A risk approach that balances growth and resilience

The delivery speed of competing market information and interconnected vulnerabilities have only intensified. That means the faster and clearer a risk picture comes into focus, the more likely an FI can deliver a real-time response with clarity, as we explore in our Special Report: A risk approach that balances growth and resilience, presented by Moody's.

Toward this end, more banking leaders seek a global view of whole-bank risk over siloed inputs by department. With these walls lowered, smarter data arguably can better inform the bank’s capital needs or asset and liability composition for quicker pivots when needed.

We assembled this panel for a snapshot of their approach to today’s risk management demands:

• Steven Brunner is Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at Bankwell Financial Group, where he joined in 2022. He previously served as Global Head of Financial Crimes at Wex, Inc., and held multiple positions at Sterling National Bank, contributing to its significant asset growth.
• Joel Castaneda serves as Chief Risk Officer for Vantage Bank, where he oversees the bank’s enterprise risk and compliance programs. Joel was previously Risk Management Director at USAA and began as an examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
• Blake Coules, a Senior Director at Moody’s, leads the firm’s Commercial Real Estate Industry Practice. He has spent decades in a variety of lending and risk leadership roles throughout financial services. Blake’s analysis emphasis at Moody’s focuses on guiding banks to integrate platforms across credit, finance, and other functions to build a unified view of risk, performance, and capital impact.
• James Clarke is principal of Clarke Consulting, which specializes in advising banks on financial management and strategic planning. He has also taught the course “Best Practices in Asset/Liability Management” for ProSight precursor RMA, is a member of ProSight’s Editorial Advisory Board, and has served on five bank boards.

Download this Special Report to learn more about how these market participants help their institutions create risk-informed, sustainable growth strategies.