Acquire or Be Acquired

Bank Director welcomes business leaders from across the United States to our 29th annual Acquire or Be Acquired Conference. To open the conference, we share what we are hearing about staying relevant and competitive.

KBW’s CEO, Tom Michaud, sets the stage for the conference as he defines where the industry is today and what forces shape its future in 2023 and beyond.

This panel session explores growth options with an eye towards emerging trends and opportunities. While banks were once described as slow and unable to innovate, the last few years have shown the opposite to be the case. As performance expectations continue to shift, we look at macro level trends with an eye on taking advantage of them.

Today, expectations for financial services are being redefined in real time. In our fast-paced, digitally connected world, financial institutions across the globe are preparing to meet the evolving needs of both customers and bankers, whenever they want and wherever they are. In this session, nCino analyzes the past, present and future of fintech and examines how institutions are transitioning from the closed technologies of yesterday to the networked future of tomorrow.

Join IntraFi’s Rob Blackwell as he talks to a balance sheet management expert and bank executives about how bankers can prepare for any eventuality. Topics include the economic and regulatory outlook as well as what’s happening in real-time on Main Street.

New and innovative technologies that can remove obstacles impacting your bank’s bottom line are being developed and rolled out faster than we’ve ever seen. But where do you start? Does your organization use manual processes that are inefficient, prone to error or drain valuable resource hours that can be deployed more effectively elsewhere? Join this session to learn how banks can leverage digital transformation and automation to streamline internal processes, improve customer experience and identify key opportunities to propel your bank forward.

An increasing number of financial institutions are evaluating their performance pre and post COVID, looking for new opportunities to diversify their revenue. Did you know banks working through Fintech Sponsorship Programs can create direct access to additional payments through their existing products? Join Visa, Inc. as we discuss the opportunities available to your institution.

Decisions made even before bankers engage with the other side foretell the likelihood for success. This session discusses various considerations for the boards of both sellers and buyers in order to play the negotiating game in the most effective manner.

The massive increase in unrealized bond losses during 2022 has the industry in uncharted waters, leaving management teams, boards of directors, regulators, investment bankers and investors scrambling to understand the implications on capital, liquidity, valuations and M&A. This session explores the impact of AOCI on equity valuations and whether banks should consider preemptive capital raises or reconsider share repurchase programs. The session also evaluates how AOCI distorts M&A pricing and addresses the question of whether to pursue deals or sit on the sidelines until the dust settles.

This breakout session continues the “Need to Know” series that has consistently been a popular highlight at this conference for many years. Gain practical insight on what CEOs and directors need to know in 2023 and beyond.

This panel is all about types of bank acquisitions: banks buying non-banks, credit unions buying banks, banks buying specialty lines of business, fintechs buying fintechs, traditional cores buying tech companies, among others. Hear what makes these deals great.

As the financial industry continues to evolve, some banks not looking for M&A are uncovering new business lines and other ways to enhance their operations. These may include more traditional avenues like introducing new loan products, portfolio acquisition and reimagining your branches, to more recent trends such as banking-as-as-service, digital assets and BNPL, among others. Hear this panel of experts share opportunities your bank should consider as you develop next year’s strategic plan.

For many financial institutions, the strategic planning and budgeting processes have turned purely into a financial forecasting exercise, projecting growth, earnings and performance indicators based on a set of best-guess assumptions. By combining strategic and tactical planning approaches, financial institutions can better align the organization’s operational, financial and strategic plans with the overall vision of the organization.

There are many alternatives to consider when designing compensatory arrangements (including severance, change-in-control, bonus and equity awards agreements). To that end, this session covers: how to identify the right key employees; things to consider before a change-in-control transaction is imminent; the shareholders’ perspective, including the impact of equity on dilution; the attractiveness to the buyer of certain pay structures; and designing plans that maximize the amounts paid to executives.

It has been a while since our industry has managed through a recession. During this session, we discuss changes in capital allocation, loan pricing and profitability management during a financial downturn. We also discuss key aspects of what community banks will need to do differently to optimize capital and come out with a stronger position as the economy returns to growth.

Is there a chance that your playbook is missing a key component? Even the most experienced acquirers don’t know what they don’t know. Once your merger or acquisition receives that stamp of approval, how can you ensure that the two merging banks are fully integrated efficiently and with the fewest hiccups? This session covers tips for managing an integration effort including vendor partner review, setting process, establishing a governance structure and system conversion. We review tactics for completing a thorough gap analysis in all areas of the bank, what areas are worth extra focus and how to build and maintain a positive culture.

With CEO retirement and talent volatility at an all-time high, is your bank proactively seeking leaders and board members with the abilities required for long-term success? In this session, we discuss the key skill sets needed in the board and C-Suite to thrive and remain independent. Participants receive Chartwell’s proprietary board skills matrix and succession planning model.

76% of companies that import or export have less than 20 employees. You are banking these small businesses today. When have you last considered how to best serve them? Come learn how banks can take control of their international payment and FX activities, enhance the customer experience, and create new sources of revenue.

Hear from Bank Director’s Editor-in-Chief as she shares the most significant developments and stories we have been writing about.

What are the primary factors affecting bank value in today’s market? How do the recent changes in market conditions impact the way buyers value a target bank? In this session, we discuss the primary drivers of value as we enter 2023 and look to where community banking is heading.

ConnectOne Bank and Alliant Credit Union are two of the most innovative financial institutions in America. They’ve both embraced omnichannel technology as a competitive advantage, building strategic partnerships to drive operational efficiency and achieve explosive growth. Join MANTL in conversation with ConnectOne and Alliant as they discuss why an omnichannel strategy is more urgent than ever — and how forward-thinking institutions can capitalize on this emerging trend in 2023 and beyond.

The ERC is an overlooked payroll tax rebate born out of the CARES Act to help small and mid-sized businesses through the Covid pandemic. These businesses are eligible to receive up to $26,000 per W2 employee as a payroll tax refund. Rules have changed recently, now allowing businesses who received PPP to also claim and qualify for the ERC. Attend this session to learn more!

This session shares updates on top accounting and auditing matters specific to the banking industry.

What are the 7 ways to avoid the biggest blunders in banking? Year by year, we’ve been seeing seemingly small shifts in shareholder dynamics, capital strategies, asset allocation, deposit mix, competition, technology, etc. But when looking back over the last three decades, the cumulative consequences are catastrophic. This session looks closely at 7 characteristics of the most successful management teams as they have navigated these changes and acted upon opportunities (and avoided the wrong ones) for superior results. We also show how to find strategies to effectively manage and allocate capital given ever-changing market dynamics, volatility and uncertainty.

Your financial institution has access to a plethora of data, but are you maximizing its value? In this session, Apiture’s EVP of Innovation Daniel Haisley discusses how you can close the expertise and tool gaps that may be holding you back from fully leveraging the data available to you today.

Proactively planning and executing retention strategies before, during and after M&A is critical to a deal’s success. This session provides a checklist of the processes, actions and specific compensation strategies each bank needs to have in its “tool kit” to avoid talent disruption during a transaction and ensure successful outcomes.

In this panel discussion, Adam Maier and Jeff Newgard share success strategies as they discuss the story of how an M&A transaction can come together with everyone’s interests and goals met. Their story provides an example of how all parties used existing relationships to build new opportunities through a capital raise to successfully complete the M&A transaction.

Small business has become big business and represents an estimated $400 billion opportunity. Until recently, this market was expensive to reach and serve. But a growing number of institutions have been following the path of disruptors like Square and PayPal — rethinking their strategy to better serve this lucrative segment. Learn about the evolution of the small business market and come away with a plan to prepare your bank for long-term success.

Moody’s provides their outlook on the community and regional banking sector, including the impact of interest rates, inflation and recession risks. Other forces shaping the sector including developments in cyber risk and technology-enabled disruption are also part of the discussion.

Green Check’s Chief Strategy Officer invites the leader of one of the fastest growing, most innovative cannabis banking programs in the U.S. to provide an inside look at how they navigated building and scaling this exciting, niche line of business.

This session focuses on the current regulatory climate with regard to M&A with an emphasis on changing regulatory standards for approval of transactions, hot button issues and potential regulatory threats to the successful and timely completion of a transaction. We also discuss the growing trend of non-traditional buyers (such as credit unions and investor groups) and the unique regulatory and diligence issues they raise. The session also provides examples of merger agreement provisions that can (and should) be considered when engaging with these non-traditional purchasers to better protect the seller. With the increased regulatory scrutiny of merger transactions, we also discuss ways to optimize the diligence process, including how to balance a party’s need to ascertain an entity’s regulatory standing while continuing to fulfill its obligations about the treatment of confidential supervisory information.

In this panel discussion, hear from bankers at leading financial institutions as they discuss proven strategies for driving efficiencies in commercial lending. This panel of experienced bankers and lending experts reveals best practices for establishing effective commercial loan origination processes and considerations when identifying new commercial lending opportunities, including how to evaluate and adjust credit policies in the current economic environment and more.

With the battle for business deposits becoming increasingly more competitive, banks need to offer better tools to serve business needs or else lose business to alternative options. The challenge: how do you provide a first-class digital experience while also ensuring KYC and KYB compliance requirements are met? Join Narmi as we dive into the strategies to win business relationships in a digital-first way.

Customer-centric banks are the product of deliberate design, precision building and, given today’s technology costs, enlightened funding ideas. Join PwC as we discuss a holistic approach to digital transformation, tech modernization and the hidden levers that can defray the cost.

Hear from Bank Director as we share the most significant findings from our editorial research, as well as what we have been writing about in our weekly newsletter, The Slant.

Based on the latest iteration of Bank Director’s RankingBanking study, hear from three banks that topped our list.

Scale matters but how can it be created in the right way? Join KBW’s Scott Anderson and Joe Berry as they discuss winning playbooks with prominent bankers that are building successful companies. Is it best to buy small, build transformatively or invest outside of traditional banking? The panelists share their views while the investor perspectives are shared by Matt Kelley, KBW’s Director of Research.

This session takes a look at the emerging trends within the fintech space and innovative ways that technology companies are learning from their bank partnerships.

The process of striking a deal for a prized target has never been more competitive than it is today. For buyers, careful discipline is required to ensure that bids are designed to accomplish acquisition growth without damaging the value of the company. For sellers, a competitive bid process must be skillfully navigated in order to earn the best deal for shareholders. In this session, participants work through the final rounds of a competitive auction involving a prized seller to see which bank emerges as the successful acquirer. Of course, as in real deals, some wrinkles will emerge. The M&A Simulation is exclusive to 45 bank attendees only, allows for one banker per institution and runs concurrently to the below breakout sessions.

In all types of acquisitions, there are many human capital challenges to consider, including compensation and retention strategies, cultural integration, the transition of senior executives and the merging of two different employee populations. In this session, presenters review the considerations around compensation and broader human capital dynamics unique to a merger of equals and other types of acquisitions.

Through an aggressive acquisition and growth strategy, bank CEO, Don Neel, has pushed United Fidelity Bank to near $5B in total assets by guiding the institution through 9 acquisition transactions and the establishment of 3 de novo branches over the last 8 years. His method of leveraging acquired data to hit the ground running has been vital to the institution’s accelerated success. Sit in on this exclusive fireside chat to learn ways to uncover the true value of an acquisition, powerful strategies for a seamless integration and why data fluency is so critical to bank growth.

This session dives into today’s commercial lending landscape (post-PPP) and shares what community financial institutions should prioritize in order to stay ahead of big banks and maintain a competitive edge, while building personal, yet digitally optimized customer relationships. This session includes best practices when digitizing lending processes and real examples of forward-thinking community banks and the ways they are modernizing their commercial lending processes to grow revenue, increase their competitive posture and better serve their communities.

Investors compensate bank managers for smooth, predictable earnings, asset growth and capital management. Changing interest rate environments impact each of these metrics. Banks have ways to manage changing interest rates, but banks often lack the most powerful and flexible tool: derivatives. Bankers sometimes shy away from using hedging strategies due to a lack of experience, a cautious board and concerns about accounting. Attend this session to hear how bankers have overcome these areas of resistance to add this tool to protect earnings and capital.

It has been over 10 years since our industry has felt the effects of the bottom of the credit cycle. Whether or not a recession hits, there are numerous actions banks can take to prepare, protect and persevere through the cycle.

The universe of strategic options for banks has expanded to include credit union acquirers and developing or acquiring non-traditional lines of business (mortgage, insurance, wealth management or fintech). This session provides insights into these trends and how they intersect and discusses how acquirers determine a valuation range and model deal metrics for banks with both traditional and non-traditional lines of business.

The current regulatory environment has merger partners worried about obtaining timely regulatory approvals. This session addresses how buyers and sellers can address potential regulatory deal risks on a wide range of issues, including consumer protests, community impact reviews, fair lending compliance matters and market concentration issues. The session also explores negotiating provisions to deal with regulatory application risks.

See live demonstrations of trending apps like Robinhood, Cash App, SoFi and Affirm to better understand the new features that are increasing competitive pressures on today’s banking products. We share ongoing research which explains the trends – including which mobile features matter most to each generation, from zoomers to boomers. We also examine how fintech companies like Acorns are leveraging the subscription society (think Amazon Prime, Costco, Netflix, Spotify) and pioneering new recurring revenue-generating models for financial products and services.

This moderated ‘fireside discussion’ with an accomplished banker and M&A participant reveals key findings applicable to sellers and buyers alike. For prospective sellers, learn how to prepare for a sale and which characteristics merit a premium price… and which do not. For would-be buyers, the session explores best practices, the seller’s mindset, areas of value creation, and key risks in an acquisition.

As banks strive to diversify their C&I assets outside CRE, equipment leasing and finance have a proven track record of doing just that. But the additional benefits of improved spread, ROE and ROA are just a few of the most visible benefits. More than a few banks can corroborate. There are several methods of entering this lucrative C&I business line. Each of the three panelists have entered the equipment leasing and finance market in the past few years and each have entered using three different methods. Hear first-hand from top executives of three outstanding banks about their rationale and experiences.

With the combination of rampant inflation, record velocity in rate increases and the weaning off of pandemic government assistance, the likelihood of heightened credit stress is all but guaranteed. Irrespective of current credit metrics being very benign, these are trailing indicators — and subject to change dramatically. In this environment, no prospective acquirer should be satisfied with call report data or previous loan review reports to extrapolate a target’s embedded credit quality.

Everyone knows top sales talent is a key part of any growth strategy, but there isn’t a defined handbook to achieve it. Join the CEO of Numerated along with 3 bank CEOs to dive into how you can empower and grow existing teams while winning the competition of attracting new talent. By enabling existing talent to become commercial lenders, investing in tools to make teams more efficient, and modernizing the bank’s brand to attract new talent in the marketplace, these executives have increased loan production simply by transitioning their talent strategies.

As a bank grows, complexities naturally result. In this breakout session, bank executives explore challenges that arise during merger considerations, contract negotiations and other strategic growth initiatives. In point/counterpoint fashion, Cornerstone Advisors’ Ryan Rackley tackles the most significant challenges confronting bank executives today and lays the groundwork for growth-minded banks to consider.

This session discusses the cost-efficient pathway to going public on OTC Markets where banks can leverage their stock currency for future M&A opportunities. We also discuss strategies for increasing liquidity and ways to enhance your bank’s shareholder value.

Expanding on the Women in Banking Reception held on Saturday, join your peers for a lively moderated discussion with Bank Director and three bank leaders as we discuss the challenges, opportunities and lessons learned in our industry.

Bank Director shares results from our annual research studies as well as cumulative findings from the Board Performance Surveys that our bank members have completed this year.

This session shares insights from our annual M&A research survey, sponsored by Crowe LLP.

The largest opportunity in banking today is increasing non-interest income (fee-based revenue) and retaining deposits from new and existing customers flowing to digital investment and banking platforms. This can be accomplished through launching an offering in wealth that doesn’t require becoming an investment advisor. Hear how Wealth Management-as-a-Service can positively pull those levers for your bank via turnkey technology.

This session provides you with best practices applying blockchain technologies in commercial banking to deepen customer relationships, capture market share, penetrate new markets and build shareholder value. The session also provides you with insights into how the most innovative commercial banks are applying blockchain-based technology to increase revenues and profits by providing their corporate customers with secure, flexible, real-time payments 24/7/365 and highly customized financial services using smart contracts. These banks are both meeting customer demands and responding to competitive threats posed by innovative fintechs and money center banks.

Quantitative tightening, rising interest rates and decreased demand from your small business borrowers can all be alarming during a recession. Still, there are ways to navigate these treacherous waters. During these times, digital channels create opportunities for banks to serve more business customers, expand market share and increase revenue at a lower cost. Banks that embark on this strategy to leverage AI-powered innovations in analytics and data-driven decision-making can gain a decisive competitive advantage. Making data a competitive advantage and leveraging data for data-driven decisioning can create significant value for customers. By providing them with value-added products at the right time, banks are empowered with cross-selling opportunities, thereby increasing profitability for the bank and building a recession-resilient portfolio.

As the market conditions of 2022 carry us into the new year, financial institutions need to keep an eye on trends that affect both sides of the balance sheet. On the lending side, at what point will rate hikes impact the appetite for commercial loans? And on the deposit side, can a heavy emphasis on digital bring the desired efficiency in the back office, as well as in the customer experience? Join us to discuss how a smart technology strategy and integrated solutions can help you win, onboard, serve and grow your commercial relationships – no matter how 2023 plays out.

Are you looking for digital loan solutions while managing cash positions, balancing risk tolerance and bolstering earnings? Community banks are uniquely positioned to capitalize on advanced technology platforms that will benefit them today and in the future. BHG Financial shares the secret sauce on how to properly partner with fintech companies that can give you access to data, research, analytics and more.

In this session, we evaluate the link between the values of each generation and the effectiveness of your compensation plans. Attendees also learn management techniques to improve communication and productivity based on generational preferences.

Learn how some of the largest financial institutions utilize New Markets Tax Credit investments to reduce federal tax and enhance earnings, while at the same time supporting CRA and ESG initiatives. A relatively small tax credit program of the US Treasury generates great returns for banks in corporate earnings and finances quality job creation, workforce development, mixed-use housing and rural community education and healthcare services in low-income communities.

When it comes to M&A, combining commercial loan books is no small feat and could be loaded with blind spots of hidden risks, growth opportunities and more. In this session, we examine how banks can identify potential credit issues in their acquired bank’s portfolio earlier, what they can do about it and how they can start focusing on growth and opportunity sooner after an acquisition or merger.

By January 2023, Fed funds will likely be at their highest in 15 years, and there’s no telling where Treasury rates will be. Funding and related costs will be under pressure, and economic uncertainty will weigh heavily on lending, investment and hedging strategy discussions. Join this session for a thought-provoking conversation on managing your entire balance sheet amid great uncertainty.

A winning digital strategy is an end-to-end strategy that supports an automated business and customer engagement ecosystem. The decisions you make now will impact your business from the top down and from the inside out — from streamlining and connecting workflows through APIs to eliminating outdated operational functions. Is your mobile investment setting you up for success or inefficiency, churn and abandonment? Join this session to see firsthand how to assemble digital assets that deliver more profitable business with less friction.

You’ve done everything right. Your clients love you. Your clients also love and trust non-banks to store, grow and manage their money. Where do you even begin to fend off this disintermediation? In this session, we explore how to use your unused data for analytics that can allow you to create a modern client experience through highly targeted services.

When community banks open their eyes to unconventional industry verticals, partnerships and technology, organic growth can explode on both sides of the balance sheet. Learn how three innovative banks embraced multiple new models of business for exceptional financial performance.

This session focuses on the riskier areas in banking and areas ripe for transition — blockchain and digital assets, climate change, cannabis — where a select few banks are blazing a trail.

Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, famously authored, “Only the Paranoid Survive.” That title begs the question: can you not just survive, but also thrive, if you’re constantly on the lookout for challengers and threats? We attempt to answer this question by inviting panelists from across the country to share their insights on how change fuels their business success.

This session focuses on where banks have ceded space — small business (Square, etc), payments — and what they’d need to do to gain share back.

Winning over investors is just the start of today’s bank merger journey; it’s critical to also engage communities and key customers. PwC explores the important factors that went into successfully building support for recent bank transactions.

Too often financial institutions struggle to fully commit to digital transformation because it feels complex and the return on investment seems ambiguous. Join Mike Butler, CEO of Grasshopper Bank and former CEO of Radius Bank (now LendingClub) and Nikhil Lakhanpal, Co-Founder of Narmi, to unpack how Grasshopper Bank led a digital-first change across an entire organization and the resulting transformative impact. This session walks through tangible examples to show what obstacles had to be overcome and decisions to be made to lead to industry-defining success.

With the growing focus around ESG from investors, clients, regulators, communities and employees, having an ESG policy and raising the awareness about current ESG activities is becoming more critical to a bank’s success. We discuss the key aspects of developing an ESG road map while highlighting opportunities and recommendations to navigate the ESG landscape and benefit your business and your bottom line. Joining PNC on this panel are executives from Berkshire Hills Bancorp and Forbright, Inc., two ESG-centric banks, to share their insights and perspectives.

At a time of considerable market uncertainty, even turbulence, in credit markets, the banks seek to more actively manage their loan portfolio exposures and returns. Balancing the mastery of tried-and-true approaches, along with identifying new tools and techniques, are paramount to long-term success in loan portfolio management. Hear how two community banks are thinking about managing through the current market volatility to optimize their loan portfolio performance.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency research has helped open the investment grade debt markets to community bank issuance. As we head into more challenging economic times, this session examines the issuing landscape and how credit markets are viewing community bank risk.

The rising adoption of the Buy Now Pay Later business model has many questioning its long-term benefits; but the positive impacts for your business clients and what that means to your overall growth strategies are worth discussing. Consumers like the choice of payment terms with easy and instant access to credit when they need it, at the time of purchase. Merchants see an increase in customers completing orders by as much as 20-30% and benefit from a 30-40% increase in the average order value. Hear from a panel of market leaders as they discuss the questions that many financial institutions are having around the board room when considering the regulations and risks associated with BNPL and POS Lending.

AI has suddenly come to life. In recent months, we’ve met AI that can paint, tell stories, write code and replace not only jobs, but also incumbents like Google. Inside financial institutions interest is on the rise, yet healthy skepticism remains: What can AI really do? How will I know it will work? This session helps you separate the fiction from reality and avoid investing in AI projects that won’t pay off.

This session provides an update on fintech valuation multiples for the past 12-24 months. We examine and summarize public company multiples, the largest M&A and private financing transactions. Did you know that payments companies comprise 50% of the market capitalization of all fintech companies? We also review the bank tech, lending, crypto and other fintech sectors as well.

As your bank considers the possibilities for future growth, we close this year’s 29th annual conference by speaking with three bank leaders who have taken a different approach to banking, customer engagement and digital strategy.