Vision
Much has happened in the past 25 years in the banking industry. In the United States, there are now at least three banks with over a trillion dollars in assets and several banks have national retail franchises as a result of industry consolidation. Over the next 25 years, we believe superior investment performance in this industry will be delivered by high performing community banks that possess numerous distinct competitive advantages. Community banks:
- Are more focused players in local markets with more flexibility
- Have increased leverage to the power of employee motivation and individual contributions
- Rely upon local decision makers who understand local businesses
- Capitalize upon significant management and board involvement in the community
- Feature customer-centric business models that increase customer loyalty and decreases price elasticity
- Enjoy the benefits of name continuity
Beyond these advantages, we believe the basic math of growing a $100 million dollar bank is more readily accomplished than growing a trillion dollar bank by ten percent per year. Simply put, for bank investors size will matter – the smaller the better.