Bankers' Bank hosts Correspondent Day 2001

Northwestern Financial Review, Jul 1, 2001

Bankers from throughout Iowa gathered June 11 for "Correspondent Day 2001" hosted by Bankers Bank at the Echo Valley Country Club in Des Moines. The seminar offered bankers an update on the Madison, Wis.-based bankers bank, an interest rate forecast, product updates on lending and credit card opportunities, and information from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.

Bankers' Bank, which will mark its 20th anniversary in September, has clients in 10 states, with the majority of its business occurring in Wisconsin and Iowa, bank President Ron Slater reported. Since entering the Iowa market seven years ago, the bank has built a client base that includes 65 percent of all community banks in the state. Bankers Bank counts approximately 85 percent of Wisconsin community banks as customers. About 125 Iowa banks engage in investment business with Bankers' Bank. So far this year, 12 Iowa banks have participated in municipal bond underwriting with Bankers' Bank, which is the 17th-largest municipal bond underwriter in the country.

Samuel G. Devine, assistant vice president at Bankers' Bank, told bankers he expects interest rates to increase over the next year. The effects of tax cuts, wage inflation, expansionary monetary policy, and increasing energy costs will drive interest rates up, despite slowing economic activity, weakening corporate profits and weak equity markets, Devine said.

Devine reported that the typical investment portfolio held by a Bankers' Bank customer consists 53 percent of agency bonds and 22 percent of tax-exempt municipal bonds. The average portfolio yield is 6.63 percent with an average duration of 3.5 years. Devine reported these observations based on study of 200 community bank investment portfolios.

Jerry Ley, senior vice president, told the audience that "Bankers' Bank is looking for loans." He encouraged bankers to give him a call as they puttogether loan participation packages.

Barbara Gross, vice president, explained that Bankers' Bank offers a credit card program that makes it possible for even the smallest community bankers to offer Visa and MasterCards. A service launched June 1, called MyCardStatement.com, gives credit card customers the ability to view account information and conduct transactions online. "With this program, you can offer your customers a credit card that competes with anything out there," Gross said.

The Des Moines meeting, which preceded an afternoon on the golf course, was the last of three Correspondent Day events hosted by Bankers' Bank. A week earlier, the bank hosted events at Stevens Point and Prairie du Sac, Wis.