Each year, S&P Global Market Intelligence ranks top-performing financial institutions in the following categories: community banks $3 billion to $10 billion in assets, community banks with less than $3 billion in assets, credit unions will more than $100 million in assets, and the top largest U.S. public banks by total assets. In another installment of Tales from Top Performers, executives from two winners of the community bank rankings – Nicolet Bankshares CFO Phil Moore and Northeast Community Bank Chairman and CEO Ken Martinek – share what differentiates their franchises and how they have outperformed peers. They also discussed the greatest challenges and opportunities they see over the next 12 months, both organically and through M&A activity.

Activist investor John Palmer sees plenty of catalysts for bank stocks, including stronger fundamentals, attractive valuations and a resurgence in M&A activity among regional and community banks. In the episode, Palmer, principal and managing member at PL Capital, discussed his firm’s investment approach, its successful history in running proxy campaigns and how its interactions with bank management teams have changed over time. The veteran investor also shared how PL Capital has encouraged change and offered value to management teams as well as his view on the need for scale at some banks, M&A activity, regulation and bank valuations.

The bank advisory community is optimistic that bank M&A activity will rebound in 2025 and they should be, according to Mercer Capital Managing Director Jeff Davis.
In the episode, Davis discussed his takeaways from the annual Acquire or Be Acquired Conference, where scores of advisers shared their viewed for M&A activity to be materially stronger this year. Davis also discussed the improving fundamental environment for banks, the outlook for bank valuations and whether institutions should take advantage of the current optionality in the marketplace and pursue capital raises or acquisitions while the window remains open.