Bank advisers and market participants at S&P Global Market Intelligence’s annual community bankers conference said bank M&A and IPO activity is in a holding pattern and will pick up once there is greater clarity over the macroeconomic and interest rate environment. They also suggested that banks should avoid trying to position their balance sheets for particular rate moves and instead prepare for a variety of scenarios. The episode highlights balance sheet strategies, the current regulat...
Jun 04, 2025•24 min
The emergence of tariffs led to a broad selloff of US banks amid fears of slower economic growth or even a possible recession. Banks’ first-quarter earnings season showed strong performance before the onset of tariffs, but ultimately might have left investors with more questions than answers. In the episode, senior reporter Harry Terris shared the key takeaways from large banks’ first-quarter results and highlighted commentary from JPMorgan, Bank of America, Capital One, First Citizens and other...
Apr 28, 2025•25 min
Each year, S&P Global Market Intelligence ranks top-performing financial institutions in the following categories: community banks $3 billion to $10 billion in assets, community banks with less than $3 billion in assets, credit unions will more than $100 million in assets, and the top largest U.S. public banks by total assets. In another installment of Tales from Top Performers, executives from two winners of the community bank rankings – Nicolet Bankshares CFO Phil Moore and Northeast Commu...
Apr 01, 2025•31 min
Activist investor John Palmer sees plenty of catalysts for bank stocks, including stronger fundamentals, attractive valuations and a resurgence in M&A activity among regional and community banks. In the episode, Palmer, principal and managing member at PL Capital, discussed his firm’s investment approach, its successful history in running proxy campaigns and how its interactions with bank management teams have changed over time. The veteran investor also shared how PL Capital has encouraged ...
Mar 03, 2025•31 min
The bank advisory community is optimistic that bank M&A activity will rebound in 2025 and they should be, according to Mercer Capital Managing Director Jeff Davis. In the episode, Davis discussed his takeaways from the annual Acquire or Be Acquired Conference, where scores of advisers shared their viewed for M&A activity to be materially stronger this year. Davis also discussed the improving fundamental environment for banks, the outlook for bank valuations and whether institutions shoul...
Jan 31, 2025•31 min
Investors have flocked back to the bank group over the last five months as the fundamental environment has improved and the election results in November added legs to the rally, according to KBW CEO Tom Michaud. In the episode, Michaud discussed improving investor sentiment toward the U.S. bank space, his firm’s expectation for banks’ earnings and credit quality in 2025 and 2026, and the outlook for capital raising and bank M&A activity.
Dec 17, 2024•33 min
The bank M&A pipeline has improved significantly over the past month, and capital is available for institutions looking to grow amid the surge in investor interest in the banking sector, according to Bill Burgess, co-head of financial services investment banking at Piper Sandler. In the episode, Burgess said there are six factors contributing to renewed interest in bank deals, particularly following the recent U.S. elections. He noted that there is pent-up demand for deals after years of sta...
Nov 27, 2024•29 min
The U.S. election could change the legislative, supervisory and regulatory framework for the banking industry. In the episode, we discuss what different election outcomes could mean for banks with three guests focused on policy, regulation and rulemaking: Paul Merski, executive vice president, congressional relations and strategy at the Independent Community Bankers of America; Naomi Camper, chief policy officer at the American Bankers Association; and Isaac Boltansky, managing director and dire...
Oct 31, 2024•30 min
The operating environment remains challenging for many banks but experts at Raymond James’ annual whole loan conference in September 2024 noted there is a growing acceptance and willingness to pursue deals to counter headwinds facing the group. In the episode, three veterans at Raymond James – John Toohig, head of whole loan trading; Bill Sammon, head of financial services capital markets; and Bob Toma, managing director in financial services investment banking – discussed the outlook for bank e...
Sep 30, 2024•33 min
Rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and changes in post-pandemic behavior have put pressure on commercial real estate (CRE) borrowers needing to refinance loans coming due. The tally is nothing to sneeze at, with approximately $950 billion in CRE mortgages set to mature in 2024, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's analysis of nationwide property records. In the episode, S&P Global Market Intelligence analysts Tom Mason, Chris Hudgins and Zain Tariq discuss the threat of maturing ...
Aug 28, 2024•28 min
Bank stocks and regional bank stocks in particular have rallied over the last month and there is further room to run, according to Joe Fenech, Chief Investment Officer at GenOpp Capital Management. In the episode, recorded on July 16, Fenech said that sentiment towards bank stocks is improving and that the long bear market in bank stocks ended in May 2023. The investor argued that the recapitalization of New York Community Bancorp earlier in 2024 could serve as the turning point of this investme...
Jul 23, 2024•28 min
Tales from Top Performers features conversations with executives at high-performing banks about their view of current issues, and the greatest challenges and opportunities they see ahead. This episode features executives from three of the highest performing banks in the country: Curtis Griffith, chairman and CEO of Lubbock, Texas-based South Plains Financial; Paul Egge, CFO of Houston-based Stellar Bancorp; and Skip Hageboeck, CEO of Charleston, W. Va.-based City Holding Co. The bankers outlined...
Jun 19, 2024•29 min
Deposits and liquidity remain at the forefront for most bankers and the intense competition for core funding will eventually lead to a resurgence in M&A activity. That was the message delivered by a variety of presenters at S&P Global Market Intelligence’s annual community bankers conference on May 20 and 21, but they acknowledged that transactions face some challenges in the near term, including lower valuations, fewer would-be buyers and regulatory pressures that tend to require more c...
May 31, 2024•26 min
The investment community has expressed great concern over commercial real estate and questioned whether a severe downturn could lie on the horizon, but Rich Hill, head of real estate strategy and research at Cohen & Steers, is not in the camp. In the episode, Hill discussed the misconceptions about commercial real estate, the considerable differences in risk across various subcategories and how publicly traded REITs serve as a leading indicator to the private markets. The veteran of the real...
May 10, 2024•27 min
Tales from Top Performers is a new series under the Street Talk banner that will feature conversations with executives at high-performing banks about their bank and experience in the sector; their view of current issues, and the greatest challenges and opportunities they see ahead. The inaugural episode features a discussion between James Beckwith, CEO of Rancho Cordova, Calif-based Five Star Bancorp, a previous winner of S&P's Global Market Intelligence's annual bank rankings, and S&P c...
Mar 19, 2024•17 min
The banks that failed in the spring of 2023 were outliers that violated some of the golden rules of banking, but many investors continue to unfairly paint the bank group with a broad brush, according to KBW CEO Tom Michaud. In the episode, Michaud discussed the drivers of the large bank failures in 2023 and the idiosyncrasies of those institutions. He further discussed the regulatory response to the liquidity crunch and criticized the Basel III endgame proposal while advocating for deposit insur...
Mar 15, 2024•26 min
Regulatory scrutiny has intensified in the aftermath of the liquidity crunch that erupted in 2023 and could play an even larger role in bank M&A activity in 2024 by motivating more banks to consider selling, while also standing in the way of some transactions. The episode features views presented by advisers at Hovde Group, KBW and Luse Gorman at the Acquire or Be Acquired conference, commentary from executives at Community Bank System and Columbia Banking System on the current state of bank...
Feb 18, 2024•18 min
U.S. banks’ fourth-quarter 2023 earnings demonstrated continued pressure on funding costs and minimal slippage in credit quality. The Street largely took the results in stride, but management teams were hopeful that net interest margin pressure could subside in the second half of 2024 and credit quality would hold up in the face of a higher for longer rate environment, according to Gerard Cassidy, co-head of global financials research at RBC Capital Markets. In the episode, the veteran analyst s...
Jan 27, 2024•25 min
The word unprecedented became commonplace in banking circles in 2023. The Federal Reserve’s rate hike campaign pushed bank balance sheets deeply underwater, spurred deposit outflows and exposed asset/liability mismatches at some institutions that culminated in record-breaking bank runs that led to the second, third and fourth largest bank failures in US history. Those closures and the liquidity crunch, regulatory response, market selloff and eventual recovery that followed changed the competitiv...
Dec 29, 2023•28 min
Bank stocks have rallied since the Federal Reserve offered hopes of rate cuts in 2024 and there are further catalysts on the horizon, including a pickup in M&A activity, according to Mendon Capital Advisors President Anton Schutz. In the episode, the veteran bank stock investor offered his view of bank stock valuations, credit quality, bond portfolio restructurings and increased M&A activity on the horizon, through both mergers of equals and traditional buyouts.
Dec 20, 2023•26 min
The negative impact from higher interest rates has led a number of banks to considering balance sheet restructurings and a few institutions have pursued those transactions by unlocking capital through sales of business lines or merging with another company, according to Bill Burgess, co-head of financial services investment banking at Piper Sandler. In the episode, Burgess discussed the current roadblocks to M&A activity, various transactions banks have pursued to facilite transactions, the ...
Nov 21, 2023•26 min
As community banks face a challenging operating environment due to higher for longer rates and heightened regulatory scrutiny, Tony Scavuzzo, managing principal at Castle Creek Capital, expects private equity investing in the sector to increase. In the episode, the private equity veteran said he expects new investments to support independent banks looking to play offense and purge underwater bonds or credit risk in their loan portfolios as well as capital being provided to help facilitate bank M...
Oct 25, 2023•27 min
Many bank boards are stuck as they face investor scrutiny and wait for slippage in credit quality, but experts at Raymond James’ inaugural whole loan conference noted that private equity firms are waiting to infuse capital into institutions so they can play offense in the future. In the episode, John Toohig, head of whole loan trading at Raymond James and host of the firm’s recent conference, discussed the outlook that speakers shared for the economy and the credit quality of mortgages, credit c...
Sep 22, 2023•34 min
In the latest Street Talk podcast, Davis Polk Partner David Portilla says implementing early remediation triggers outlined in the Dodd-Frank Act would be more effective than the Basel III endgame to avoid repeating the spring 2023 bank failures. In the episode, Portilla made the case for enacting early remediation triggers proposed in section 166 of the Dodd-Frank Act. That provision directed the Fed to adopt regulations for the early remediation of financial weakness. The Fed outlined four diff...
Sep 20, 2023•26 min
Banc of California Inc.'s plans to acquire PacWest Bancorp, the largest bank deal thus far of 2023, offers some hope that a rebound in bank M&A could be on the horizon, but advisers acknowledged that the unique nature of the transaction makes it stand apart. In the latest Street Talk podcast, members of the S&P Global Market Intelligence news team highlight discussions with bank deal advisers, including senior members from Janney Montgomery Scott and Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP....
Aug 09, 2023•20 min
Many regional banks’ second-quarter earnings might have fallen short of the Street’s estimates, but results contradicted the bear case that weighed heavily on the institutions’ stock prices during the spring, according to Terry McEvoy, managing director at Stephens. In the episode recorded on July 24, McEvoy, the superregional bank analyst at Stephens, discussed the key takeaways from the first week of regional bank earnings, including what results tell the investment community about banks’ liqu...
Jul 26, 2023•21 min
The liquidity crunch that erupted in March made deposits more precious, but performance has diverged between institutions of different sizes and regions, according to Josh Siegel, chairman and CEO of StoneCastle Partners. In the episode, Siegel discussed the liquidity pressures facing the industry and how they far more acute for regional banks than the nation’s largest and smallest banks; strategies institutions are employing to compete for deposits; potential regulatory changes; the outlook for...
Jun 27, 2023•29 min
While many banks are being unfairly painted with a broad brush, institutions will face tougher regulatory examinations and pressure on probability and that should ultimately lead to a strong rebound in bank M&A activity. Those views were delivered by members of the investment and advisory community during two panel discussions focused on bank liquidity that S&P Global Market Intelligence hosted on May 18. The panels featured Ben Azoff, partner at Luse Gorman; Isaac Boltansky, director of...
Jun 01, 2023•26 min
Brad Rinschler, managing partner at Down Range Capital Management, said in the latest "Street Talk" podcast that he believes valuations of many banks are attractive. In the episode, Rinschler and Connor Labozzetta, a partner at Down Range, discussed year-to-date performance of bank stocks, why they think failed institutions were not representative of many banks, the opportunity they see to invest at current levels and their favorite banks to own.
May 23, 2023•30 min
Bearish investors are targeting bank stocks and ignoring the facts, according to Janney Montgomery Scott Director of Research Chris Marinac. In the episode, Marinac discussed the fallout from recent bank failures and the recent, sharp selloff in bank stocks. He said bearish investors are using banks as a “weapon of destruction” to try to force the Federal Reserve’s hand to either cut interest rates, consider a “blanket” deposit insurance alternative for banks or unveil a program that would suppo...
May 05, 2023•26 min
