Half-Day Event Featured Contemporary Topics for Community Bank Financial Executives
 

ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID LAUWE - META4 COMMUNICATIONS

 

The FMS NY/NJ Chapter presented a Spring Half-Day CFO Conference jointly sponsored with the New Jersey Bankers Association (“NJBA”). The event was held at the Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack, NJ on Wednesday April 18, 2018. The conference featured leading industry speakers who presented a series of timely sessions developed for community bank financial institution executives.

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Members started the day with a hot buffet breakfast prior to the first session. A full course luncheon was served during the final session. Members were provided with several “networking” breaks to effectively manage their daily operations while out of the office. Chapter Members and NJBA Members earned five CPE credits for attending the conference.

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Jon Sundberg, a Senior Managing Consultant with PFM Asset Management, presented the initial morning session entitled Gaining Valuable Insight Into Your Investment Portfolio. Jon stressed the importance of formulating a comprehensive investment plan and continually evaluating the plan to determine that it meets the institution’s objectives. Jon discussed the guidelines for developing a peer-based index to determine the validity of the plan and stress testing to evaluate plan performance.

 

A very informative information technology session was presented by Aaron Silva, President and CEO of Paladin, a community bank technology systems provider. Aaron compared and contrasted the terms of the typical contracts offered by community bank data service providers with those from large bank data service centers. He emphasized the importance for banking executives to challenge their service provider to limit the institution’s exposure especially in the event of a merger or acquisition.

Following a “networking” break, Lisa Thouin, CPA, Managing Director from the Mercadien Group presented an informative Liquidity Risk Management session. Lisa discussed the predominantly low interest rate and heightened regulatory environment during the past decade. She emphasized the need for management to develop effective liquidity management objectives by utilizing tools for monitoring cash flow, performing stress testing and developing a solid contingency funding plan.

 

Brian Jones, Financial Economist, from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, presented an informative Economic Update while Members enjoyed a full course luncheon. Brian described the current economic environment and noted the current economic expansion since 2009 is the second longest on record. He noted that the recession probability remains low and the first quarter GDP estimates remain in flux. Brian further discussed significant aspects of the national economy as well the pace of job growth in the local New York and New Jersey economies.

 

Following lunch, Michael Cohn, CPA from Wolf & Company, P.C. presented 10 Financial Industry Trends You Can’t Ignore. Michael provided a very informative and entertaining review of significant industry trends including new bank formations, credit, interest rates, strategic threats, the effect of millennials on the economy and the #1 threat: cyber security. He noted that no institution is too small to be a target and banks will need new innovative technologies to keep institutions safe.