Making a Case for Investing In Your Bond Portfolio

by Darnell Canada, Managing Director, Darling Consulting Group

It’s been nearly seven years since the Fed began cutting rates to historic lows in 2001, and it’s been nearly that long since most bond brokers have been busy with trading volumes. Bond yields in the 3-5% range simply have not been attractive, especially for community financial institution investors who typically employ a buy-and-hold strategy and live on the spread to funding costs. Even as spreads increased and MBS yields approached 6% this past July, bond investing has remained light. More >





Making the Most of Strategic Planning

by Philip K. Smith, Principal, Gerrish McCreary Smith Consultants, LLC

For as many different people as there are to assist community financial institutions with “strategic” planning, there are as many different ways of handling this unique task. I do not claim that my method is the best or that other techniques are not effective, but in my 17 years of exclusively representing financial institutions and facilitating scores of strategic planning retreats, I have seen some common themes that I think should be noted. More >

  
Measuring Risk to Manage Risk - A complimentary, two-part Web seminar for Seattle Bank members.