Interest rate volatility has been a dominant theme this year and inflation worries have begun morphing into recession fears.

For banks, rising rates are generally a positive trend; they tend to result in higher deposit franchise values and higher net interest margins. While unrealized losses in the available for sale bond portfolio also typically increase during rising rate environments, adhering to a disciplined investment framework can help bank leaders avoid knee-jerk reactions and put unrealized losses into the right context (discussed previously here).

As rates continue to rise, it’s time to check the pulse on your institution’s pricing model. In addition to pricing assets accurately, a successful bank also focuses on funding cheaply, using a number of models to identify relative value and hedging interest rate risk when necessary. Here, we’ll dive deeper into three principles that can help institutions strengthen their financial performance.

Principle 1: Disciplined Asset Pricing
Capital requirements mean that a bank has a finite capacity to add assets to its balance sheet. Each asset going on the balance sheet must be critically evaluated to ensure it meets your institution’s specific performance goals and risk mandates.

Using a risk-adjusted return on capital (RAROC) framework for asset pricing and relative value assessment helps establish a consistent, sustainable decision-making framework for capital allocation. Clearly, different assets have different risks and returns. An effective financial manager ensures that the bank is meeting its hurdle rates, or return on capital, and that the model and assumptions are as accurate as possible.

A mispriced asset isn’t just a risk to margin. It also represents liquidation risk, as assets priced incorrectly to market perceptions of risk have a higher likelihood of poor sale performance, such as losses on sale or failure to sell. The value of the institution can also be impacted if the bank consistently — even marginally — misprices assets. Overall, if an asset is not appropriately priced for the risks and costs associated with it, then a bank should critically evaluate its role on the balance sheet.

Principle 2: The Value of Deposit Funding
Banks benefit from low-cost, sticky funding. Core deposits typically comprise the largest and cheapest funding source, followed by term and wholesale funding and all other, generally short-term, funding sources.

Understanding your funding’s beta is a key first step to unlocking better financial performance.

In this application, beta is a measurement of the relationship between a funding source’s interest rate and an observable market rate; it is the sensitivity of funding cost relative to a change in interest rates.

As rates rise, low beta funding results in greater growth in franchise value compared to high beta funding. As assets reprice to the higher rate environment, balance sheets with low beta funding will see margins steadily widen. Banks with high beta funding tend to exhibit margin compression and declining valuations. Conversely, low beta funding results in more stable valuation as rates rise.

Principle 3: Risk Management in an ALM and RAROC Framework
Borrowers and depositors maximize their own utility, which often presents a dilemma for the financial institutions that serve them. When interest rates are low, borrowers typically want long-term, fixed-rate loans and depositors keep their deposits shorter term.  When interest rates are higher, we typically see the opposite behavior: depositors begin to consider term deposits and borrowers demand more floating rate loans. This dynamic can cause mismatches in asset and liability duration, resulting in interest rate risk exposure. Banks must regularly measure and monitor their risk exposure, especially when rates are on the move.

Significant divergence from neutral rate risk — a closely aligned repricing profile of a bank’s assets and liabilities — exposes a bank’s return on equity and valuation to potential volatility and underperformance when rates move. That’s where hedging comes in. Hedging can assist a bank by reducing asset-liability mismatches, enhancing its competitiveness by locking in spread through disciplined asset pricing and stabilizing financial performance. After all, banks are in the business of lending and safekeeping funds, but must take on risk to generate return. Hedging can reduce discomfort with a bank’s existing or projected balance sheet risks and improve balance sheet strategy agility to better meet customers’ needs.

There are opportunities for banks all along the yield curve. But institutions that don’t hedge compete for assets in the crowded short duration space — often with significant opportunity costs.

Rising rates generally result in stronger margins and valuations for well-funded depositories; disciplined asset pricing in a risk-adjusted framework is critical for financial performance. As a financial professional, it’s important that the board has a firm understanding of what drives deposit franchise value. Take the time to ensure that the entire leadership team understands potential risk in your bank’s ALM composition and be prepared to hedge, if needed.