Alerus Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ALRS) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Katie Lorenson: Yes, sure, I’ll take that. So strategically, as we’ve talked about, our wealth management, our retirement, our mortgage division has historically had strong performance. Within our Banking division, we know that scale is important and moving upmarket is important. We’re in great markets. And so what we bring in terms of an opportunity for talented producers really resonates. They see a very — an opportunity to be part of a very special growth story and do more with their client base. And so we have had great success in building the expertise within the banking franchise so far. We intend to keep going. And I do anticipate that you will see our mix of revenue start to trend towards the banking and side, but we will always be focused on being a diversified company with high levels of fee income.

Ben Gerlinger: Okay. Fair enough. And then being that your fee income strategies are more diversified than your branch footprint, I guess, you could say about like kind of the Denver area. When you think on production? Do you think there’s LPO opportunities that don’t necessarily carry the overall cost of a branch network extension.

Alan Villalon: Yes. So definitely a strategy we’re looking into and could see us deploying that strategy in the future.

Operator: This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Katie Lorenson for any closing remarks. .

Alan Villalon: Before we go closing remarks, I just want to provide one answer that Nate adds on the call. About 15% of our total deposit base is directly indexed to short-term money from market rates. So with that, I’d like to turn it over now to Katie.

Katie Lorenson: All right. Thank you, Al. Thank you for joining the call today. Thank you for the question. 2023 is a pivotal year for Alerus. The work we are doing this year will set the stage for Alerus to return to high-performing return ratios in 2024 and beyond. Our enviable diversified business model with industry-leading recurring fee income, strong core deposit franchise with access to synergistic deposits robust reserves and regulatory capital and historically strong asset quality position our company well for attracting and retaining talent and growing our client base. We are committed to constant improvement throughout our company and expect to see continuous improvement in our efficiency ratio and return metrics.

As the balance sheet headwinds subside in 2024 and beyond, we believe the work we are doing on the fundamentals and the power health of professionals of experienced bankers and producers. We are bringing into the company will be catalysts for the long-term value we are creating for our shareholders. I want to thank our Alerus team members for all they do, and thank you all of our shareholders for your investment in our company. Thank you all for joining our call today.

Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.

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