Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Managing risk is an essential part of successfully managing a financial institution. Our most prominent risk exposures are interest rate risk and credit risk.
Interest Rate Risk
Our most significant form of market risk is interest rate risk inherent in the normal course of lending and deposit-taking activities. Interest rate risk is the potential reduction of net interest income as a result of changes in interest rates. Management believes that our ability to successfully respond to changes in interest rates will have a significant impact on our financial results. To that end, management actively monitors and manages our interest rate exposure.
The Company’s Asset/Liability Management Committee (“ALCO”), which is authorized by the Company’s board of directors, monitors our interest rate sensitivity and makes decisions relating to that process. The ALCO’s goal is to structure our asset/liability composition to maximize net interest income while managing interest rate risk so as to minimize the adverse impact of changes in interest rates on net interest income and capital in either a rising or declining interest rate environment. Profitability is affected by fluctuations in interest rates. A sudden and substantial change in interest rates may adversely impact our earnings because the interest rates borne by assets and liabilities do not change at the same speed, to the same extent or on the same basis.
We monitor the impact of changes in interest rates on our net interest income and economic value of equity (“EVE”) using rate shock analysis. Net interest income simulations measure the short-term earnings exposure from changes in market rates of interest in a rigorous and explicit fashion. Our current financial position is combined with assumptions regarding future business to calculate net interest income under varying hypothetical rate scenarios. EVE measures our long-term earnings exposure from changes in market rates of interest. EVE is defined as the present value of assets minus the present value of liabilities at a point in time. A decrease in EVE due to a specified rate change indicates a decline in the long-term earnings capacity of the balance sheet assuming that the rate change remains in effect over the life of the current balance sheet.
The base and shock scenarios in the rate shock analysis assume a static balance sheet, static interest rates, no changes to product mix shift, and cash flow reinvestment at current market interest rates. We also make assumptions for our deposit betas and asset prepayments, based on historical experience.
Deposit Betas
Deposit pricing changes are primarily driven by changes in the federal funds rate, with the relationship between deposit rates and federal funds rate defined as deposit beta. We define cumulative deposit beta as the change in our quarterly cost of deposits divided by the change in the upper level of the stated federal funds rate range over a specified period. During the most recent rising rate cycle, which was from the fourth quarter of 2021 through the second quarter of 2024, our cumulative deposit beta was 23.6%. During the current falling rate cycle, which began with the third quarter of 2024, our cumulative deposit beta was 13.1%.
Asset Prepayments
We include prepayment assumptions for both our loan and securities portfolios, based on historical experience. Generally, mortgage portfolio prepayments increase in lower rate environments, while commercial and consumer portfolios have historically remained more consistent throughout rate cycles.
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The following table sets forth the estimated impact on our EVE and net interest income of immediate and parallel changes in interest rates at the specified levels.
Change in Interest Rates (basis points) Estimated
Increase (Decrease)
in EVE Increase (Decrease) in
Estimated Net Interest Income
Year 1 Year 2
December 31, 2024
+400 22.0 % 4.9 % 11.3 %
+300 18.3 3.9 9.0
+200 13.4 3.2 6.7
+100 7.3 2.0 3.8
-100 (9.1) (4.2) (6.2)
-200 (20.3) (5.5) (10.2)
-300 (22.1) (5.7) (14.0)
-400 (14.1) (5.8) (15.9)
December 31, 2023
+400 10.7 % 7.5 % 13.0 %
+300 9.7 5.8 10.3
+200 7.1 3.4 6.4
+100 4.2 1.4 3.1
-100 (6.3) (4.4) (6.1)
-200 (13.2) (7.1) (11.2)
-300 (4.5) (9.5) (16.0)
-400 5.4 (10.2) (17.3)
Certain shortcomings are inherent in the methodology used in the above interest rate risk measurements. Modeling changes in EVE and net interest income requires that we make certain assumptions that may or may not reflect the manner in which actual yields and costs respond to changes in market interest rates. The EVE and net interest income table presented above assumes that the composition of our interest-rate-sensitive assets and liabilities existing at the beginning of a period remains constant over the period being measured and, accordingly, the data does not reflect any actions that we may undertake in response to changes in interest rates, such as changes in rates paid on certain deposit accounts based on local competitive factors, which could change the actual impact on EVE and net interest income. The table also assumes that a particular change in interest rates is reflected uniformly across the yield curve regardless of the duration to maturity or the repricing characteristics of specific assets and liabilities. Accordingly, although the EVE and net interest income table provides an indication of our sensitivity to interest rate changes at a particular point in time, such measurements are not intended to and do not provide a precise forecast of the effect of changes in market interest rates on our net interest income and will differ from actual results.
Credit Risk
Credit risk is the risk that borrowers or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to repay their obligations in accordance with the underlying contractual terms. We manage credit risk in the loan portfolio by adhering to well-defined underwriting criteria and account administration standards established by management. Our loan policy documents underwriting standards, approval levels, exposure limits and other limits or standards deemed necessary and prudent. Portfolio diversification at the borrower, industry, and product levels is actively managed to mitigate concentration risk. In addition, credit risk management also includes an independent loan review process that assesses compliance with loan policy, compliance with loan documentation standards, accuracy of the risk rating and overall credit quality of the loan portfolio.
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