The Second Half of 2025

May 29, 2025Posted inWealth Management
This year has been more tumultuous than many before it, with unprecedented economic gyrations. Short rates have remained stable, while long-term debt has reflected the unique economic uncertainties of our time. While this yielded lots of agonizing and stomach acid, it also helped steepen the curve somewhat, and contributed to some margin relief among many banks. Industry leaders shared their main concerns last year as NIM, core funding pressures (both rates and magnitude), credit quality…

Thank Goodness for Jamie Dimon

May 9, 2025Posted inGeneral Management
I’ve written in these pages before about my admiration of Jamie Dimon, his wisdom and his management style. Ever since our first meeting many moons ago I’ve been a follower and a fan. His Annual Letter to the Shareholders is a “must read”, and Chase’s strategic plan which they share from time to time has both data and insights that should guide us all. Tom Brown’s recent interview with Jamie had, as always, numerous perspectives…

Making the Most Out of Your Meetings

April 20, 2025Posted inGeneral Management
Our industry has always suffered from too many meetings. Plus, the meetings weren’t always an effective use of time. COVID meaningfully aggravated this problem because in-person exchanges, planned, impromptu or ad-hoc, were not possible. In fact, now that many of us are back in the office, we still spend much of our time interacting through screens in more meetings. Park National Bank is an unusual bank headquartered in Ohio, just shy of $10B in assets.…