Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

And as we think about those with tighter debt service going forward and maturities in the next 24 months, we’re supported by our fundamental underwriting approach, which includes personal recourse and dealing with sponsors with long track records and access to alternative — their own capital and alternative forms of capital. We have seen our CRE portfolio continue to cycle off some of our construction loans cycling through to the agency funding. So far, so good, but we are going to continue to monitor it with discipline and consistency.

Damon Del Monte: Great. Okay. And I appreciate all that color. Thank you very much.

Operator: Our next question comes from Alex Twerdahl with Piper Sandler. Your line is open.

Alexander Twerdahl: Hey, good morning.

Martin Birmingham: Good morning, Alex.

Alexander Twerdahl: A couple of questions. First, Marty, I think in your prepared remarks, you said something along the lines of being ready to capitalize on opportunities. I was just curious, is that just a blanket statement? Or is there some specific opportunities that you’re alluding to?

Martin Birmingham: So it’s the fundamentals of operating our full-service community bank in terms of consumers who are open to switching and making a change. We’ve had good success with our money market offering and bringing in average balances of close to $100,000 with those that have chosen to take advantage of our offer and that provides real nice upside to driving relationship and showing them how we do business versus where they come from. And then as well, I think on the commercial and industrial, there is significant opportunity for us relative to longstanding, solid companies and then operating in our footprint that have experienced unsatisfactory interactions with their existing banks. And it seems to me, as I think about it, we’re building some momentum there, which is consistent with where I think the industry and certainly we’re trying to emphasize our commercial activity given the more higher probability to have full relationships.

Alexander Twerdahl: Got it. And then the securities transaction that you alluded to, Jack, seems like a good start. I’m just curious, is that sort of the full capacity what you’re willing to take on right now? Or are you sort of in the midst of a more deep dive on to the securities portfolio? And looking for more opportunities that could potentially help to really stabilize the NIM heading into 2024?

Jack Plants: Yes. Thanks, Alex. We continue to look at more opportunities there. I think this is the start of the first repositioning that we could see.

Alexander Twerdahl: Okay. And then can you just remind us sort of — I know you’ve done a bunch of the wealth business merged the businesses together, made some changes to leadership. Sort of where are we in that sort of restructuring process. And in terms of the revenue, it seems like — I think you sort of said we’re sort of backing up to get a running start, sort of rejiggering the model there. Sort of what the outlook might be? And then also, are there some expense considerations that we should be thinking about as well?

Martin Birmingham: Jack, go ahead.

Jack Plants: Yes. So the new leadership teams there with Jim Iglewski was meant to provide more of a strategic focus on building out the sales culture at the institution, to cultivate more clients through new wealth managers and more of an aggressive approach to the client base. Typically, our new business was achieved through referrals from existing clients. So I would expect to see some growth there across the institutional base and more of the high net worth individuals over the coming time frame. Those institutional clients do take time to come on board through an RFP process, but we do have expertise on that front. And on the expense side, we’ve operated that business in a pretty lean infrastructure historically. So I would expect that we’re just going to continue to drive revenue there rather than cut expenses in wealth management.