Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Andy Harmening: Yeah, we’re not seeing that at all in what’s happened this last quarter. We had a handful of deals that moved into non-accrual, and I don’t see any of the growth we went through the last couple of years isn’t coming back to haunt us. In terms of some of the migration, we’ve got our real estate book we feel is really still holding up strong. The real estate asset class still gets hit by rising interest rates. You’ve got inflationary pressures, whether it be on insurance, real estate taxes, all the operating expenses that go in there. So I think they’re still — we’re still comfortable with how they’re weathering the storm, but as these costs remain elevated, there’ll be a little more added pressure there. But, in our real estate book, the stuff we’re doing is with longstanding relationships. We’re not out doing transactional work with one-off customers. These are relationships we’ve targeted and grown throughout the years.

Terry McEvoy: Maybe speak to the non-accrual nature and trend of the real estate book.

Andy Harmening: Yeah, really, I mean, in terms of non-accruals, we haven’t seen a lot in real estate. I mean, it’s really been more on the C&I side that moved the needle here this quarter. We’ve had some pretty strong, stable performance in the book.

Derek Meyer: I mean, in fact, the non-accruals have been down each of the past five quarters, and net charge also been negative over that five quarter period. So if that would be the specific question, Terry, we see no evidence of that.

Terry McEvoy: Right. And then maybe just to follow up, I think Scott and John asked a similar question. Does the fourth quarter expense guide — I saw non-recurring items. I was thinking related to the Phase 2 of the strategic plan, not the FDIC expense. So does the fourth quarter guide reflect any strategic Phase 2 expenses and will we see a step-up in expenses next year due to this announcement that will come out this quarter?

Andy Harmening: I’ll speak to — even though we haven’t given guidance on 2024, our approach has been the same each of the last two years. We’ve gone into each year and when I came in this role, folks suggested that maybe there was no room to cut. There’s always room to cut. There’s always room to cut for the next best investment that you need to make. We’ve made those in each of the last two years. We see opportunity for investment right now and before we do that, we see opportunity to decrease expenses in some areas. So that will be the approach that we have. When we think about new initiatives, people say, guys, well, you’re going to have very high expenses. We have not in two years. We will not next year. So that’s what allows me to feel like we’re in the game with regards to positive operating leverage next year, even though we need to fine tune and see where we end up.

With regards to expenses, we don’t necessarily have any extraordinary initiative spike in the fourth quarter as a result of initiatives that we’re planning.

Terry McEvoy: Yeah, I was one of those people and you proved me wrong, so I hear you loud and clear, Andy. Thanks for taking my questions.

Andy Harmening: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Timur Braziler with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.

Timur Braziler: Hi, good afternoon. Looking at the auto finance book, I’m just wondering how close that book is to reaching a point of maturity, meaning that you’re starting to have some loans pay off. I’m assuming that starts to accelerate somewhat in 2024, and as that process happens, I’m just wondering what your expectation for growth is there? Expansion into some newer markets, is that enough to offset that level of maturity or at some point should we see payoffs and kind of maturing loans in that space eat into the growth?