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Tag Archive for: Investment

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Education, News

Prepare to Navigate the Unknown in 2022

This year, the Wisconsin Bankers Association will offer the 2022 Bank Directors Summit in two locations: Stevens Point on May 18 and Madison on May 19. The event draws beginning and experienced inside and outside directors, bank CEOs, bank executive officers, and bank general counsel. This year’s Summit will take a look at the nuts and bolts that are essential to the role of bank directors, while preparing leaders for the kinds of unique opportunities and challenges that could potentially lie ahead of them in 2022.

One of the key topics addressed at the Summit will be directors’ responsibilities in the investment portfolio. Speaking on the topic will be Ricky Brillard, senior vice president in the Investment Strategies Group at Vining Sparks Associates. Brillard is a Certified Public Accountant who works with financial institutions on balance sheet strategies, the optimization of investment portfolio returns, and the evaluation of asset/liability exposure, while incorporating the entity’s liquidity needs, risk controls, and capital constraints.

A presentation titled ‘2022 — A Year of What Ifs’ will be given by Marc Gall, vice president and asset/liability strategist at BOK Financial. As bankers have come to expect uncertainty over the last two years, Gall will walk Summit attendees through various scenarios to help prepare for the coming months and into the future. Gall is a returning speaker to the WBA Directors Summit, and his areas of expertise include asset/liability modeling, interpreting output and communicating strategies to key management and boards of directors, understanding and complying with regulatory requirements, and fixed income portfolio management/trade execution.

Other sessions to look forward to include ‘Unlock and Inspire a Team That Spans Four Generations’ by Flynt Gallagher of Newcleus Compensation Advisors as well as ‘A Director’s Role in Today’s Changing Banking Environment.’ To learn more and to register for the Stevens Point or Madison event, please visit www.wisbank.com/directors.

March 30, 2022/by Hannah Flanders
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Directors-Summit.png 630 1200 Hannah Flanders https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Hannah Flanders2022-03-30 07:46:342022-03-30 07:47:14Prepare to Navigate the Unknown in 2022
News

Rising Tide: Bonds To Own for a Rate Hike Environment

By Jim Reber, president and CEO of ICBA Securities 

Community bankers are nothing if not predictable, and I mean that as a compliment. They are bright, enterprising, have a nose for the risk/reward dynamic and a sense of duty and loyalty to their customers and staff. They’re also deathly afraid of rising interest rates.

The last is understandable, speaking as one who has A. worked for a bank when overnight rates were double-digit, B. personally borrowed money for a home at 12%, and C. worked in financial services during the near-death of the thrift industry. We know how low rates can go. What we don’t know is how high they can go, nor for how long.

But what’s a bit curious about this widespread fear is that by a number of measures, community banks in 2022 stand to profit from higher interest rates. This comes from banking regulators, interest rate risk modelers, and even bankers themselves. I suppose the notion of a bond portfolio losing four, five or six percent of its value drives some of this thought process. So, as we haven’t had to endure a rate hike scenario since 2018, we’ll use the rest of this column to remind ourselves which bonds stand a good chance of performing well if higher rates do indeed prevail in the near future.

Old School

Certainly, the bonds that fit the most traditional definition of a floater are those which have very short reset periods, are indexed to money market equivalents, and have large or no caps, both periodic and lifetime. The model for such a security is a Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a) pool. These securities float based on the prime rate, which is 100% correlated to fed funds. Most SBAs reset monthly or quarterly and have no caps—so wherever prime goes, so goes your yield.

The rub on SBAs, at least from a risk standpoint, is that many of them come with large premium prices of 108, 109 or even higher. This exposes the investor to unwelcome prepayments. Still, the many benefits (have we mentioned 0% risk weighting?) make them attractive to short investors. It’s not uncommon for them to yield around prime minus 2.75%, which will beat fed funds by about 25 basis points (0.25%). They are true money market alternatives.

Mortgage Floaters

These days there are few true mortgage-backed securities (MBS) floaters. The ones that do exist usually have an extended period of time with a fixed rate, before they convert to adjustable. This “extended period” can be three, five, seven years or more so they’re really not floaters, yet. However, the fact that one day they will adjust can help their market value stay relatively stable.

Something new about these is that the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) index is becoming more visible. SOFR is the U.S. alternative to London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), and it has generally tracked fed funds, so far. And, since these will have prices closer to par, the investor doesn’t have to take a gigantic bite of prepay risk. Starting yields are wholly dependent on the fixed rate period and other variables, but they deserve a look.

Clip Coupons

Even if you don’t own a floater, an easy-to-execute trade that will help limit your price volatility is “up-in-coupon” securities. It doesn’t matter if they’re MBS, agencies, or munis: The bigger the stated interest rate, the greater the cash flow and the lower the duration.

The best example of this strategy is a tax-free municipal bond that has a big stated interest rate, or “coupon.” It’s common to see a newly hatched security with a 4% rate, that comes to market at an original issue price of 120 or more. This is a quality to be embraced. For one thing, the fact that the yield is tax-free makes the security less volatile that a taxable bond. If (and when, it appears) interest rates rise, the large interest payments will further help keep the value of the bond from falling off the table.

Do-it-Yourself

There’s another way to inject floating rate securities into your bond portfolio, and that’s to build them yourself. It’s a simple task to buy and own a collection of long-durated municipal bonds—that’s how they typically come to market. A recent innovation is the ability to execute an interest rate swap to instantly, or at some designated point in the future, turn the munis into floaters.

Interest rate product providers are equipped to price out transactions whereby a community bank can convert a bond, a collection of bonds, or a subsector of your balance sheet into short-duration assets that will see their yields improve every time the Fed has a “policy adjustment.” Maybe the best news is that these transactions can now be executed in sizes that fit your community bank’s needs.

How many rate hikes might we see this year? That’s the subject of myriad conversations around the board room, water cooler, and ALCOs. I’m pleased to report investments that are built for rising rates can take on a variety of appearances, and are fully accessible to your community bank.

March 1, 2022/by Hannah Flanders
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Hannah Flanders https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Hannah Flanders2022-03-01 07:00:592022-03-01 08:00:16Rising Tide: Bonds To Own for a Rate Hike Environment

Events

CEO, Senior Management, Supervisior, Training and Development

GSB – Financial Managers School

Program Overview

Designed by experienced CFOs especially for financial managers, this prestigious school goes beyond the basics to present best practices and provide community financial institution financial managers the tools to build a solid foundation in asset/liability management. Learn the unique concepts and terminology of bank finance and asset/liability management along with the practical implementation tools to profitably manage a financial institution’s balance sheet, develop effective strategies and communicate strategies to the board and senior management that ensure effective decision-making.

Case Study

An integrated case study will be used during the school to identify major financial strengths and weaknesses of institutions, examine interest rate risk profiles, evaluate issues relating to base strategy forecasts, analyze loan and investment portfolios, make pricing decisions and formulate and communicate effective strategies to improve the institution’s overall profitability.

Who Should Attend

CFOs and others in senior management actively involved in the financial management responsibilities of small- to medium-sized financial institutions. Financial managers who have day-to-day experience with asset/liability management, investments, budgeting and reporting activities will benefit from this in-depth peer and process immersion in asset/liability management.

When: September 18–22, 2023

Enrollment Deadline: August 18, 2023

Program Fee: $3,475

January 13, 2023/by Anna Lorang
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Anna Lorang https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Anna Lorang2023-01-13 11:52:332023-01-13 11:52:41GSB – Financial Managers School
Bank Directors, Bank Management, Risk Management, Webinar

WBA/ABA Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio

Fundamentals for understanding the how a bank’s investment portfolio is managed. Objectives and composition of investment portfolios, and common bank investments are covered, focusing on their risk and return profiles. Various investment strategies are described and the development of bank investment policies is discussed.

Audience: This course is designed for individuals involved in managing the bank’s investment portfolio.

The required textbook for this course is Bank Management, 8th Edition.

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to order the required book for this course if you do not have it.  We recommend that you FIRST select and add your course session to the shopping cart, then select your preferred format of book from the “Recommended Training” options that appear alongside the shopping cart.

*Please note this book is used for all four Bank Management courses: Managing Funding, Liquidity, Capital, Managing Interest Rate Risk, Analyzing Bank Performance, and Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio.*

Price: $660

March 4, 2022/by Anna Lorang
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Anna Lorang https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Anna Lorang2022-03-04 11:59:512022-03-04 11:59:51WBA/ABA Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio
Bank Directors, Bank Management, Risk Management, Webinar

WBA/ABA Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio

Fundamentals for understanding the how a bank’s investment portfolio is managed. Objectives and composition of investment portfolios, and common bank investments are covered, focusing on their risk and return profiles. Various investment strategies are described and the development of bank investment policies is discussed.

Audience: This course is designed for individuals involved in managing the bank’s investment portfolio.

The required textbook for this course is Bank Management, 8th Edition.

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to order the required book for this course if you do not have it.  We recommend that you FIRST select and add your course session to the shopping cart, then select your preferred format of book from the “Recommended Training” options that appear alongside the shopping cart.

*Please note this book is used for all four Bank Management courses: Managing Funding, Liquidity, Capital, Managing Interest Rate Risk, Analyzing Bank Performance, and Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio.*

Price: $660

March 4, 2022/by Anna Lorang
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Anna Lorang https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Anna Lorang2022-03-04 11:59:272022-03-04 11:59:27WBA/ABA Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio
Bank Management, Branch Manager, Credit Management, Risk Management, Webinar

WBA/ABA Managing Funding, Liquidity and Capital

A summary of the bank funding types, liquidity issues and management of capital. Learn what funding is used by banks; how liquidity needs may be addressed by storing liquidity on the balance sheet or by securing additional funding; and bank capital’s purpose, regulatory requirements and the effect on profitability.

Audience: This course is designed for individuals involved in managing the bank’s investment portfolio.

The required textbook for this course is Bank Management, 8th Edition.

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to order the required book for this course if you do not have it.  We recommend that you FIRST select and add your course session to the shopping cart, then select your preferred format of book from the “Recommended Training” options that appear alongside the shopping cart.

*Please note this book is used for all four Bank Management courses: Managing Funding, Liquidity, and Capital, Managing Interest Rate Risk, Analyzing Bank Performance, and Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio.*

Price: $660

March 4, 2022/by Anna Lorang
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Anna Lorang https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Anna Lorang2022-03-04 11:59:022022-03-04 11:59:02WBA/ABA Managing Funding, Liquidity and Capital
Risk Management, Webinar

WBA/ABA CRCM Managing Interest Rate Risk

An exploration of interest rate risk measurement techniques such as GAP, earnings sensitivity analysis, Duration GAP and economic value of equity sensitivity analysis. Risk management policy implementation and how to change overall interest rate sensitivity through balance sheet adjustments or derivative contracts are discussed.

Audience: Managing Interest Rate Risk is a rigorous course designed for individuals involved in asset liability management or line managers making pricing, investment, or funding decisions that impact interest rate risk.

The required textbook for this course is Bank Management, 8th Edition.

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to order the required book for this course if you do not have it.  We recommend that you FIRST select and add your course session to the shopping cart, then select your preferred format of book from the “Recommended Training” options that appear alongside the shopping cart.

*Please note this book is used for all four Bank Management courses: Managing Interest Rate Risk, Analyzing Bank Performance, Managing Funding, Liquidity, and Capital, and Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio.*

Price: $660

March 4, 2022/by Anna Lorang
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Anna Lorang https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Anna Lorang2022-03-04 11:56:292022-03-04 11:56:29WBA/ABA CRCM Managing Interest Rate Risk
Risk Management, Webinar

WBA/ABA CRCM Managing Interest Rate Risk

An exploration of interest rate risk measurement techniques such as GAP, earnings sensitivity analysis, Duration GAP and economic value of equity sensitivity analysis. Risk management policy implementation and how to change overall interest rate sensitivity through balance sheet adjustments or derivative contracts are discussed.

Audience: Managing Interest Rate Risk is a rigorous course designed for individuals involved in asset liability management or line managers making pricing, investment, or funding decisions that impact interest rate risk.

The required textbook for this course is Bank Management, 8th Edition.

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to order the required book for this course if you do not have it.  We recommend that you FIRST select and add your course session to the shopping cart, then select your preferred format of book from the “Recommended Training” options that appear alongside the shopping cart.

*Please note this book is used for all four Bank Management courses: Managing Interest Rate Risk, Analyzing Bank Performance, Managing Funding, Liquidity, and Capital, and Managing the Bank’s Investment Portfolio.*

Price: $660

March 4, 2022/by Anna Lorang
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg 0 0 Anna Lorang https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Anna Lorang2022-03-04 11:56:052022-03-04 11:56:05WBA/ABA CRCM Managing Interest Rate Risk

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