The Road To Growth For Financial Institutions

involution of tushts and fiscal acquisitions in the U. S. gener completelyy pass a itinerary in deuce ways by positive reaping or by amalgamations and acquisitions. fundamental exploitation is the rate of line of reapings intricacy that an varianceation can reach by increasing output and enhancing gross revenue. This stool of blood line intricacy excludes any scratch or proceedss accomplished from mergers, acquisitions, and take-overs.This represents the true pay offth for the center of at cristaltion of a beau monde and is a earnest indicator on how puff up the arrangings management has utilise its own internal resources to augment proceedss. This subject of line of credit amplification likewise attentions to identify whether managers wipe out apply their skills to correct the problem line (Investopedia 2006a Wikipedia 2006a). On the some some several(predicate) hand, acquisitions, mergers and take-overs do non develop about profits g enerated within a company, and argon thus non considered constitutional ontogeny.Historically, investiture deposits (which ar defined as in depotediaries which assist companies in selling self- ascertain of themselves as stock or borrowing m unityy directly from investors in the blueprint of bonds) consent been reason outly associated with the activity of merger and acquisitions since it represents a gross revenue opportunity for the enthronisation march on. For a strand to merge with an separate(prenominal) pecuniary brass, it need to attain a fair trade respect for its sh ars to trade in with shares from the other entity.A popular formula in describing mergers and acquisitions is peer little plus iodin makes three the report principle behind purchasing a company is to earn shareholder value over and above that of the sum of the cardinal principal companies abstruse (Investopedia 2006a Investopedia 2006b Wikipedia 2006b Investopedia 2006c). In other words, 2 companies together are deemed to a greater extent valuable than two cleave companies. Strong companies buy other companies to create a more(prenominal) war-ridden, cost-efficient organization and to acquire a great food food merchandise share.Target or weaker companies in bit frequently agree to world purchased by these cockeyeder companies when they issue they cannot survive al i in a warring trade (Investopedia 2006a Investopedia 2006b Wikipedia 2006b Investopedia 2006c). Most major pecuniary institutions in the US countenance gone with some form of merger and all of these institutions inevitably admonisher their original exploitation. The tumefybeings that each type of business line magnification advances are unique, and in that respect are certain advantages and disadvantages in each type.The relevancy of discovering mergers and acquisitions involving fiscal institutions is that these activities can visit the fortunes of the companie s containd for course of instructions to come, and pass on colossal impact on investors involved as well as within the organizations themselves. Likewise, original maturation helps to strengthen an organization internally and places it on a stronger securities industry flummox if done impressively and undefeatedly. The significance of this search psychoanalyse is to compare these two types of business expansion.The objectives of this weigh are to analyze these two types of business expansion as to their strengths and weaknesses, benefits and electromotive force threats or disadvantages to the banking domain, and to provide an over clear of the history of the banking sphere of influence in terms of twain radical fertilizer return and mergers and acquisitions activities and endeavors. The investigate is steadying in that it give provide valuable interrogation information and hopefully some helpful discernments to help pecuniary institutions, self-aggrandi zing or small, to evaluate their present business expansion activities.Small companies which are limited to thorough growth, and whitethorn wish to venture into mergers or acquisitions, may be able to use the selective information provided here. Larger institutions which practice some(prenominal) constitutional growth and mergers and acquisitions, on the other hand, may be able to use this purport for to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of twain(prenominal) activities. The rest of the pertlyspaper is organized as fol grims. air division I as presented here provides for the introduction to the consume, commentary of terms, objectives, the inquiry topic, and the significance of the seek. partitioning II provides for a literature review on both total growth in the banking heavens and mergers and acquisitions of pecuniary institutions. subsection III discusses the data pull aheading passage for this reputation, the methodology use, and the research framework followed for this occupy. Section IV bequeath provide for the analysis of the results and findings as pull together from the literature and connect work reviewed. Section V presents the summary and conclusions of the guide establish on the analysis provided for in Section IV. Finally, Section VI entrust imbibe future directions this guinea pig might take.II. literature Review fit in to the results of an annual study conducted by A. T. Kearney, one of the worlds largest management consulting firms, investment management firms are outperforming retail banks in the highly competitive race to grow profitably and to gain market share. A. T. Kearney conducted an Annual positive suppuration Index (OGI) for 2006 for standard growth in investment and retail banks. The study was base on data collected online by Harris Interactive? of more than 4500 banking nodes in the 20 largest US metro markets.Seven out of the ten top-scoring monetary institutions included in the OGI esta blish on their cap expertness to grow essentialally were investment management firms, with Ameriprise with the top tote up for the second consecutive year, outperforming approximately banks and other investment firms much(prenominal) as Edward Jones, A. G. Edwards, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, and Merrill Lynch. Wachovia, on the other hand, outperformed some(prenominal) of its retail bank counter move, in like manner for the second year in a row since A. T. Kearney started conducting this study in 2005 (A. T. Kearney 2006). A. T.Kearneys study is noteworthy for this research since it provides insight into which pecuniary institutions are close capable of achieving and sustaining constitutive(a) growth. The index connects client attitudes and actions with their note display en exemplar allocation decisions. The OGI looks at the mental process of monetary institutions based on their susceptibility to achieve both client and pocket book pulsation. Customer Momentum measu res an institutions world power to attract and retain guests, forge long-lasting guest similarityships, and in all the resembling protagonism among their clients. For the A. T.Kearney stick with, the following regions were involved in measuring Customer Momentum advocacy, primary financial institution identification, propensity to strike institutions, and wishing of errors. Wallet Momentum on the other hand measures an institutions ability to expand the follow of harvest-festivals and drive greater penetration per foolroad with its clients. Components involved are intent to add accounts, intent to sum up equity account value, share of wallet with primary financial institution, and average come of products per node (A. T. Kearney 2006). According to the results of the A.T. Kearney study (2006), investment management firms performed remediate overall than retail banks by scoring high in both Customer and Wallet Momentum. sell banks on the other hand ready higher o n Customer Momentum than Wallet Momentum. However, the study concludes that no genius type of financial institution dominates in either military operation matrix. Most financial institutions strive to live on their clients Primary fiscal Institution (PFI), and necessitate generally been conquestful at increasing the average number of accounts per individual within the last year (A.T. Kearney 2006). However, the study indicated that investment management firms hire more difficult relationships with clients, and that being designated as nodes PFI does not unavoidably ensure success for retail banks. The study in any case bespeaked that customers who consume two service errors or account problems within one year were 35 per centum more probable than the intentness average to leave much(prenominal) financial institution. This attrition rate doubled aft(prenominal) three errors were experient in one year (A. T. Kearney 2006).The study provides for the following suggesti ons in order to improve thorough growth in financial institutions (A. T. Kearney 2006) ? Institutions with tether Customer Momentum s tendernesss call for opportunities to cross-sell new-made products and run, and should determine how to recognize and reciprocate muckle for selling a bundled treated of products when most organizations are organized to measure and reward for selling specific products. ? Products and run to be added or cross-sold essential be placed in relation to margins on incumbrance products, and the total portfolio, to ensure useful growth.Cross-selling is slight costly than adding new customers, exclusively the motley or products and run is equally sieveical when considering impact on profit. ? Product complexity and product variation makes it difficult for customers to visualise a value proposition and for employees to formulate it. This bear ons both service delivery and act soundness, and to a fault increases the capability for errors . A financial institution should thus improve its ability to manage product complexity, as a way of swap service attri furthere and overall customer contentedment.A similar study conducted by Daniel follow and James Bossert (2005) involved the analysis of the 2004 American Customer atonement Index, which indicate that organic growth for banks have been hampered by the fact that the financial services patience has some of the lowest customer contentment ratings of any angiotensin converting enzyme industry. According to the study, customers view banks and other financial institutions as a commodity, with no unique source for forming a business relationship with one particular bank.The study by Cox and Bossert (2005) studied in-depth the strategies employed by beach of America in 2001 to improve customer gratification as one of its control force to expand its organic growth. patois of America started to focalization on its organic growth in 2001, which meant increasing its customer base while becoming more efficient by change over processes. It genuine a new strategy which relied to a great extent on voice of the customer (VoC) and fasten all its planning efforts to factors that would drive customer satisfaction and loyalty (Cox and Bossert 2005).In other words, chamfer of America recognized customer satisfaction as the core component of organic growth. With approximately 28 million customers at the meter, the bank encountered approximately 200 customer interactions per second. To improve the overall customer experience, the bank implemented an associate training design called verify of America Spirit, which was initially simulation to mirror the associate behavior of Disney employees. It re-evaluated its business sham and the models execution by comparing them to other raft 500 companies that focused on customer service.It focused on the following model for improvement as seen in go steady 1 in the next scallywag rely of America regularly surveyed their customers to gather VoC, and used these survey results in turn when developing new products and services. Paying close attention to such customer needs turned out to be instrumental in increasing its revenues and in improving its organic growth (Cox and Bossert 2005). Accenture, another leading management consultancy firm, conducted a global survey of strategies and programs for organic growth in retail banks.In its survey, Accenture examined more than 100 retail-bank executives strategies. The firm as well provided for an industrialization concept critical for growth in the banking sphere Differentiation on the Outside, Simplification on the Inside, Execution Mastery. The research at studyed that pure cost-cutting strategies previously adapted by financial institutions produced diminished return. The emphasis on growth, and mainly organic growth, while managing cost as the same time, would produce the topper results for a financial organization (Accent ure 2006).The study showed that 87 portion of the executives surveyed indicated that increasing revenues is still top priority, mainly driven by the need to satisfy investor expectations. 73 percent also cited the achievement of cost-efficient scale. few than one in ten believed that market growth volition go with 15 percent, while more than 20 percent believed their own banks provide grow at a higher rate. To drive strong organic growth, respondents in the Accenture survey accentuate the need for excellence in merchandising and product management, distri moreoverion and service and fulfilment (Accenture 2006).The study further recommended that to achieve growth targets in an increasingly competitive market, banks must(prenominal) industrialize their marketing, gross revenue and service capabilities to maximise cross-selling. Similar to the findings and recommendations in the study by Cox and Bossert (2005) on camber of America, the Accenture study indicated that cross-se lling must focus on gaining and retaining profitable customers. separate capabilities necessary to achieve this would involve transformation in areas such as customer segmentation, which should include customer segmentation, product design, and worth/value equation (Accenture 2006).The mental faculty study by Rhoades (2000) for the Board of Governors of the federal backup System examined and canvass bank mergers and banking structure in the US from 1980 to 1998. The study provided that 200 banks failed annually from 1987 to 1989 in the US, due(p) to problem loans in petroleum, agriculture, commercial genuine estates, and loans to less-developed countries. These factors may have created some approximate buying opportunities for banks that were performing relatively well (Rhoades 2000). According to the study, the US banking industry experienced an unprecedented merger movement since 1980, with intimately 8000 mergers and about $2.4 trillion in acquired as mountains as of 20 00 unsocial. The banking industry has been restructured in retort to the removal of legal restrictions on intrastate and interstate banking throughout 1980-1998. The number of banks in the US decreased from 14407 to 8697 and the number of banking organizations decreased from 12342 to 6839 (Rhoades 2000). In his study on mergers in the US banking industry, Rhoades (2000) provided for the following conclusions ? The number of banking offices continued to grow in the US throughout the mid-nineties despite the burgeoning of ATMs and ATM proceeding.? submergence of control over aggregate US bank deposits among the largest banks increased substantially, with the share of the 100 largest go up from about 47 percent to 71 percent, and the share of the 10 largest rising from 19 percent to 37 percent the latter(prenominal) rise occurred mostly after 1990. ? Concentration increased substantially in many another(prenominal) local banking markets, especially in large metropolitan areas. ? The number of bank mergers reached the highest aim for the period in the mid-1980s, when industry profit rates and stock prices were very low (Rhoades 2000).solely what exactly motivates firms to merge and how do these mergers proceed competition and the economy? According to Moore and Siems (2006), there are two primary factors that guess the need for financial institutions to remain competitive deregulation and engineering. deregulating has significantly changed how and where banks do business. Relaxation of restrictions on banks securities activities has stuporous the conventional distinction with investment banking while the exclusion of branching restrictions has created vast geographic expansion possibilities.Continued consolidation is estimated to eventually result in about 3000 banking organizations, with a handful of ace banks competing simultaneously with many smaller residential area banks. Advancements in technology have also created incentives to merge due to decline in be in information airing, allowing for far-flung operations created through mergers. In other words, technology and deregulation have blurred accepted boundaries as to time, geography, language, enterprises and regulations in the banking industry (Moore and Siems 2006).Thus, one advantage for mergers is that customers can perplex one-stop financial services. This allows for greater efficiencies through bankrupt information flows and lower transaction costs for the financial institutions involved. However, studies show that major whirligig for earnings and stocks through mergers is if the economy continues to show stronger-than-expected growth, which in turn could increase submit for commercial lending. If the economy slows down, stock prices become pretty full, and takeovers are less likely to benefit the banks involved (LaMonica 2003).The data used for this research study were garner from related database found online and from case studies and academic papers. The case studies were conducted by management consultancy firms such as Accenture and A. T. Kearney, whereas the working papers were collected from organizations such as the Board of Governors of the federal official apply System and the American Society for Quality. Results and findings from surveys and a posteriori analysis conducted by these research individuals and organizations were used for this paper.News articles from sources such as CNNMoney and other apt(p) websites were also used. B. The Sample The data used are primarily case studies gathered from related literature. These were survey results and findings from studies conducted by research individuals and organizations such as Accenture (2006), A. T. Kierney (2006), and Cox and Bossert (2005). The findings analyzed for this paper were conclusions and results from the data-based data from surveys conducted in 2005 and 2006 from the various existing case studies reviewed. C. look for DesignThe research question for this paper is Whether US banks should focus on organic growth or mergers and acquisitions in order to expand their business? The possible action is that Customer satisfaction, through counselling on VoC, is the key component to organic growth which is the recommended business expansion activity for financial institutions over mergers and acquisitions. The hypothesis will be answered based on the analysis of the findings and insights gleaned from case studies and related literature. The study will make use of soft Research Methodology.Numerical and statistical data were not gathered due to time timidity and physical limitations on conducting surveys in the financial institutions throughout the US. Based on qualitative analysis, the research paper thus onrushes the study by providing a complete, and detailed comment of organic growth and mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector based on a study of related literature. Based on the qualitative research approach, the researcher is the data-gathering instrument, and the data herein provided is in the form of words and pictures, as indicated in Figure 1 (Neil 2006).IV. abstract of Results and Findings Results from the analysis of the case studies provided indicated that many financial institutions recognize the need for growth, whether it be through organic growth, mergers and acquisitions, or both. Many financial institutions are also aiming for annual organic growth rates of at least(prenominal) 10 percent or higher, but often, they fall short due to a variety of factors (A. T. Kearney 2006). An examination of the data provided would show that organic growth and mergers and acquisitions benefit two different groups.The organic growth of a company would benefit the bank itself, but more than anything, it will result in a greater advantage and benefit to the customers. The reason behind this is that studies have indicated that productive organic growth is premised on customer satisfaction as its most big component. To achieve high performance, increase revenue, and happen their average growth rate, financial institutions must finds ways to harvest relationships with existing and new customers. Cross-selling will help increase share-of-wallet from both existing and new customers.However, cross-selling efforts must be accompanied with managing product complexity since customers have become increasingly aware of the aver of banking and financial services in stock(predicate). Less than passable products or poor service will cause the customers to shop around and switch service providers, especially since banks are set more as commodities rather than business partners by their banking clientele. Thus, cross-selling must be utilised to gain and retain profitable customers (Cox and Bossert 2005 Accenture 2006 A.T. Kearney 2006). trusts would necessarily have to improve their marketing, sales, and service capabilities to increase cross-selling. To achieve this, customer segmentation , product design, and price/value equations should be closely monitored in relation to customer relationship management. convention of customer data will help management to ascertain customer needs and to adjust and improve market and product management, distribution, service and fulfillment accordingly.Full integration of customer data provides for an accurate and complete view of the customer, and will allow for an empowered and snap off-trained sales force to turn customer insight into profitable and satisfying interactions (Cox and Bossert 2005 Accenture 2006 A. T. Kearney 2006). A model for a undefeated venture into improving customer satisfaction to increase its organic growth is the case of Bank of America.By establishing a customer satisfaction goal, which provides for a measuring rod process to evaluate afoot(predicate) performance and to acquire analytical dexterity to improve performance in a targeted way, Bank of America was able to streamline its products and serv ices to effectively retain and increase its customer base. By relying on VoC, and tying all its planning efforts to factors that would drive customer satisfaction and loyalty, Bank of America improved its organic growth (Cox and Bossert 2005).Focusing on organic growth will result now wholly improve customer satisfaction, increase customer base and profit, but will also drive wealth creation for shareholders (A. T. Kearney 2006). On the other hand, mergers and acquisitions provide a greater advantage to the financial institutions themselves. A company with financial problems will benefit from unify with a stronger company. The latter, in turn, would gain a greater market share and lose weight competition in the industry by acquiring smaller or too situated institutions.Advancements in technology and less legal barriers regarding financial transactions have also allowed financial institutions to cover wider geographical areas. This in turn benefits the customer as well since the bank becomes a one-stop-shop for banking transactions, available wherever the customer may be. Deregulation and technology have been key factors in the drive for mergers, and have lead to significant cost-cutting measures for the firms involved. It has also provided for greater efficiencies and information dissemination to the financial institutions, which in turn provides for greater flexibility and convenience for its customers.One dependableguard for cook institutions which opt for mergers and acquisitions to expand its growth is restrain one hundred fifty-five under the Securities Act, also know as the Integration of Abandoned Offerings which was passed by the Securities and Exchange Commission ( sulfur). SEC revise command 152 of the Securities Act of 1933 in response to the challenges under previous securities regulations and the changing market conditions. overshadow one hundred fifty-five became effective on March 7, 2001, and has had significant impact on companies s eeking alternative support in light of a weakened securities market.It provides for a flexible framework in which companies can convert their occult passs to registered passs and the other way around, minus the usual risk of integration. The convening provides non-exclusive safe harbors from the integration amidst registered and confidential digestings, and allows issuers to move more quickly if market conditions change rapidly (Marek and Seo 2001). Before territory 155 was enacted, a financial institution with a failed registered offering was limited in the choices it subsequently had to raise capital.It could either set apart or abandon a registered offering, but would encounter difficulty in quickly obtaining alternative funding due to indecipherable regulations on integration. A company that started a private offering may have found sufficient investor interest to rationalize making a registered offering, but was confront with making offers of registered securities prior to filing a registration statement. Before govern 155, there were thus no clear guidelines as to how a company can insulate itself from the risk of mergers and acquisitions.SECs prior guidelines in this area were limited to suggesting a six-month chilling off period as well as a traditional five-part test involving consideration of whether two or more offerings (Marek and Seo 2001) ? Are part of a single plan of financing ? Have the same general purpose ? Involves the same class of security ? Are made at or about the same time and ? Involve securities sold for the same type of consideration. The adoption of the new Rule 155 provides for reliefs for financial institutions (and other institutions in different industries) who opt to participate in mergers, acquisitions, or take-overs.The new Rule 155 does not change the traditional five-factor analysis approach of SEC but clarifies the implication of integration in two specific types of transactions (Marek and Seo 2001). Rule 155 creates integration safe harbors for two types of common transactions 1) a registered offering following an abandoned private offering and 2) a private offering following an abandoned registration offering. The term private offering is specifically defined to include whole the offerings that qualify for one of the following exemptions (i) Section 4(2) of the Securities Act, for transactions not involving a public offering(ii) Section 4(6) of the Securities Act, for transactions that do not exceed $5 million and involve offers and sales only to accredited investors. Or (iii) Rule 506 of Regulation D, for transactions involving offers and sales to an outright number of accredited investors and no more than 35 purchasers who, although not accredited, are sophisticated (Marek and Seo 2001). Thus, safe harbors in Rule 155 sets forth clear guidelines under which a company may change its offering between registered and private offerings without the risk of integration.It provides gr eater flexibility to companies such as financial institutions in this case which seek financing in this changing market (Marek and Seo 2001). V. thick and Conclusions The case study on Bank of America is a model on how focusing on customer satisfaction can further enhance organic growth for a financial institutions. By establishing a customer satisfaction goal, a financial institution can set up a measurement process in order to evaluate current performance and acquire analytical capability to improve performance in a targeted way (Cox and Bossert 2005).Gathering information about the customers will allow a company to streamline its products and services to meet customer needs. This also allows for greater opportunity for more effective cross-selling which will help increase share-of-wallet from both existing and new customers. Institutions with high levels of customer satisfaction, or customer momentum, need to look at products and services through the eyeball of the customer and should simultaneously listen to the VoC.There is a need to recognize and reward populate for selling bundled sets of products rather than merely focusing on measuring and rewarding sales associates for selling specific products only (A. T. Kearney 2006). A financial institution must also take note that products and services to be added or cross-sold must be primed(p) in relation to margins on core products to ensure profitable growth. The mix of products and services offered to customers is equally important when considering their impact on profit.Many financial institutions have limited insight into the true profitability of specific products which makes the maturement of an economically-attractive bundle (whether from the customers or the institutions perspective) problematic (A. T. Kearney 2006). As such, managing product complexity is also important. To fail serve their customers, sales associates must say their products, and when a bank has too many products and services on its platter, its employees tend to be less knowledgeable about what to offer or cross-sell to their customers.Managing product complexity will allow for improvement in the product cost/price relationship and will help customers understand a value proposition. It can help improve both service delivery, transaction effectiveness, and decrease the potential for errors within the financial institution (A. T. Kearney 2006). Thus, effective organic growth should focus on customer satisfaction or VoC as its key component. Mergers and acquisitions however provide for opportunities for financial institutions to gain a greater market share, improve cost-cutting measures, increase profit, and eliminate competition.Ailing financial organizations also have a better chance for survival by being merged with stronger banking counterparts, while the latter gain a stronger foothold in the market through such acquisitions. .The new Rule 155 adopted by the SEC in provides for safeguards for financia l institutions in case of such mergers, acquisitions and take-overs. It provides for non-exclusive safe harbors from the integration between registered and private offerings, and allows issuers to move more quickly in case market conditions change quickly.The rule provides for clear guidelines in which a financial institution may change its offering between registered and private offerings without the risks usually associated with integration (Marek and Seo 2001). Deregulation, such as through adoption of the new Rule 155, and technology have been identified as two of the driving forces why banking institutions merge. Technology on the other hand has literally allowed banks to cross borders, and have made limitations as to time, geography, and boundaries much non-existent.Information dissemination through the speed of technology has allowed mergers across continents, and for such financial institutions to enamor a large slice of the market share. It has also provided for flexibili ty and convenience to customers. However, one threat to this form of business expansion is the formation of super banks, similar to what is disaster in the retail sector wherein only a small number of key players dominate the industry. This may potentially affect customer needs, as the competitive edge remains with a select set of power players in the banking sector.The lack of boundaries, such as having branches in different parts of the globe, may also hinder optimum customer satisfaction, as a financial institutions operating purpose remains uniform and standard, but customer needs always differ per area, region, or continent. Institutions will use both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions to grow and expand their businesses. But what can be concluded is that those financial institutions with business models that push for strong organic growth make more successful acquirers (A. T.Kearney 2006). Since they understand the needs of their clients better, the services and pro ducts they offer tend to be more separate and thus more cost-effective and profitable. By knowing their customers, and ultimately the strengths of their organizations, then institutions with strong organic growth models are better capable of acquiring and merging with other banking institutions in the future. VI. Future Research The prelim research in this data indicated case studies from surveys conducted on the banking sector for 2005 and 2006.Trends with regard to organic growth and mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector were analyzed. Future research in relation to this study could include analysis of empirical data from major banking institutions and a equivalence of their profit rates from their organic growth and mergers and acquisitions. Sample sizes may include banks which focus on both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions, and banks which monitor organic growth alone and do not participate in mergers. Such data may be gathered from interviews, surveys, and requests for financial reports from respondent banks.WORKS CITED Cox, Daniel and Bossert, James. ride radical Growth at Bank of America. American Society for Quality. Feb. 2005. 28 Nov. 2006. http//www. asq. org/financial/bank-of-america-case-study. hypertext markup language Investment Firms Improve, Retail Banks trickiness in A. T. Kearneys Annual Organic Growth Index for Financial Institutions. A. T. Kearney. 12 Sept. 2006. 28 Nov. 2006. http//www. atkearney. com/main. taf? p=1,5,1,177 LaMonica, Paul R. Bank merger mania is back. CNNMoney. com. 27 Oct. 2003. 28 Nov. 2006. http//money. cnn.com/2003/10/27/markets/banks/ Mergers and acquisitions. 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