CIO Commentary
Ich bin Bankanalyst
On June 26th, 1963 — almost a full 60 years ago — President John F. Kennedy gave one of his most famous Cold War speeches. “Ich bin ein Berliner” … “I am a Berliner” resounded to the crowd in West Berlin and around the world.
On March 8th, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) sent a press release out after the market close entitled: “SVB Financial Group Announces Proposed Offerings of Common Stock and Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock.”
What followed has been well documented. A plunge in SVB shares on Thursday, March 9th fueled a Twitter-led, smart device run on the bank (none of “It’s a Wonderful Life” lining up in the cold). Through that perilous weekend, and from that day on, scrutiny of the banking system and financial institutions at large has been job number one in order to understand possible collateral damage. From that point on, “Ich bin Bankanalyst” … “I am a bank analyst” became everyone’s new mantra.
To read more, download the full First Quarter 2023 Investment Perspective.