Plansmith Blog

For the past ten years or so, surge deposits have been a material issue in asset/liability management. At the time of, and following the 2007-2009 Great Recession, the banking industry saw a substantial influx of deposits as real estate and equity investors liquidated positions and sought safe places to store their money and ride out the storm. The impact of this flight to safety was compounded by Government sponsored initiatives such as the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) Program and increases in Federal deposit insurance levels.

As a result, banks experienced significant deposit growth, and while these surge deposits would have normally been seen as a good thing, the near evaporation of loan demand left many banks with far more deposit dollars than they could effectively put to use. In turn, market liquidity levels skyrocketed, but margins were compressed. For the purpose of this article, we’ll refer to these funds moving from real estate, equities, or any other investments into the banking system as Type I Surge Deposits.

I know my numbers, but how do I communicate them to others within my organization?

Everyone relates to numbers, no matter who you're talking to, but not everyone reads them in the same way. So, how do you make the most out of your conversations with everyone who needs to relate to the same numbers?

Does your organization have the IRR and Liquidity knowledge it needs to succeed?

Regulatory guidance emphasizes the importance of effective corporate governance and outlines expectations for both board members and senior management personnel. Specifically, interagency guidance identifies the board of directors as having the ultimate responsibility for the risks undertaken by an institution – including IRR and liquidity.

As you grow, your organization has more and more things to manage.

• Strategically, you’re working to find the right markets to penetrate with the ideal products and services.
• Financially, you’re making sure your earnings are meeting or exceeding targets.
• And organizationally, you’re looking for the right talent to expand and grow.

One thing you can’t ignore is the role Interest Rate Risk plays in the banking industry today.

After almost 50 years in the biz, we've learned a thing or two about banking. And since most of our employees have spent time in the industry, we know the heavy hitters that keep bankers up at night.

That's why we designed our business around one specific goal: giving our clients one less thing to worry about.

Regulatory compliance costs are skyrocketing!

The focus of safety and soundness examinations continues to move towards asset/liability management and ensuring financial institutions are complying with the guidance issued in the last several years.

So why do we keep hearing about “surge” deposits and how important it is to know if you’re holding any? Well, it might be because in the past 10 years, CD balances in FDIC insured institutions have fallen by $880 Billion; yes, that’s Billion with a capital “B.” And while that may be the bad news, the good news is that over the same time period, non-maturity deposits (DDAs, NOWs, Savings, and MMDAs) have grown by $5.9 Trillion (with a capital “T”).