Publications and Reports

Financial Strategies Group

Publications
	REPORT Reacting to Unrealized Losses March 23, 2021 - Rate volatility often leads banks to re-open discussions around accounting designations for their securities. GAAP equity measures, chiefly common equity and tangible book value, include unrealized gains/losses on AFS debt securities. With rates higher in the last few weeks than in the last year, companies are noticing negative marks on their bonds for the first time in recent memory. Read Now
	REPORT Steeper Curve Strategies: Curve Extensions Back in Vogue March 19, 2021 - The fact that bank valuations are often at their highest when investment portfolio marks are at their lowest offers limited solace to managers watching their AFS gains erode by the day. This week we begin a multi-part series entitled “Steeper Curve Strategies” to take advantage of moves in the curve. We kick off by sharing some thoughts from Justin Hoogendorn, CFA’s “Bond Market Focus”, a weekly publication with investment ideas and current topics in the fixed income market. Read Now
	REPORT The Real Reason Rates Are Surging March 11, 2021 - Dimitri Delis, PhD, our team’s senior econometric strategist, shares his thoughts on the economic forces driving interest rates. Read Now
	REPORT Preparing Your Balance Sheet for 2021 - Key Takeaways February 26, 2021 - Thank you to everyone that tuned into our Webinar this week. Scott Hildenbrand took us through a variety of topics of interest to community banking institutions. This week, we want to share some key highlights of the topics discussed... Read Now
	REPORT Waiting on Opportunities in the Municipal Bond Market Curve February 11, 2021 - This week, we’ve asked our in-house experts on municipals, Peter Stettler and Al Cappelli, to provide an overview of the municipal market. Soon, we will revisit the sector, for some specific strategies that financial institutions can take advantage of. Let’s dive right in... Read Now
	REPORT The Cash Stays in the Picture January 29, 2021 - In an era of major issues in the banking space: a global pandemic, political turbulence, record low rates, and record government spending, the most common problem facing banks may feel unusual-too much cash on hand. The result of this cash build means lower earnings, but when yield opportunities are sparse, what can institutions do? Let's dig through some examples of current value in the market, tailored for a variety of institutions' needs... Read Now
	REPORT Tactical Adjustments into a Steeper Yield Curve January 22, 2021 - Two weeks ago we explored some of the financial metrics that we consider relevant to community banking institutions, and saw increased volatility in 2020. Given the recent changes to the shape of the yield curve, this week we dive into different tactics to address those changes… Read Now
	REPORT Brokered Deposit Reform Finalized January 14, 2021 - On December 15th a recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed rule became final relating to brokered deposits. At the highest level, the rule shrinks the scope of what counts as a brokered deposit making more deposits qualify as non-brokered. Let’s dig in... Read Now
	REPORT What a Difference a Year Makes January 8, 2021 - We kick off 2021 by analyzing performance across various financial markets that most affect community banks, and the path those metrics took over the past 365 days... Read Now
	REPORT Key Themes and Trends Heading Into 2021 December 10, 2020 - As everyone’s minds turn to wrapping up 2020, we’d like to share some of the recent topics that have dominated our conversations across a variety of different areas, and some context for how to consider them… Read Now
	REPORT Balance Sheet Insights December 3, 2020 Read Now
	PODCAST A Conversation with FHLBank Atlanta November 20, 2020 - Scott Hildenbrand recently joined Scott Brennan, director of sales at FHLBank Atlanta for a discussion of the tactics that will leave institutions better prepared or further exposed in light of the potential upcoming rate changes. Click through to this week’s report for access to the podcast episode... Listen Now
	REPORT Balance Sheet Impacts of Recent News November 13, 2020 - The two topics dominating headlines in 2020 – the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 U.S. presidential election – both received important news this week. The news resulted in volatility in capital markets and warrants some analysis on the potential implications for bank balance sheets. Read Now
	REPORT Balance Sheet Insights November 6, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Earnings Releases: Third Quarter Trends October 30, 2020 - As we turn our attention to third quarter earnings trends, we continue to see unusual activity as a result of COVID-19 and its after-effects on the economy. In this edition, we look at the expected or unexpected results so far, and what it means for banks across the country. Read Now
	REPORT Update on Credit Union Hedging October 23, 2020 - As banks’ expertise has grown in the ways to deploy derivatives in their hedging toolkit, many credit unions, until recently, were left behind. In this edition we explore some interesting developments. Read Now
	REPORT LIBOR Transition for Derivatives October 16, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Asset-Swapping Municipal Bonds October 9, 2020 Read Now
	WEBINAR Balance Sheet Strategies vs. Tactics: Preparing for Q4 and 2021 September 23, 2020 - Understanding the difference between strategies and tactics is key to efficiently and productively managing your balance sheet as you prepare for Q4 2020 and 2021. We focus on liquidity, rising rate risk to TCE, defensive and offensive tactics on and off the balance sheet, and how to approach strategy development. Email us for access to the replay. Request replay
	REPORT Banks left with pockets full of cash and few places to go October 2, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Asset-Side Hedging Supports Growth September 25, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Bank Strategy Insights: September 2020 September 17, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Protecting Tangible Book Value Against Rising Rates… Again September 11, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Guest Contributor Series: Four Ironies Resulting from COVID-19 September 3, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Bank Strategy Insights: August 2020 August 27, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Bank Strategy Insights: August 2020 August 20, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Guest Contributor Series: Optimizing the Capital Structure August 14, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT The Pandemic Economy: Second Quarter Strategies August 6, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT The Pandemic Economy: Second Quarter Trends July 31, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Investment Focus: Freddie Mac Multifamily Small Balance Securities (“FRESB”) July 24, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Case Study: When Cash is Not King July 17, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT A Campaign for the Gain July 9, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Preparing for Expectation to Become Reality June 26, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT A Discussion of Community Bank Subordinated Debt June 19, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT A Survey to Enhance the Conversation June 11, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Preparing for Negative Rates June 4, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT Finding Value in Fair Value Hedges May 28, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT A Deep Dive into Liquidity: Part II May 21, 2020 Read Now
	REPORT A Deep Dive into Liquidity: Part I May 14, 2020 Read Now