

Financial Services conference.

"Many of these institutions have lost a lot of their core

retail franchise and their deposit base is heavily related to

real estate and assets we don't want to own. It's just the math

doesn't work," he said.

President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House

could usher in a wave of bank mergers and acquisitions as the

administration appoints regulators who are more open to

approving larger deals, financial executives and analysts say.

Large regional banks such as US Bancorp, Truist Financial

and PNC Bank are likely to be involved in mergers or

acquisitions, industry experts have said.

In April, Demchak sent a letter to regulators advocating for

a merger policy that "is capable of building challengers to the

largest Global Systemically Important Banks in the United

States," a group known as G-SIBs.