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General Session Descriptions
Culturetopia: The Ultimate High-Performance Workplace Jason Young - Former Senior Executive at Southwest Airlines & Renowned Training & Development Expert This dramatically different approach to creating and sustaining a high-performance workplace will provide you with practical and easy-to-implement guidance to a healthy, productive and profitable work culture. Through seven key determinants, Jason Young, will show you how to create an organizational culture where employees do their best work and produce the desired performance outcomes in productivity, profitability, employee retention and customer satisfaction.
Accounting & Regulatory Panel Panel: - Kevin Chiu,CPA, Senior Accounting Policy Analyst in the Division of Supervision and Regulation - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System - Sydney Garmong, CPA, Partner, National Office - Crowe LLP - Jeffrey J. Geer, CPA, Associate Chief Accountant, Office of the Chief Accountant - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - Bryan Jonasson, CPA, Deputy Chief Accountant - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - Chris McGrath, CPA, Chief Accountant - National Credit Union Administration Only at the FMS Forum will you be able to hear invited representatives from Crowe LLP, FDIC, Federal Reserve, NCUA and OCC on the general session main stage as they give insights into current reporting trends and the impact on institutions of all sizes.

General Session Descriptions

Culturetopia: The Ultimate High-Performance Workplace

Jason Young - Former Senior Executive at Southwest Airlines & Renowned Training & Development Expert

This dramatically different approach to creating and sustaining a high-performance workplace will provide you with practical and easy-to-implement guidance to a healthy, productive and profitable work culture. Through seven key determinants, Jason Young, will show you how to create an organizational culture where employees do their best work and produce the desired performance outcomes in productivity, profitability, employee retention and customer satisfaction.

Accounting & Regulatory Panel

Panel:

- Kevin Chiu,CPA, Senior Accounting Policy Analyst in the Division of Supervision and Regulation - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Sydney Garmong, CPA, Partner, National Office - Crowe LLP
- Jeffrey J. Geer, CPA, Associate Chief Accountant, Office of the Chief Accountant - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- Bryan Jonasson, CPA, Deputy Chief Accountant - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Chris McGrath, CPA, Chief Accountant - National Credit Union Administration

Only at the FMS Forum will you be able to hear invited representatives from Crowe LLP, FDIC, Federal Reserve, NCUA and OCC on the general session main stage as they give insights into current reporting trends and the impact on institutions of all sizes.

Breakout Session Descriptions
Anticipation and Authority: The Key to a Great Balance Sheet Strategy Scott Hildenbrand, Head of Piper Sandler Financial Strategies, Chief Balance Sheet Strategist – Piper Sandler Join Scott Hildenbrand from Piper Sandler for a discussion of current themes in the banking industry. He will explain how anticipation and authority are key to having a great balance sheet strategy and will include market updates to contextualize the ideas. He will also highlight considerations and opportunities on the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet that will help management teams find more value for their institution and prioritize the right things as they plan ahead.
Audit and Accounting Update: Hot Topics and Critical Updates Stephanie Ballard, Audit Senior Manager – Crowe LLP Justin Murberg, Audit Senior Manager – Crowe LLP The accounting and audit landscape is changing rapidly for our industry. The current economic landscape has brought long dormant accounting and audit issues to the forefront. The FASB, SEC and PCAOB continue to be active in their standard-setting missions. This session is designed to provide attendees with up-to-date information on the impact of new and emerging topics in accounting and auditing, including a discussion of newly issued standards, emerging topics, and other current events. Topics will include CECL, fair value standards, liquidity/intent and ability to hold debt securities, NOCLAR, accounting for tax credit investments and other hot topics relevant to the banking industry based on current events.
Balance Sheet Strategies to Meet Today’s Challenges Elisabeth Vogel, Head of Financial Institution Strategy – Rayond James As recent events have forced further scrutiny on depository's balance sheets, financial institutions have received the brunt of mistakes made by peers more than ever before. We will be discussing strategies your peers are deploying to navigate the complex interest rate environment. We will also be focusing on ways we have assisted clients in tackling difficult conversations from the board room to their regulators.
Building an All-Weather Balance Sheet with Derivatives Ben Lewis, Managing Director, Head of Sales – Chatham The last few years have shown us how unpredictable interest rates are. Building an all-weather balance sheet, able to withstand the changing tides of rates is essential for a bank’s finance team. But challenges from market dynamics make it difficult to do that: borrowers and depositors require products that don’t always fit with ALCO’s goals. In this session, you’ll learn how derivatives can help you position your balance sheet to weather rate changes while meeting customer requirements.
CECL Model Benchmarking: How Can Simple Models Inform My Complex CECL Model? Bradley Myles, Director – MountainView Risk & Analytics, a SitusAMC Company As of early 2023, financial institutions across the banking and credit union space were required to comply with the CECL accounting regulation standards. Institutions have a range of models with differing levels of complexity to estimate lifetime losses. The Institution’s control over these models is often limited because of model complexity. This leads to an inherent lack of transparency of some vendor-provided model solutions. How can an institution understand the complexity of the vendor CECL model using simple models?
Changing Interest Rates & Key Deposit Assumption Dave Koch, Director, Advisory Services – Abrigo Non-maturity deposit assumptions have long held the key to expected interest rate risk and funding costs. With our recent economic tumult, these assumptions have been tested and, in many cases, thrown out. Now as we face an uncertain rate future, what assumptions make sense for your deposit funding strategy, funding cost management and overall interest rate risk assessment? Understanding behaviors, demographics and recent trends is crucial to managing deposit offerings to maintain liquidity, net interest margin and overall growth. Strategies for growing and\or retaining these funds require a more detailed examination of the deposit makeup and trends than traditionally used for asset\liability management historically.
Compliance in the Digital Era: Unveiling the Power of Banking as a Service Lisa Thouin, Managing Director – Mercadien Peter Sciarrotta, Supervisor – Mercadien Join us for an informative presentation on providing Banking as a Service (BaaS) and the crucial role of compliance in this rapidly evolving landscape. Discover the key features and benefits of BaaS, as well as the regulatory frameworks and compliance challenges associated with this model. Learn about risk management strategies, contractual considerations and the technology infrastructure required for successful BaaS implementation. Gain insights into best practices, compliance monitoring and auditing techniques. Through real-world case studies, understand the practical implications and benefits of BaaS. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your understanding of BaaS compliance and ensure your organization stays ahead in the digital banking era.
Data as an Asset Dave DuVarney, Principal, Cloud Data and Apps – Baker Tilly Mark Boettcher, Partner, RS Risk Advisory – Baker Tilly It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the challenge of turning data from an afterthought into a core facet of your banking operations that drives value. Organizations can become paralyzed because they don’t know where to begin, but the right data strategy can change the mindset of a bank from using data for incremental growth to using it as a transformational element in a bank’s success. Join us to learn how to unlock the value of your bank’s data and develop and implement a clear data strategy that allows for flexibility and change. We’ll discuss how to position your data as a strategic corporate asset and how to develop a data governance program to manage, monitor, and protect your data.
Deriving More Value From Your Planning and Reporting Processes (A Panel Discussion) Moderator: Ken Levey, Managing Director – Empyrean Solutions Panelists: Terry Bishop, CFO – UNCLE Credit Union William Bradley, Associate Director of Finance – Cape Cod 5 Chandler Huddleston, AVP Financial Analyst – FirstBank Southwest Bryan Ridgway, Director, Performance Management Solutions – Empyrean Solutions Today’s environment presents numerous new challenges for FP&A Leaders at Financial Institutions.  More than ever, these challenges require a change in the organizational mindset and expectations for the FP&A function.  More specifically, FP&A Leaders are being asked to revamp Budgeting, Planning and Reporting from rote and sometimes static processes to a single, inter-related process that can tangibly inform and guide your Bank or Credit Union toward predictable and optimal financial performance.
Effective Risk Management for the Investment Portfolio Robert Segal, CEO - Atlantic Captial Strategies This presentation will focus on the key components of an effective risk management process for the investment portfolio. We’ll review a best-practice reporting system which describes characteristics of the risk in the portfolio, incorporating market-based measures. The reporting will include stress tests, a sample pre-purchase analysis, watch list reporting, back testing and best execution analysis. The session will also discuss the process for evaluating securities which present higher risk, and we’ll review available data sources and documentation requirements.
The Fed… Your Balance Sheet… What To Do Next? Ryan Henley, Managing Director Head of Financial Institutions Strategies – Stifel The financial institution landscape and operating environment has shifted dramatically over the prior 24 months given Fed and fiscal policy. For many, the environment still poses challenges to achieving optimal profitability, risk management goals, and confident strategic direction. In this session, we will explore a range of strategic alternatives that will touch on every aspect of the balance sheet including loan and investment portfolios, deposits/funding portfolios and capital management. Attendees will come away from this discussion with a grasp of peer activity and relevant strategies for their respective balance sheets.
How to Avoid Regulatory Regret Gary Svec, Managing Director, Investment Banking - Performance Trust Following recent failures, regulators are on high alert for emerging risks. Great opportunities may be viewed as high-risk ventures, and examiners increasingly attempt to curtail ongoing exposures. In this session, Brian Battle will share thoughts about this new regulatory environment and discuss how your management team can seek opportunities while maintaining regulatory good standing to bolster the durability of your funding.
The Increasing Speed of Business Brad Dahlman, Director of Product Management - Jack Henry and Associates Katie William, Product Manager - Jack Henry and Associates The speed of business has accelerated dramatically over the past several years. This increased speed requires banks to re-evaluate their analysis and reporting tools and timelines. It is no longer acceptable to have only stale month end data in managing your banks financials, credit risk and sales management. In this session we explore changes and then need to have tools that support your business in understanding new business, past due trains, new volume, yields and key ratios - while also syncing to your custom chart of accounts and month-end reporting.
Knowledge is Power: Utilizing Data to Your Advantage Jay Greifenkamp, Senior Solutions Engineer – Syntellis Performance Solutions, LLC You have an abundance of data teeming through your systems. Data that can automate your reporting. Data that can drive your budgeting processes. Data that can provide analysis of your portfolio and point you to your next course of action. Can everyone in your organization use this data? For financial institutions to compete in today's complicated financial environment, you need to have the ability to manage massive amounts of data from disparate source systems to provide timely, cohesive insights. Knowledge that gives finance leaders the ability to make better decisions. This session will present best practices for gathering and analyzing your data to help you understand the drivers of your performance and provide tips and tricks for how to leverage the results to create timely, dynamic visualizations and support data-driven decision-making.
Managing Your Balance Sheet Through a Not Your Average Recession Matt Pieniazek, President and CEO - Darling Consulting Group Amid the fastest Fed tightening cycle in modern banking history, a steeply inverted curve and margins being squeezed, creating a strategic perspective at ALCO has never been more critical. This session focuses on strategies to navigate through this period of uncertainty and will focus on lending, investments, deposits, wholesale and hedging initiatives to help shape a strategic ALCO meeting.
Navigating Economic Turbulence: Focus on the Most Important Metrics Barry Adcock, Financial Performance Strategist - Deluxe Mark Swanson, Financial Performance Strategist - Deluxe Economic conditions are constantly changing creating numerous challenges for community banks. Having the right data in front of the right people at the right time is key to successfully navigating economic turbulence. Barry and Mark will share how keeping your team focused on what matters most will help you navigate challenging conditions.
Navigating the Storm: Strategic Pricing in a Volatile Rate Environment Steve Wofford, CEO – Kohl Analytics Group In the midst of an increasingly unpredictable interest rate landscape, financial institutions are facing the critical challenge of accurately pricing loans and deposits. Gone are the days when stability in rates meant that following market trends sufficed. Recent surveys paint a concerning picture: nearly half of all institutions have yet to integrate interest rate and liquidity risk into their pricing strategies. This oversight is resulting in a significant number of loans and deposits being established with suboptimal Risk-Adjusted Returns on Capital. Consequently, many institutions are at risk of backing themselves into a corner, potentially compromising their liquidity position. This session is designed to confront this challenge head-on. We will unveil a straightforward methodology to pinpoint and remedy these pricing pitfalls. Attendees will gain insights through clear examples that demonstrate how to target a Risk-Adjusted rate effectively. More importantly, we will explore the enduring consequences of neglecting this crucial aspect of financial management.
Optimizing Accounting Practices with Emerging Technology Meredith Piotti, CPA CIA - Principal - Wolf & Company, P.C. In today's dynamic business landscape, professionals face the pressing need to optimize their accounting practices to deliver maximum value to their banks. It is clear that Finance and accounting professionals believe that technology adoption is vital for optimizing accounting practices but getting started and realizing those benefits can feel daunting. This presentation will explore how current technology can be harnessed to transform traditional accounting processes, streamline operations, and drive greater efficiency. Listen to real life case studies with implementation examples so that you can transform your own operations.
Payments Strategy – The Demand and Adoption of Instant Payments Glenn Wheeler, VP - Payments Strategy and Product Innovation - Catalyst Momentum continues to build as financial institutions move forward with the implementation of faster payment solutions. The FedNow® Service went live in July 2023 and is gaining widespread adoption. Additional faster payment capabilities including RTP, Visa Direct, MasterCard Send and Same Day ACH are enabling innovation and efficiency for both consumers and businesses. We will discuss the transformation in payments with a goal to instantly be able to transact and settle a payment to anyone, anywhere, at any time. We’ll also discuss the industry drive toward ubiquity and how the collaboration of corporate credit unions and banker’s banks are working together in driving adoption.
Responding to Crisis: Institutions' Reactions to the 2023 Liquidity Crisis Jack Qjan, Associate Director, Senior Product Consultant, Moody's Analytics The liquidity crisis of early 2023 was a significant event that prompted substantial changes in institutional behaviors and regulatory frameworks. The crisis response involved several key aspects: crisis management, liquidity stress testing and portfolio modifications. This session will explore changes institutions made to their portfolios and their investment strategies. This shift aimed to enhance their resilience to future liquidity shocks and other market disruptions.
Seasoning CECL: Insights from Validation, Benchmarks and Governance Suan Weber, Senior Manager - BerryDunn David Stone, Senior Manager - BerryDunn Variety is the spice of life – or is it? Now that CECL is fully adopted – and with so much diversity in practice – what’s next? Join us for this inside look at CECL implementation trends, benchmarking analysis and best practices in board/management oversight and reporting. We’ll take a look at model validation expectations, practices, scope and what the results really mean. We’ll share insights and tips learned from CECL validation and consulting work nationwide, discuss comparability issues and risks and provide a roadmap for identifying and closing your institution’s gaps. From SCALE to complex statistical models, learn what to watch out for, pros and cons of challenger models, and what you can reasonably rely on (or not) in a CECL model vendor SOC-1. You may wish you’d had this session before year-end audits, but it is never too late to season your recipe!
Secrets of High Performing Banks – Responding to Market Challenges Shawn O'Brien, President - QwickRate We’re expecting a long road ahead for all banks in 2023-2024, but some institutions will see it as a chance to seize opportunities and successfully strategize responses to the challenges. These high-performing banks know how to use publicly available performance data to their advantage. We’ll show you how your bank can emulate the top performers by taking your cues from the numbers. Using a proprietary index of “true” community banks, we’ll discuss the metrics and approaches they used…and you can use…to become a high performer.
Turning Data Into a Secret Weapon Kim Snyder, CEO & Founder - KlariVis Amber Robinson, Sales & Strategic Alliances Executive - KlariVis The financial landscape has grown increasingly competitive, and many banks feel the pressure of enhancing technology to meet customers’ expectations. Data can be the secret weapon in doing so. Banks have access to a tremendous amount of information but having this massive volume of data does not automatically correlate to having valuable insights. The value is found in being able to easily turn this cache of data into actionable insights that drive the institution’s ability to serve its customers and its community, streamline operations, and ultimately compete with larger institutions and non-bank competitors. In fact, 80 percent of respondents in a Forrester report realize the importance of data, but only 20 percent actually feel confident that their businesses knows how to apply data-driven insights. During this session, KlariVis will explore how banks can unlock their data and quickly leverage it for powerful insights that drive the bank forward.
Unlocking Portfolio Potential: A Disciplined Method to Portfolio Management Robert Perry, Principal - ALM First Jason Haley, Chief Investment Officer - ALM First Maintaining a disciplined approach to portfolio management may be more critical than ever as the current economic and regulatory environments continue to evolve. A thoughtful investment process should lead to more consistent and predictable earnings from the fixed-income portfolio. This session will focus on moving industry best practices from theory to practice to unlock the potential of your institution’s portfolio. We’ll begin by discussing the key components of a process that goes well beyond just picking a bond and dig deeper into some of today’s challenges before sharing real-life examples to assist you in analyzing future opportunities and avoiding potential pitfalls.

Breakout Session Descriptions

Anticipation and Authority: The Key to a Great Balance Sheet Strategy
Scott Hildenbrand, Head of Piper Sandler Financial Strategies, Chief Balance Sheet Strategist – Piper Sandler

Join Scott Hildenbrand from Piper Sandler for a discussion of current themes in the banking industry. He will explain how anticipation and authority are key to having a great balance sheet strategy and will include market updates to contextualize the ideas. He will also highlight considerations and opportunities on the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet that will help management teams find more value for their institution and prioritize the right things as they plan ahead.

Audit and Accounting Update: Hot Topics and Critical Updates
Stephanie Ballard, Audit Senior Manager – Crowe LLP
Justin Murberg, Audit Senior Manager – Crowe LLP

The accounting and audit landscape is changing rapidly for our industry. The current economic landscape has brought long dormant accounting and audit issues to the forefront. The FASB, SEC and PCAOB continue to be active in their standard-setting missions. This session is designed to provide attendees with up-to-date information on the impact of new and emerging topics in accounting and auditing, including a discussion of newly issued standards, emerging topics, and other current events. Topics will include CECL, fair value standards, liquidity/intent and ability to hold debt securities, NOCLAR, accounting for tax credit investments and other hot topics relevant to the banking industry based on current events.

Balance Sheet Strategies to Meet Today’s Challenges
Elisabeth Vogel, Head of Financial Institution Strategy – Rayond James

As recent events have forced further scrutiny on depository's balance sheets, financial institutions have received the brunt of mistakes made by peers more than ever before. We will be discussing strategies your peers are deploying to navigate the complex interest rate environment. We will also be focusing on ways we have assisted clients in tackling difficult conversations from the board room to their regulators.

Building an All-Weather Balance Sheet with Derivatives
Ben Lewis, Managing Director, Head of Sales – Chatham

The last few years have shown us how unpredictable interest rates are. Building an all-weather balance sheet, able to withstand the changing tides of rates is essential for a bank’s finance team. But challenges from market dynamics make it difficult to do that: borrowers and depositors require products that don’t always fit with ALCO’s goals. In this session, you’ll learn how derivatives can help you position your balance sheet to weather rate changes while meeting customer requirements.

CECL Model Benchmarking: How Can Simple Models Inform My Complex CECL Model?
Bradley Myles, Director – MountainView Risk & Analytics, a SitusAMC Company

As of early 2023, financial institutions across the banking and credit union space were required to comply with the CECL accounting regulation standards. Institutions have a range of models with differing levels of complexity to estimate lifetime losses. The Institution’s control over these models is often limited because of model complexity. This leads to an inherent lack of transparency of some vendor-provided model solutions. How can an institution understand the complexity of the vendor CECL model using simple models?

Changing Interest Rates & Key Deposit Assumption
Dave Koch, Director, Advisory Services – Abrigo

Non-maturity deposit assumptions have long held the key to expected interest rate risk and funding costs. With our recent economic tumult, these assumptions have been tested and, in many cases, thrown out. Now as we face an uncertain rate future, what assumptions make sense for your deposit funding strategy, funding cost management and overall interest rate risk assessment? Understanding behaviors, demographics and recent trends is crucial to managing deposit offerings to maintain liquidity, net interest margin and overall growth. Strategies for growing and\or retaining these funds require a more detailed examination of the deposit makeup and trends than traditionally used for asset\liability management historically.

Compliance in the Digital Era: Unveiling the Power of Banking as a Service
Lisa Thouin, Managing Director – Mercadien
Peter Sciarrotta, Supervisor – Mercadien

Join us for an informative presentation on providing Banking as a Service (BaaS) and the crucial role of compliance in this rapidly evolving landscape. Discover the key features and benefits of BaaS, as well as the regulatory frameworks and compliance challenges associated with this model. Learn about risk management strategies, contractual considerations and the technology infrastructure required for successful BaaS implementation. Gain insights into best practices, compliance monitoring and auditing techniques. Through real-world case studies, understand the practical implications and benefits of BaaS. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your understanding of BaaS compliance and ensure your organization stays ahead in the digital banking era.

Data as an Asset
Dave DuVarney, Principal, Cloud Data and Apps – Baker Tilly
Mark Boettcher, Partner, RS Risk Advisory – Baker Tilly

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the challenge of turning data from an afterthought into a core facet of your banking operations that drives value. Organizations can become paralyzed because they don’t know where to begin, but the right data strategy can change the mindset of a bank from using data for incremental growth to using it as a transformational element in a bank’s success. Join us to learn how to unlock the value of your bank’s data and develop and implement a clear data strategy that allows for flexibility and change. We’ll discuss how to position your data as a strategic corporate asset and how to develop a data governance program to manage, monitor, and protect your data.

Deriving More Value From Your Planning and Reporting Processes (A Panel Discussion)
Moderator: Ken Levey, Managing Director – Empyrean Solutions
Panelists:

Terry Bishop, CFO – UNCLE Credit Union
William Bradley, Associate Director of Finance – Cape Cod 5
Chandler Huddleston, AVP Financial Analyst – FirstBank Southwest
Bryan Ridgway, Director, Performance Management Solutions – Empyrean Solutions

Today’s environment presents numerous new challenges for FP&A Leaders at Financial Institutions.  More than ever, these challenges require a change in the organizational mindset and expectations for the FP&A function.  More specifically, FP&A Leaders are being asked to revamp Budgeting, Planning and Reporting from rote and sometimes static processes to a single, inter-related process that can tangibly inform and guide your Bank or Credit Union toward predictable and optimal financial performance.

Effective Risk Management for the Investment Portfolio
Robert Segal, CEO - Atlantic Captial Strategies

This presentation will focus on the key components of an effective risk management process for the investment portfolio. We’ll review a best-practice reporting system which describes characteristics of the risk in the portfolio, incorporating market-based measures. The reporting will include stress tests, a sample pre-purchase analysis, watch list reporting, back testing and best execution analysis. The session will also discuss the process for evaluating securities which present higher risk, and we’ll review available data sources and documentation requirements.

The Fed… Your Balance Sheet… What To Do Next?
Ryan Henley, Managing Director Head of Financial Institutions Strategies – Stifel

The financial institution landscape and operating environment has shifted dramatically over the prior 24 months given Fed and fiscal policy. For many, the environment still poses challenges to achieving optimal profitability, risk management goals, and confident strategic direction. In this session, we will explore a range of strategic alternatives that will touch on every aspect of the balance sheet including loan and investment portfolios, deposits/funding portfolios and capital management. Attendees will come away from this discussion with a grasp of peer activity and relevant strategies for their respective balance sheets.

How to Avoid Regulatory Regret
Gary Svec, Managing Director, Investment Banking - Performance Trust

Following recent failures, regulators are on high alert for emerging risks. Great opportunities may be viewed as high-risk ventures, and examiners increasingly attempt to curtail ongoing exposures. In this session, Brian Battle will share thoughts about this new regulatory environment and discuss how your management team can seek opportunities while maintaining regulatory good standing to bolster the durability of your funding.

The Increasing Speed of Business
Brad Dahlman, Director of Product Management - Jack Henry and Associates
Katie William, Product Manager - Jack Henry and Associates

The speed of business has accelerated dramatically over the past several years. This increased speed requires banks to re-evaluate their analysis and reporting tools and timelines. It is no longer acceptable to have only stale month end data in managing your banks financials, credit risk and sales management. In this session we explore changes and then need to have tools that support your business in understanding new business, past due trains, new volume, yields and key ratios - while also syncing to your custom chart of accounts and month-end reporting.

Knowledge is Power: Utilizing Data to Your Advantage
Jay Greifenkamp, Senior Solutions Engineer – Syntellis Performance Solutions, LLC

You have an abundance of data teeming through your systems. Data that can automate your reporting. Data that can drive your budgeting processes. Data that can provide analysis of your portfolio and point you to your next course of action. Can everyone in your organization use this data?

For financial institutions to compete in today's complicated financial environment, you need to have the ability to manage massive amounts of data from disparate source systems to provide timely, cohesive insights. Knowledge that gives finance leaders the ability to make better decisions.

This session will present best practices for gathering and analyzing your data to help you understand the drivers of your performance and provide tips and tricks for how to leverage the results to create timely, dynamic visualizations and support data-driven decision-making.

Managing Your Balance Sheet Through a Not Your Average Recession
Matt Pieniazek, President and CEO - Darling Consulting Group

Amid the fastest Fed tightening cycle in modern banking history, a steeply inverted curve and margins being squeezed, creating a strategic perspective at ALCO has never been more critical. This session focuses on strategies to navigate through this period of uncertainty and will focus on lending, investments, deposits, wholesale and hedging initiatives to help shape a strategic ALCO meeting.

Navigating Economic Turbulence: Focus on the Most Important Metrics
Barry Adcock, Financial Performance Strategist - Deluxe
Mark Swanson, Financial Performance Strategist - Deluxe

Economic conditions are constantly changing creating numerous challenges for community banks. Having the right data in front of the right people at the right time is key to successfully navigating economic turbulence. Barry and Mark will share how keeping your team focused on what matters most will help you navigate challenging conditions.

Navigating the Storm: Strategic Pricing in a Volatile Rate Environment
Steve Wofford, CEO – Kohl Analytics Group

In the midst of an increasingly unpredictable interest rate landscape, financial institutions are facing the critical challenge of accurately pricing loans and deposits. Gone are the days when stability in rates meant that following market trends sufficed. Recent surveys paint a concerning picture: nearly half of all institutions have yet to integrate interest rate and liquidity risk into their pricing strategies. This oversight is resulting in a significant number of loans and deposits being established with suboptimal Risk-Adjusted Returns on Capital. Consequently, many institutions are at risk of backing themselves into a corner, potentially compromising their liquidity position. This session is designed to confront this challenge head-on. We will unveil a straightforward methodology to pinpoint and remedy these pricing pitfalls. Attendees will gain insights through clear examples that demonstrate how to target a Risk-Adjusted rate effectively. More importantly, we will explore the enduring consequences of neglecting this crucial aspect of financial management.

Optimizing Accounting Practices with Emerging Technology
Meredith Piotti, CPA CIA - Principal - Wolf & Company, P.C.

In today's dynamic business landscape, professionals face the pressing need to optimize their accounting practices to deliver maximum value to their banks. It is clear that Finance and accounting professionals believe that technology adoption is vital for optimizing accounting practices but getting started and realizing those benefits can feel daunting. This presentation will explore how current technology can be harnessed to transform traditional accounting processes, streamline operations, and drive greater efficiency. Listen to real life case studies with implementation examples so that you can transform your own operations.

Payments Strategy – The Demand and Adoption of Instant Payments
Glenn Wheeler, VP - Payments Strategy and Product Innovation - Catalyst

Momentum continues to build as financial institutions move forward with the implementation of faster payment solutions. The FedNow® Service went live in July 2023 and is gaining widespread adoption. Additional faster payment capabilities including RTP, Visa Direct, MasterCard Send and Same Day ACH are enabling innovation and efficiency for both consumers and businesses. We will discuss the transformation in payments with a goal to instantly be able to transact and settle a payment to anyone, anywhere, at any time. We’ll also discuss the industry drive toward ubiquity and how the collaboration of corporate credit unions and banker’s banks are working together in driving adoption.

Responding to Crisis: Institutions' Reactions to the 2023 Liquidity Crisis
Jack Qjan, Associate Director, Senior Product Consultant, Moody's Analytics

The liquidity crisis of early 2023 was a significant event that prompted substantial changes in institutional behaviors and regulatory frameworks. The crisis response involved several key aspects: crisis management, liquidity stress testing and portfolio modifications. This session will explore changes institutions made to their portfolios and their investment strategies. This shift aimed to enhance their resilience to future liquidity shocks and other market disruptions.

Seasoning CECL: Insights from Validation, Benchmarks and Governance
Suan Weber, Senior Manager - BerryDunn
David Stone, Senior Manager - BerryDunn

Variety is the spice of life – or is it? Now that CECL is fully adopted – and with so much diversity in practice – what’s next? Join us for this inside look at CECL implementation trends, benchmarking analysis and best practices in board/management oversight and reporting. We’ll take a look at model validation expectations, practices, scope and what the results really mean. We’ll share insights and tips learned from CECL validation and consulting work nationwide, discuss comparability issues and risks and provide a roadmap for identifying and closing your institution’s gaps. From SCALE to complex statistical models, learn what to watch out for, pros and cons of challenger models, and what you can reasonably rely on (or not) in a CECL model vendor SOC-1. You may wish you’d had this session before year-end audits, but it is never too late to season your recipe!

Secrets of High Performing Banks – Responding to Market Challenges
Shawn O'Brien, President - QwickRate

We’re expecting a long road ahead for all banks in 2023-2024, but some institutions will see it as a chance to seize opportunities and successfully strategize responses to the challenges. These high-performing banks know how to use publicly available performance data to their advantage. We’ll show you how your bank can emulate the top performers by taking your cues from the numbers. Using a proprietary index of “true” community banks, we’ll discuss the metrics and approaches they used…and you can use…to become a high performer.

Turning Data Into a Secret Weapon
Kim Snyder, CEO & Founder - KlariVis
Amber Robinson, Sales & Strategic Alliances Executive - KlariVis

The financial landscape has grown increasingly competitive, and many banks feel the pressure of enhancing technology to meet customers’ expectations. Data can be the secret weapon in doing so. Banks have access to a tremendous amount of information but having this massive volume of data does not automatically correlate to having valuable insights. The value is found in being able to easily turn this cache of data into actionable insights that drive the institution’s ability to serve its customers and its community, streamline operations, and ultimately compete with larger institutions and non-bank competitors. In fact, 80 percent of respondents in a Forrester report realize the importance of data, but only 20 percent actually feel confident that their businesses knows how to apply data-driven insights. During this session, KlariVis will explore how banks can unlock their data and quickly leverage it for powerful insights that drive the bank forward.

Unlocking Portfolio Potential: A Disciplined Method to Portfolio Management
Robert Perry, Principal - ALM First
Jason Haley, Chief Investment Officer - ALM First

Maintaining a disciplined approach to portfolio management may be more critical than ever as the current economic and regulatory environments continue to evolve. A thoughtful investment process should lead to more consistent and predictable earnings from the fixed-income portfolio. This session will focus on moving industry best practices from theory to practice to unlock the potential of your institution’s portfolio. We’ll begin by discussing the key components of a process that goes well beyond just picking a bond and dig deeper into some of today’s challenges before sharing real-life examples to assist you in analyzing future opportunities and avoiding potential pitfalls.

CPE CREDIT HOURS

The Financial Managers Society, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to: The National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN 37219-2417. Web site: www.nasba.org

Level: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced
Prerequisites: None
Advance preparation: None
Field of Study: Multiple
Up to 11.5 hours
Instructional Mode: Group Live

For more information regarding administrative policies such as complaints or refunds, call 312-578-1300. FMS has also entered into individual sponsor agreements with a number of states. For additional information, please call 312-578-1300.

Session Descriptions

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