The coronavirus chaos and its cascading impact on the financial markets has obliterated the existing strategic plan for every community bank virtually overnight. Bank CEOs are now forced to shift gears and dust off their firefighting uniforms. They must focus on getting ready for a broader economic downturn that is increasing with probability by the day. Big strategic initiatives are likely to be put on hold until operational challenges can be contained, and the economy, markets and the interest rate environments stabilize. Throw in the fact that it’s an election year, and the uncertainty multiplies.
CEOs need to quickly start understanding which segments of their loan portfolio will be the most affected and the impact on capital from potential losses. Clearly, banks with direct exposure to sectors on the front lines such as hospitality, oil and gas, retail, restaurant, and manufacturing need to immediately be concerned and look to get in front of any problems.
Many of the borrowers in these industries are already having immediate cash flow problems, but there will be a lag between now and when these problems rise to the surface. Many borrowers are not due to submit financials for many months. Some will continue to service their debt despite their cash flow problems, but they will eventually run out of runway. And by the time you find out you have a real problem, either in the form of ugly financial statements or even worse, missed payments, your options are severely limited. You cannot wait for all of this to happen. But what’s the next step?
Most community bank CEOs have viewed stress testing as either a check-the-box or a risk management exercise, not a strategic one. CEOs were content with knowing that regulators and directors were happy the bank could survive a recession. It was a “no news is good news” mentality.
This mindset must change immediately. The coronavirus chaos has forced stress testing to become a strategic priority, as it is for the big banks. CEOs deserve a proper diagnosis of how their bank will handle possible adverse economic scenarios. The proper stress test will help CEOs identify the segments of the portfolio that are most vulnerable so they can focus the attention of their team on the larger credits within that group. It will also help them fully grasp the bank’s capital situation to determine if contingency plans such as de-leveraging, cost cutting, or changes to the dividend policy need to be pursued.
CEOs need a strong stress test that will inform them in real time whether their decisions will keep problems contained. And they will certainly need to use the stress test as a communication vehicle to show the regulators they are able to recognize, quantify and address any problems they find.
Most community banks have been doing stress testing, but most of the tests do not give them what they need. Most CEOs don’t realize this because they aren’t -- and shouldn’t be -- involved in the weeds and details of every risk management tool at their disposal. But each CEO must now ask the person at your bank who is responsible for stress testing the following 5 questions:
If the answer to ANY of these questions is “NO”, then you do not have what you need. However, this is not your team’s fault. Clearly what they have been using was perfectly fine for the last few years when it was more of a compliance exercise. But now that the world has clearly changed, you need a much better tool. Think of stress testing as a flashlight. If the answer to some or all the above questions is indeed “NO”, then your existing flashlight is not powerful enough. You are actually in the dark and your tests may mislead you on where to go. You need a new and better flashlight.
Without the proper stress test, most CEOs will ultimately be okay. Even without the right information, their instincts should take the bank in the right direction.
But with the right flashlight, CEOs can move much faster. Speed matters. The sooner problems are identified, the more flexibility you have in solving them. Preventive medicine is always the best cure. More importantly, the sooner you escape the darkness, you will see the daylight.
Massive uncertainty also means massive opportunities. Economic downturns create more opportunities for banks to gain or expand their competitive positioning than any other time. Most of today’s highest performing and valued community banks took advantage of the fallout from the 2008 Financial Crisis by taking market share, strategically growing when competitors were shrinking, and pursuing mergers and acquisitions that created the platform for rampant growth and profitability. They did this while their competitors were de-leveraging, cutting costs, rolling back capital expenditures, and avoiding acquisitions.
Similar changes in competitive positioning for community banks occurred during previous disruptions, such as the 2001 dot.com bubble burst, the real estate recession in the early 1990s, and the S&L crisis and double-digit interest rate environment of the 1980s. It’s these types of environments where the best bankers roll up their sleeves and make moves to position their banks to be the winners in the next cycle. But you can’t start taking advantage of opportunities until you shore up your own vulnerabilities first.
Stress testing matters now – and not just to deal with regulators. It will not only help you play defense against what might be coming, it will allow you to start playing offense much faster. Just make sure you grab the right flashlight.
A complete stress test can be completed in as little as 3 weeks following receipt of critical loan-level information. This will arm management with the analysis they require to share with directors during their April board meetings. Our goal is to help community banks quickly but properly diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of their balance sheet and their capital in the event of a recession.
Please contact info@invictusgrp.com for more information.