Tag: bank consulting

Kill the Monster While It’s Still Small – Don’t Wait Until It Becomes Godzilla

by David McSwain

A consistently scheduled external loan review program will help to do exactly that. Problems do frank-3not magically appear overnight, they grow without being noticed because the problem gets played off as an isolated situation. Then the creep sets in as motion and momentum begin. Once this process reaches maturity, it is very difficult to overcome, especially if it has gone unnoticed for an extended period of time.

For example, a loan or group of loans tied to a particular industry start to experience cash flow problems.  Those problems manifest in past due loans and/or overdrafts.  We take swift action to correct the situation without really understanding the true nature and severity of the real problem. We are able to get the past due loan resolved or the overdraft covered without asking the key question: WHY?  The problem reoccurs and now it has our undivided attention. Unfortunately, we still have not recognized the underlying loan portfolio credit quality deterioration that has been growing and evolving. We should recognize that a single troubled credit does not constitute a systemic problem. However, the weakest loans should be a wakeup call that there may be problems larger and more complex than one or two loans that are experiencing difficulty.

Finally, we look up one day and we have several problem loans. Now our laundry is aired and loans with similar characteristics from an underwriting or industry perspective start causing pain.

A consistent and regimented program of external loan review is an important line of defense against the monsters that may be lurking within the bank’s lending function. Waiting for the eve of the next exam is like waiting until Godzilla is at the door before action is taken.

Three signs that you may have Godzilla in your bank are 1) rapid loan growth in any one call report bucket 2) creep in past due loan over the past few quarters 3) an increase in TDR loans.

For more information about Loan Review, ALLL Review, CRE Stress-Test or to schedule a consulting meeting for 2019, contact McSwain Consulting at 405-880-1039 or email david@mcswainconsulting.net. McSwain has battled a lot of Godzillas and knows how to deal with them.

 

 

Avoiding Frankenstein-ing Your Work

You are sitting in your office studying your bank’s third quarter financial statements and reports. frankWHAT the heck happened?  That empty feeling hits deep in the bottom of your stomach and indigestion sets in!  You are well below budget or vastly exceeded your budget. Past dues are higher over the past six months and your investment portfolio didn’t quite perform as well as you thought.  The loan renewals are coming in with tighter debt coverage ratios. It appears your customers’ margins are getting squeezed.  Dang, the bank’s margins are compressing due to rising rates in your deposits.

Now you need to start your budgeting process with your management team and it appears your team will need to budget down for 2019. You also have the responsibility to inform the board the bank isn’t going to make the budget.  WOW!  Maybe you feel the need to make some calls to your largest shareholders and let them know the bad news.  Dang, the annual shareholders meeting is going to be intense.  2019 sure is going to be a tough year because the Fed keeps raising rates.  The next exam is going to be tough!  The economy is very good, but my bank is experiencing things it shouldn’t be.  ALSO, this CECL thing!  WHY!

WRONG!  This is your story!  REALITY:  It’s the direct result of your systems + processes + disciplines.  It’s the outcome you were going to receive because actions and focus were not on your systems + process + discipline.  You reached a little here and a little there.  The creep set in, and because creep is slow, you didn’t recognize it.  Most likely you didn’t remember the OUTCOMES you were trying to achieve.  You didn’t ADAPT.

But now you get the opportunity to react. Reaction takes much more ENERGY, RESOURCES, CAPITAL, and STRESS.  MCSWAIN CONSULTING takes a deep dive into your systems + process + disciplines through our proven methods.  We will identify weaknesses so that you can be proactive.  We will get you the information to avoid major mistakes.

Three things you should benchmark:

1)Loan Growth Rate v Capital Growth Rate

2) Past Dues, TDR’s and Non-Performing Loans

3) Net Interest Margin

MCSWAIN CONSULTING can help.  We offer Loan Reviews, CRE-Stress Testing, System and Process Reviews, ALLL Reviews and General Consulting!  Our team of consultants has over 145 years of combined banking, consulting and business experience.  We have seen many different business cycles going back to the 1980s.  Contact us today to discuss a REALIGNMENT for 2019.

 

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You Should Read This: Bank 3.0 by Brett King

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41AzJecTO+LAs I’ve written about here in my personal journey through banking from my childhood in the 70’s to present day, banking has done more than “change” or “evolve” – it’s practically morphed from a noun to a verb. As Brett King says in his book, Bank 3.0, banking is quickly becoming something we “do” not somewhere we go.
From online transactions to apps to stand-alone ATMs, the days of standing in line and getting a sucker or gum at the counter are becoming a thing of the past. My role as a banking consultant is to look for what’s ahead to help prepare banks for success, not just survival.
Find out more about Bank 3.0 here. 
From the Publisher:
In BANK 3.0, Brett King brings the story up to date with the latest trends redefining financial services and payments—from the global scramble for dominance of the mobile wallet and the expectations created by tablet computing to the operationalising of the cloud, the explosion of social media, and the rise of the de-banked consumer, who doesn’t need a bank at all.
BANK 3.0 shows that the gap between customers and financial services players is rapidly widening, leaving massive opportunities for new, non-bank competitors to totally disrupt the industry.
“On the Web and on Mobile, the customer isn’t king—he’s dictator. Highly impatient, skeptical, cynical. Brett King understands deeply what drives this new hard-nosed customer. Banking professionals would do well to heed his advice.”
—Gerry McGovern, author of Killer Web Content
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David McSwain is an Oklahoma bank consultant and president of McSwain Consulting providing loan risk management solutions, loan reviews, and bank consulting services to community banks in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. 
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Why I Do What I Do

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Bankers.  I have been one since 1986 and it’s not all pretty. I believe in telling the truth and getting real so here we go. I have worked in most positions in a bank except for President.  Hell, I even owned a portion of a bank on two different occasions.  Although I didn’t have the title, I ran three banks for a period of two years.  I managed two banks for a period of four years and experienced things no one should experience in a bank. I had to take lending authority from family members, fire board of directors, lose friendships, and everything in between.  My expertise is instilling a disciplined credit culture that is efficient, very profitable and excruciatingly effective.  Only if you have the discipline to follow.

Here’s the thing: bankers are notorious for taking the most inexperienced person and shoving them into a position. This person unfairly gets the opportunity to check off a box from a strategic plan or from being written up from an examiner.  Bankers, really!  It’s a traditional practice from teller all the way to the top management.  We then think we have accomplished something because it didn’t materially affect the bottom line.

If you haven’t done it, you  probably know someone who has because it runs rampant.  It’s a mirror mentality.

Every time a new best practice comes out or a new regulation comes out, we hire Janie or Johnnie and put them in a position or we move Johnnie or Janie into a position they have never heard of much less have a clue of what the hell they are doing.  And neither do you!  But it makes us feel good!  We beat the system.  Nope.

That’s why I’m here. I hold up the  mirror.  We take a look at what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and how to do it better. The truth hurts sometimes, but it leads us where we need to go.

Question:  How many of your credit analyst or loan review specialist can see a loan going bad two years out?  Answer:  Very few:  They don’t have the experience.  More precisely, they haven’t enough bad experiences to see it coming!   That’s why community banks hire McSwain Consulting.  You don’t pay us benefits, sick leave, vacation days, 401k.  We save you the x factor and generationally, our work ethic is beyond belief.

We have seen, done and walked in your shoes.  We have dealt with regulators in extreme situations, loan review companies and auditors.

Our mission:  We strive to develop the culture of discipline in loan risk management that is proven time and time again.  It is profitable, efficient and creates opportunity beyond belief.

Give us the opportunity to prove to you, but you have to follow our direction.  We will make your bank effective, efficient and more profitable.

If you are interested in taking your bank into the next generation, I’d love to get your call.

David McSwain is an Oklahoma bank consultant and president of McSwain Consulting providing loan risk management solutions, bank loan review services, and bank consulting services to community banks in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas.