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 …

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 installmen…

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 cam…

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 t…

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 …

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 re…

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…

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, h…

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 pro…

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 M…

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…

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…

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 differenc…

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,…

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.…

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 t…

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 lon…

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 …

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 portfol…

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…

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 …

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 Jam…

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 o…

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 …

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 Steph…