Conscious Banking
I was once that guy who pulled into a Whole Foods Market parking lot, parked next to a Prius, revved my Camaro, and smiled. I hope I evolved since then. At least my stereotype about the grocer was wrong. Its co-founder, John Mackey, is a libertarian who believes corporations should serve a higher purpose. It’s […]
Bank M&A – Show Me the Money
Deep down I’m a bit of a softie. And nostalgic. So, if my wife and I are watching TV on a Saturday night and I happen to come across “Jerry Maguire,” I tend to stop and watch awhile. Then she says, “not this movie again” and I move on. Not that Jerry Maguire is my […]
Are Your Management Reports Just An Illusion?
Many financial institutions produce management reports using data only from their general ledger systems. An example is producing branch profitability reports limited to data from the branch’s cost center. Limiting the information within your management reports to only general ledger data may be producing reports that are just an ILLUSION! As noted by this famous painting […]
Paycheck Protection Program
Thursday evening (April 2, 2020) the Small Business Administration issued 13 CFR 120, its Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) regarding the PayCheck Protection Program (“PPP”). The 31-page document comes just hours before the new loan program was set to open on April 3. Bankers have been scrambling to get ready to implement this $349 billion program, […]
What’s the Next Crisis?
I remember a speech given by Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, at the New York Bankers Association Convention back in the fall of 2009. It was approximately a year after the real estate debacle which culminated in September 2008 and caused what we now know as the great recession. Mr. Dimon […]
Banking Profitability Roundup
End of year brings banking industry summaries. Some are very good, such as this one written by Jeff Davis of Mercer Capital (Mercer). In his summary, you’ll find charts and trends for net interest margin (NIM), pre-tax ROA, and fee income for whole institutions, and broken out by size cohorts. But that is as deep […]
Are Diversity Requirements Really Necessary?
Diversity in banking continues to be a hot topic. Based upon recent conversations TKG has participated in, there is a heightened interest and focus by many financial institutions to have greater diversity in their boardrooms, executive management teams, and in their overall workforce. TKG recently participated in a panel discussion on board diversity at the […]
Is Loyalty Worth It?
What is the value of a loyal customer? And what is the difference between a transactional customer and a loyal one? This was the subject of the keynote speaker, James Kane, at the recent Financial Managers’ Society FMS Forum in Boston. When you talk about loyalty to financial institution CFOs and Controllers, as Kane did […]
How Is That New Year Self-Improvement Program Going?
The start of each New Year is a good time for new beginnings. That’s when many of us start self-improvement programs. How is that self-improvement program going so far this year? We’re already a quarter through 2019, and have you stuck with your program? While we may have gained a few pounds during the holidays, […]
Build or Buy: Develop Staff or Buy Off of the Street?
News Flash: There are fewer community banks, and those that remain keep getting bigger. During the past 10 years, the number of U. S. banks has dropped by a third and the average asset size has more than doubled. As with consolidation in so many other industries, community bankers must be prepared to meet the […]