Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Item
7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
Asset liability management involves developing,
executing and monitoring strategies to maintain appropriate liquidity, maximize net interest income and minimize the impact that
significant fluctuations in market interest rates would have on current and future earnings. The business of the Company and the
composition of its balance sheet consist of investments in interest-earning assets (primarily loans, mortgage-backed securities,
and securities available-for-sale) which are primarily funded by interest-bearing liabilities (deposits and borrowings). With the
exception of specific loans which are originated and held for sale, all of the financial instruments of the Company are for other
than trading purposes. All of the Company’s transactions are denominated in U.S. dollars with no specific foreign exchange
exposure. In addition, the Company has limited exposure to commodity prices related to agricultural loans. The impact of changes
in foreign exchange rates and commodity prices on interest rates are assumed to be insignificant. The Company’s financial
instruments have varying levels of sensitivity to changes in market interest rates resulting in market risk. Interest rate risk
is the Company’s primary market risk exposure; to a lesser extent, liquidity risk also impacts market risk exposure.
Interest rate risk is the exposure of a
banking institution’s financial condition to adverse movements in interest rates. Accepting this risk can be an important
source of profitability and shareholder value; however, excessive levels of interest rate risk could pose a significant threat
to the Company’s earnings and capital base. Accordingly, effective risk management that maintains interest rate risks at
prudent levels is essential to the Company’s safety and soundness.
Evaluating a financial institution’s
exposure to changes in interest rates includes assessing both the adequacy of the management process used to control interest rate
risk and the organization’s quantitative level of exposure. When assessing the interest rate risk management process, the
Company seeks to ensure that appropriate policies, procedures, management information systems and internal controls are in place
to maintain interest rate risks at prudent levels of consistency and continuity. Evaluating the quantitative level of interest
rate risk exposure requires the Company to assess the existing and potential future effects of changes in interest rates on its
consolidated financial condition, including capital adequacy, earnings, liquidity and asset quality (when appropriate).
The FRB together with the OCC and the FDIC
adopted a Joint Agency Policy Statement on interest rate risk effective June 26, 1996. The policy statement provides guidance to
examiners and bankers on sound practices for managing interest rate risk, which will form the basis for ongoing evaluation of the
adequacy of interest rate risk management at supervised institutions. The policy statement also outlines fundamental elements of
sound management that have been identified in prior Federal Reserve guidance and discusses the importance of these elements in
the context of managing interest rate risk. Specifically, the guidance emphasizes the need for active board of director and senior
management oversight and a comprehensive risk management process that effectively identifies, measures and controls interest rate
risk.
Financial institutions derive their income
primarily from the excess of interest collected over interest paid. The rates of interest an institution earns on its assets and
owes on its liabilities generally are established contractually for a period of time. Since market interest rates change over time,
an institution is exposed to lower profit margins (or losses) if it cannot adapt to interest rate changes. For example, assume
that an institution’s assets carry intermediate or long-term fixed rates and that those assets are funded with short-term
liabilities. If market interest rates rise by the time the short-term liabilities must be refinanced, the increase in the institution’s
interest expense on its liabilities may not be sufficiently offset if assets continue to earn at the long-term fixed rates. Accordingly,
an institution’s profits could decrease on existing assets because the institution will either have lower net interest income
or possibly, net interest expense. Similar risks exist when assets are subject to contractual interest rate ceilings, or rate-sensitive
assets are funded by longer-term, fixed-rate liabilities in a declining rate environment.
There are several ways an institution can
manage interest rate risk including: 1) matching repricing periods for new assets and liabilities, for example, by shortening or
lengthening terms of new loans, investments, or liabilities; 2) selling existing assets or repaying certain liabilities; and 3)
hedging existing assets, liabilities, or anticipated transactions. An institution might also invest in more complex financial instruments
intended to hedge or otherwise change interest rate risk. Interest rate swaps, futures contracts, options on futures contracts,
and other such derivative financial instruments can be used for this purpose. Because these instruments are sensitive to interest
rate changes, they require management’s expertise to be effective. The Company has not purchased derivative financial instruments
in the past, but during 2019 and 2018 the Company entered into interest rate swap agreements as an accommodation to certain loan
customers (see Note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). The Company may purchase such instruments in the future if market
conditions are favorable.
The following table details quantitative
disclosures of market risk and provides information about the Company’s financial instruments used for purposes other than
trading that are sensitive to changes in interest rates as of December 31, 2020. The table does not present when these items may
actually reprice. For loans receivable, securities, and liabilities with contractual maturities, the table presents principal
cash flows and related weighted-average interest rates by contractual maturities as well as the historical impact of interest
rate fluctuations on the prepayment of loans and mortgage backed securities. For core deposits (demand deposits, interest-bearing
checking, savings, and money market deposits) that have no contractual maturity, the table presents principal cash flows and applicable
related weighted-average interest rates based upon the Company’s historical experience, management’s judgment and
statistical analysis, as applicable, concerning their most likely withdrawal behaviors. The current historical interest rates
for core deposits have been assumed to apply for future periods in this table as the actual interest rates that will need to be
paid to maintain these deposits are not currently known. Weighted-average variable rates are based upon contractual rates existing
at the reporting date.
45
Principal/Notional Amount Maturing or Assumed to be Withdrawn
in:
($ in thousands)
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Thereafter
Total
Rate sensitive assets
Variable rate loans
$ 77,748
$ 27,786
$ 14,253
$ 11,861
$ 13,649
$ 74,207
$ 219,504
Average interest rate
3.91 %
3.61 %
3.50 %
3.12 %
3.10 %
2.71 %
3.35 %
Adjustable rate loans
29,892
27,155
25,048
24,771
23,568
220,525
350,959
Average interest rate
4.41 %
4.42 %
4.27 %
4.20 %
4.17 %
4.07 %
4.15 %
Fixed rate loans
49,655
76,172
32,715
16,641
15,855
111,222
302,260
Average interest rate
3.51 %
2.25 %
4.57 %
4.44 %
4.13 %
3.89 %
3.53 %
Total loans
157,295
131,113
72,016
53,273
53,072
405,954
872,723
Average interest rate
3.88 %
2.99 %
4.25 %
4.03 %
3.88 %
3.77 %
3.73 %
Fixed rate investment securities
32,367
13,758
8,658
8,318
6,540
83,065
152,706
Average interest rate
1.17 %
1.60 %
1.81 %
2.09 %
2.07 %
1.91 %
1.73 %
Variable rate investment securities
96
96
101
105
84
1,522
2,004
Average interest rate
2.74 %
2.75 %
2.74 %
2.73 %
2.61 %
3.34 %
3.19 %
Fed funds sold & other
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Average interest rate
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
Total rate sensitive assets
$ 189,758
$ 144,967
$ 80,775
$ 61,696
$ 59,696
$ 490,541
$ 1,027,433
Average interest rate
3.41 %
2.85 %
3.99 %
3.77 %
3.68 %
3.45 %
3.44 %
Rate sensitive liabilities
Demand - noninterest bearing
$ 35,520
$ 30,506
$ 26,201
$ 22,501
$ 19,327
$ 117,594
$ 251,649
Demand - interest-bearing
21,032
18,529
16,326
14,383
12,673
93,842
176,785
Average interest rate
0.04 %
0.04 %
0.04 %
0.04 %
0.04 %
0.04 %
0.04 %
Money market accounts
27,097
23,702
20,731
18,131
15,859
110,644
216,164
Average interest rate
0.29 %
0.29 %
0.29 %
0.29 %
0.29 %
0.29 %
0.29 %
Savings
75,796
12,833
11,168
9,722
8,461
56,884
174,864
Average interest rate
0.13 %
0.13 %
0.13 %
0.13 %
0.13 %
0.13 %
0.13 %
Certificates of deposit
156,843
47,367
18,253
4,328
2,482
276
229,549
Average interest rate
1.51 %
1.57 %
1.65 %
1.09 %
0.62 %
0.99 %
1.51 %
Fixed rate FHLB advances
2,500
3,000
2,500
-
-
-
8,000
Average interest rate
2.77 %
2.88 %
2.93 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
2.86 %
Variable rate FHLB advances
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Average interest rate
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
Fixed rate notes payable
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Average interest rate
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
Variable rate notes payable
-
-
-
-
-
10,310
10,310
Average interest rate
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
2.02 %
2.02 %
Fed funds purchased, repos & other
20,189
-
-
-
-
-
20,189
Average interest rate
0.20 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.20 %
Total rate sensitive liabilities
$ 338,977
$ 135,937
$ 95,179
$ 69,065
$ 58,802
$ 389,550
$ 1,087,510
Average interest rate
0.78 %
0.68 %
0.48 %
0.17 %
0.13 %
0.17 %
0.45 %
Comparison of 2020 to 2019
First
Years
($ in thousands)
Year
2 - 5
Thereafter
Total
Total rate sensitive assets:
December 31, 2020
$ 189,758
$ 347,134
$ 490,541
$ 1,027,433
December 31, 2019
164,736
300,359
466,010
931,105
Increase (decrease)
$ 25,022
$ 46,775
$ 24,531
$ 96,328
Total rate sensitive liabilities:
December 31, 2020
$ 338,977
$ 358,983
$ 389,550
$ 1,087,510
December 31, 2019
286,957
310,950
281,567
879,474
Increase (decrease)
$ 52,020
$ 48,033
$ 107,983
$ 208,036
46
The above table reflects expected maturities,
not expected repricing. The contractual maturities adjusted for anticipated prepayments and anticipated renewals at current interest
rates, as shown in the preceding table, are only part of the Company’s interest rate risk profile. Other important factors
include the ratio of rate-sensitive assets to rate-sensitive liabilities (which takes into consideration loan repricing frequency
but not when deposits may be repriced) and the general level and direction of market interest rates. For core deposits, the repricing
frequency is assumed to be longer than when such deposits actually reprice. For some rate-sensitive liabilities, their repricing
frequency is the same as their contractual maturity. For variable-rate loans receivable, repricing frequency can be daily or monthly.
For adjustable-rate loans receivable, repricing can be as frequent as annually for loans whose contractual maturities range from
one to thirty years.
The Company manages its interest rate risk
by the employment of strategies to assure that desired levels of both interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities
mature or reprice with similar time frames. Such strategies include: 1) loans receivable which are renewed (and repriced) annually,
2) variable rate loans, 3) certificates of deposit with terms from one month to six years, 4) securities available-for-sale which
mature at various times primarily from one through ten years, 5) federal funds borrowings with terms of one day to 90 days, and
6) FHLB borrowings with terms of one day to ten years.
The majority of assets and liabilities
of the Company are monetary in nature, and therefore the Company differs greatly from most commercial and industrial companies
that have significant investments in fixed assets or inventories. However, inflation does have an important impact on the growth
of total assets in the banking industry and the resulting need to increase equity capital at higher than normal rates in order
to maintain an appropriate equity to assets ratio. Inflation significantly affects noninterest expense, which tends to rise during
periods of general inflation.
Management believes the most significant
impact on financial results is the Company’s ability to react to changes in interest rates. Management seeks to maintain
an essentially balanced position between interest sensitive assets and liabilities and actively manages loan, security, and liability
maturities in order to protect against the effects of wide interest rate fluctuations on net income and shareholders’ equity.