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Conferences & Education

Bond University June 6-8, 2012 The Mirage, Las Vegas

          

Investment Strategies for Community Banks

• Basic Bond Evaluation Tools
• ALCO Strategies in an Uncertain Environment
• Cross-Sector Bond Analysis
• Economic Overview
• FHLB – Using Swaps to Manage ALM

Bond University is ideal for bankers with intermediate bank investment experience and/or training.

Bond Graduate School is ideal for bankers with advanced bank investment experience, training or past attendees of Bond University. Learn more about Bond Graduate School.

Why You Should Attend

Bond University helps you identify the most appropriate investment alternatives given your bank’s asset liability position, interest rate bias, risk tolerance, loan funding needs and competitive environment.

Bond University teaches a methodical approach to developing portfolios to meet your bank’s needs by combining objective analytical tools with a conceptual learning environment.

Who Should Attend

• Chief Executive Officers
• Chief Financial Officers
• Controllers & Investment Managers

Schedule

Speakers

Steven Cibull, SVP, Mortgage Finance, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
George Hancock, SVP, Vining Sparks
John Pender, VP, Vining Sparks
Steve Scavamastro, SVP, Vining Sparks
Will Taylor, SVP, Vining Sparks

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Vining Sparks
Vining Sparks is nationally recognized as a leading broker/dealer in serving the investment needs of institutional investors. www.viningsparks.com.

Sessions

Introduction/Developing a Routine

Participants will learn that organization is at least as critical as time spent in developing a high performing portfolio. An introduction to the wealth of financial literature and online models will be presented to illustrate how fast and easy it is to compare different securities across sectors. During this session we will present a methodical approach for an efficient daily, weekly and monthly set of tasks that together create a dynamic routine for the busy portfolio manager.

Basic Bond Evaluation Tools

Good analysis should help the portfolio manager measure, monitor and control the portfolio management process. In this session a discussion of several terms and tools used by high performing portfolio managers will take place. The discussion will include:

• Income and yield analysis and comparison
• Consideration of diversification among and within sectors
• Pledging requirements in your portfolio
• Duration (price volatility) and duration drift as interest rates change
• Convexity – what it is and how it can benefit the portfolio
• Call protection
• Cash flow modeling and stability
• Is there a place for market timing in my portfolio?
• Flexibility to meet unanticipated cash needs
• Market liquidity considerations

Agency Bonds and Municipal Bonds

Agency Bonds
Agency bonds come in a variety of issuers and types. In this session we will cover the issuers of callable bonds:

• FNMA
• FHLMC
• FFCB
• FHLB

We will also cover different structures offered by each issuer such as:

• bullets
• callable bonds
• step-ups
• mandatory redemption
• indexed floaters
• range floaters
• de-leveraged bonds

We will also discuss the difference between agency debentures and mortgage backed securities.

Municipal Bonds
Recent changes have expanded the opportunities in the municipal market. In this session we will familiarize participants with the differences between the four major classes of municipal bonds:

• Bank Qualified
• 2% Rule Bonds
• Non-Bank Qualified General Market Bonds
• Taxable Municipals including Build America Bonds

During the municipal portion of this session we will cover a number of important topics including the following:

• Classes of municipal bonds
• Credit protection
• The TEFRA calculation
• Original issue discount
• Yield curve comparisons
• Price volatility of tax free bonds versus taxable issues
• Premium (“cushion bonds”) vs. par bonds
• Advanced refunding

MBS, CMOs, ARMs

High performing banks typically allocate a large portion of their portfolio assets to a combination of fixed rate Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), Adjustable Rate Mortgage pools (ARMs) and Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs). In this session the instructors will cover MBS/CMO/ARM structure, the risk of options embedded in these instruments and important factors to consider when evaluating structures. Upon completion of this session investors should have an understanding of the following topics:

• Original face/Current face/Factor
• Gross Coupon/Net coupon/Servicing fee
• Prepayment speed
• Average life/Duration
• Weighted average life graph
• Collateral and pool prepayment history
• Geographic diversity
• Loan purpose
• Pool size and seasoning
• Margin/Periodic cap/Life cap
• Index/Reset date
• Prepayment vector models for multiple interest rate scenario movements

Pre- and Post-Purchase Analysis

This session will help executives develop a list of the pre- and post-purchase documentation required to satisfy today’s regulatory environment. Time will be spent covering the following Bloomberg screens:

• Yield Table
• Description Screens
• Price Volatility Screens
• Cash Flow Screens
• Prepayment Vector Tables

Cross-Sector Bond Analysis

This session, when combined with the other sessions, helps the investment manager develop the thought process for decision-making including using a decision flowchart with documentation that covers:  

• Identifying your institutional Asset / Liability exposure to rate shifts
• Determining objectives & constraints embedded in the institution’s liquidity, earnings, and cash flow requirements
• Consideration of the rate bias, in other words to impact the risk profile of the bank does the institution need bonds with defensive or offensive characteristics
• Prioritization of investment policy risk levels with respect to market price volatility, cash flow volatility and liquidity
• Comparing alternatives using bond analytical tools including yield, spread, price volatility, total return over a horizon date and cash flow characteristics.

ALM in the Regulatory Environment

In this session portfolio managers will learn to balance interest rate risk, the investment portfolio and the need for liquidity at the same time as they strive toward earnings stability and capital preservation. Topics covered will include the assessment of re-pricing risk, options risk, basis risk and yield curve risk. A discussion of economic value of equity will also take place.

FHLB – Using Swaps to Manage ALM

Managing the asset liability exposure of the bank can take place on the liability side of the balance sheet as well as the asset side. In this session we explore the use of interest rate floors, caps and swaps as well as FHLB funding to modify the risk profile of the institution.

Hot Topics and Open Q&A Session

The hot topics session covers current and vital areas of interest. Past year’s topics have covered areas such as temporary impairment, private label MBS, public sector debt, FNMA and FHLMC conservatorship. The topics for this year will be the ones that are dominating the headlines.

Dodd-Frank Alert – Credit Review of Municipal Portfolios

Better understand how to comply with recent regulations pertaining to municipal bonds held in your bank’s portfolio. Examiners across the board are now treating the recently proposed guidance as a standard and all banks will need to understand in order to comply with Dodd- Frank. The workshop will go beyond the basics of the requirements set forth in the guidance and provide a deeper dive into tools and procedures to allow compliance with the proposed guidelines and a working session on credit review process with free personalized portfolio analysis.

Registration Fees

WIB Member Bank - $895
Nonmember Bank - $1,105
De Novo Bank Member - $695*  

After May 9, fees will be $985/$1,205/$695

*Banks in Organization, Groups in Formation or WIB Member Banks opened less than seven years from the date of the Conference.

Registrations are not currently accepted for individuals from the Income/Bond Market.

WIB Associate Members are not permitted to attend this educational program.

Dinner Event
Enjoy dinner and a Las Vegas Show, hosted by Vining Sparks. Each full Bond University Registration includes one ticket for the Dinner Event. Additional tickets for guests may be purchased for $150 each. There is an additional fee of $25 for tickets purchased on-site, if available.

Cancellation Policy
Registration fees minus $75 processing fee per registrant will be refunded if cancellation is received by May 14, 2012. No refund if cancellation is received after May 14, 2012. Substitutions welcomed.

Our Guarantee
If you are not completely satisfied with this program, we will provide a full refund of your registration fees within 10 days of your attendance.

CPE Credit
Up to 14 hours of CPE Credits may be available upon completion of the program.

Hotel & Travel

The Mirage
3400 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Main Phone: (702) 791-7111
Reservations: (800) 374-9000

Room Rate
$115 plus a $25/day resort fee (plus 12% room taxes)
Contact the hotel at the directly and mention WIB Bond University to obtain the conference rate.  

Rates Valid: June 5-7

Reservation Deadline: May 8, 2012

Directions from McCarran International Airport
Exit the airport on Swenson. Turn left at Tropicana Avenue. Go about 1 1/2 miles until you reach Las Vegas Blvd. Turn right on Las Vegas Blvd. and go about a mile. The Mirage is on the left side of the Strip (Las Vegas Blvd.). You should anticipate 15-30 minutes travel time, depending on traffic.

Rental Car Discounts
AVIS: (800) 331-1600 – www.avis.com; AWD number J990669
Hertz: (800) 654-2240 – www.hertz.com; convention code 04DT0003
Thrifty: 1-800-THRIFTY (857-4389) – www.thrifty.com; CD# 004C007855

 

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