On ALM Workshop

As a captive finance ALM specialist, I attended David’s ALM Workshop and found his content to be highly relevant and valuable.

David is a very knowledgeable, energetic, and engaging lecturer who combines his deep technical understanding of the subject with his extensive professional experience to deliver a relevant and coherent approach to ALM. He is able to clearly break down the concepts of IRR and LR while tying in the role of FTP, which is often neglected in the broader IRR and LR discussion.

On In-house and Executive Management FTP Workshops

Before our credit union decided to go down the FTP path, we knew that it was imperative to design a comprehensive and well-functioning framework that fully aligns the recognition and management of IRR and LR with robust measures of product profitability.  To inform this effort, we invited David to deliver a multi-day, in-house workshop for members of Treasury, Finance and our key business units and a separate executive management session.

The workshops were highly impactful and hard-hitting – David opened our eyes to the benefits of FTP, but he made it very clear that these benefits are only possible when FTP is fully and completely embraced and practiced with conviction; foremost, this includes the creation and management of a well-defined central mismatch unit.  Before the workshop, FTP was a foreign, nebulous and misunderstood concept at our organization.  Now, we understand how FTP brings clarity to the story of risk and profitability.

Without these workshops, it is unlikely that we would have committed the resources to starting this project.  With David’s assistance, we are certain to build a strong foundation on which we can grow and add clarity around the pricing and management of our product offerings.

On FTP Workshop

In 2011, I attended a Risk and Profitability Management Workshop organized by AMIFs (now known as FMS) to present what I had learned about FTP early in my career and learn more about industry best practices. While I attended several presentations during the two-day event, I was most impressed by the one given by David Green. I came away with some great insights into the fundamentals of FTP and approaches to modeling deposit behaviors (I’ll always remember learning about the extreme stickiness of Hawaiian deposits). David, in turn, attended my presentation; since then, we have served as mutual sounding boards on good and bad FTP practices.

Over the years, the scope of my responsibilities has expanded, requiring me to enhance my understanding of the practice of FTP; this includes the need to provide accurate and well-informed pricing guidance to lenders and deposit gatherers and the need to develop and manage economically-robust FTP methodologies for products which require behavioral models, such as NMDs. During this time, I have had the opportunity to present at several workshops David has hosted in New York, Toronto and London. At each of these, I have learned something new from him that I was able to take back and put into practice at my bank. Be it theoretical principles, regulatory considerations or the need to avoid poor FTP practices he has observed in his consulting and advisory work, David is always eager to share his insights to help financial institutions address their FTP-related challenges.

With the increasing pace of change in the banking industry, new regulatory requirements and rising rates in North America, David’s lectures and advisory services are more valuable than ever, so in June 2018, when my bank held its first ever FTP Conference, we asked David to chair the event. We brought together stakeholders from across the enterprise, including the lending and deposit gathering business units, finance, accounting, performance management and corporate treasury, for a highly-interactive, two-day event. All aspects of FTP were covered, from theory and fundamentals to management of the mismatch center and the transfer pricing of liquidity and contingent liquidity (the latter topics were of particular interest to our capital markets group). David’s engaging style and an extremely interested audience produced an incredibly valuable dialogue around the theory and practice of FTP.

The feedback from the FTP Conference participants was nothing short of excellent. Several product managers have reported that the workshop has positively influenced their decisions around which deposit products to promote and how they will price and manage them to maximize their value to their business units AND to the bank. Other managers have indicated they now have a greater appreciation for the risks that corporate treasury must manage and why it is important that these risks be accurately reflected in the FTP rates they face.

This feedback evidences that the FTP Conference was a huge success and that the time and effort that went in to organizing it was absolutely justified. Many thanks to David for the great value he has brought to me and to my bank. I look forward to our continuing dialogue.

On FTP Workshop

I recently attended David’s FTP Workshop and found it to be an excellent course on the subject; it combines academic rigor with down-to-earth insights gleaned from his professional experience as a bank treasurer and consultant.  David’s delivery is simultaneously technical and inter-disciplinary, yet surprisingly witty.  Coming from a developing country in the Caribbean, what I valued most was learning about the best (and worst) practices in banks and markets across the globe.  In addition, because I work in a government-owned bank, it was very valuable to discuss some of the idiosyncrasies of my institution and see how well-constructed FTP methodologies can best clarify the structure and contribution to earnings of interest rate and liquidity risk.

My belief in FTP as a key profitability and risk management tool was bolstered by David’s insistence that the FTP methodologies and calculation can and should be transparent when used in budgeting exercises and when assessing the profitability of specific products and transactions. I look forward to working with Prof. Green in the future.

Sobre Taller FTP Recientemente participé en un taller de FTP y me lo encontré un excelente curso sobre el tema; combina rigor académico con conocimientos prácticos de acuerdo a su experiencia profesional como tesorero bancario y consultor. La enseñanza de David es simultáneamente técnica, interdisciplinaria y a la vez aguda. Proviniendo de un país en desarrollo del Caribe, lo que más valoré fue aprender sobre las mejores (y peores) prácticas en bancos y mercados a través del mundo. En adición, ya que trabajo en el banco estatal fue muy valioso discutir algunas de las idiosincrasias de mi institución y evaluar como metodologías de FTP bien construidas pueden clarificar la estructura de contribución de ingresos y riesgos de tasa interés y liquidez. Mi creencia en FTP como una llave a la rentabilidad y al manejo de riesgo fue fortalecida por la insistencia de David en que las metodologías y los cálculos de FTP deben de ser transparentes cuando se modelen escenarios de presupuesto y cuando se determine la rentabilidad de productos específicos y transacciones. Espero poder trabajar con el Profesor Green en el futuro.

On ALM, FTP and NMD Workshops

I, along with my staff, have had the fortune of attending three of David's public workshops. Our company has evolved into an active and successful user of FTP, and David’s teachings and wisdom have been key to what we have achieved.

The transfer pricing of loans and non-maturity deposits is a highly-complex challenge. David has the capacity to break this challenge into smaller, more easily comprehensible pieces, and he has the ability to express his thinking in layman’s terms. He understands the critical characteristics that determine the value a particular loan or deposit brings to a balance sheet, well beyond its contribution to current income. David also has an appreciation for the fact that FTP requires a healthy mixture of art and science, and he demonstrates a strong command of both.

David has a wide range of experience in banking, including A/L management and model development, and he has worked as a regulator; this breadth of experience allows him to comprehend the challenges banks and credit unions, and ALM and FTP managers in particular, face in implementing comprehensive and effective FTP frameworks. In his workshops, David shares his many valuable insights on a construct that provides a single source of truth across risk and business management processes, one which will stand up to both internal and external scrutiny.

We appreciate the knowledge and experience David has shared with us, and we look forward to growing our relationship with him in the future.

On In-house and Executive Management Workshops

David recently delivered two in-house workshops, one for our business line managers and one for executive management. His understanding of ALM and FTP is exceptional, which is clearly evident in the way he explained the seemingly complex and difficult topics in an easily understandable way. Furthermore, he delivered the workshops in a highly interactive and engaging way which went a long way toward ensuring that the concepts were well-received by the audience. I am fully confident that with the workshops the entire organization, including management, has understood the importance of FTP and how it will help to manage profitability and risk when done correctly.

On Workshops

David began delivering workshops with Marcus Evans in 2013 and has since trained hundreds of delegates from banks all over the world.  Those delegates consistently tell me how much they appreciate both his knowledge of the subject material and the enthusiasm with which he teaches it.

On Implementing a Non-Maturity Deposit Model

Engaging David to help build a non-maturity deposit model for our institution was one of the best decisions I’ve had the privilege of making as an ALM/FTP Manager.

While the goal of the engagement was to construct a behavioral model for non-maturity deposits that would simultaneously feed our ALM and FTP models in a manner that is robust to changes in interest rates and the price of liquidity, the project also proved to be an incredible journey of discovery that has led our bank to more fully and accurately understand the specific deposit behaviors which produce economic value. Our goal now is to focus on eliciting those behaviors through specific performance management programs.

It should be noted that the model is not just a sophisticated “black box” solution. Its construct is so clear and transparent that it naturally encourages a very comprehensive investigation into the nuanced drivers of deposit behavior; I was compelled to actively participate in building and calibrating an institution-specific solution alongside David – an extraordinary opportunity to work with a seasoned ALM manager who was not bound by preconceived notions of where value might or might not be found. In retrospect, it is clear that the calibration process that David has designed is at least as important as the model itself; I now believe that this process is mandatory if you want to truly understand the behavior of one’s deposits and how they can positively influence the measurement and management of both risk and profitability.

The model that has been built for us serves with an openness that elevates strategic conversations with line of business leaders and executive management while it also provides the economic integrity ALCO requires to make prudent risk management decisions.

This journey on which this project has taken me has provided a clear path to understanding what I believe is perhaps the most challenging portfolio to model for any depository institution. I would recommend David’s modeling process to anyone who is longing to tackle their non-maturity deposits.

On Modeling Non-Maturity Deposits

Determining the best way to model non-maturity deposits can be a daunting task; there are many different approaches a modeler can take and numerous contexts which must be considered.  David is unique in his belief that the behavioral assumptions around NMDs should be identical in all risk AND profitability management exercises – it makes no sense to treat deposits one way in the assessment of interest rate and liquidity risk and then in a different way in the calculation of product profitability and performance management exercises.  David’s approach to the deposit modeling problem is comprehensive (the requirements of interest rate risk, liquidity risk and funds transfer pricing are addressed simultaneously) and robust (it responds coherently as market interest rates and the price of liquidity evolve and when deposit behaviors change, which they inevitably do).  What makes David’s solution even more compelling is that it does not involve “rocket science” nor does it force the modeler to rely upon a black box, rather it involves an assumption setting and assumption management process that adhere to clear and consistent principles.

Sobre los Talleres

Soy la Directora de la División de Capacitación de América Latina de Marcus Evans, donde he promocionado los cursos de David durante más de 4 años. David ha demostrado consistentemente su conocimiento y experiencia en numerosos talleres a lo largo de los años. Sus cursos siempre son muy bien recibidos no solo en América Latina, sino también en los EE. UU. Y Europa, lo que indica que su comprensión de la banca trasciende las fronteras, los entornos económicos y los diferentes regímenes regulatorios. Nuestros clientes frecuentemente tienen un buen comentario sobre su profesionalismo y amplia experiencia en administración de riesgos y rentabilidad, muchos de ellos han asistido a varios de sus talleres e incluso traen a sus pares y gerentes; esto es un buen indicio, cuando los delegados vuelven por más. Espero continuar una relación productiva y exitosa con David.

On Workshops

I am the Training Division Director for the Latin America division of Marcus Evans, where  I have marketed David’s courses for over 4 years.  David has consistently demonstrated his knowledge and expertise in numerous workshops over the years.  His courses are always extremely well-received not only in Latin America, but in the US and Europe as well indicating that his understanding of banking transcends borders, economic environments as well as different regulatory regimes.  Clients frequently comment on his professionalism and extensive experience in risk and profitability management and many have attended several of his workshops, often bringing their peers and managers as well; this is always a good sign when delegates come back for more.  I look forward to continuing a productive and successful relationship with David.

On In-house and Executive Management Workshops

David is an accomplished lecturer who is able to communicate complex concepts in simple terms to non-technical audiences. David has a great passion for managing the mechanics of treasury functions and is very pragmatic in his approach to both treasury and product management. David has a clear vision of the bigger picture across ALM, FTP and financial service product management and is focused on how to optimize the entire system as opposed to just a single element or individual stakeholder. In taking a holistic view, David is able to fully consider the different priorities that come into play in large organization across the various groups such as risk, treasury, finance, and product management.