February 10, 2017
Feb 9, 2017, 1:16pm EST
Industries & Tags
Banking & Financial Services
Nina Lincoff ReporterSouth Florida Business Journal
Antonio Cassio Segura, president and CEO of BB Americas.
Jock Fistick
When it comes to making money as a bank, size does matter. So Miami-based Banco do Basil Americas has a good reason to celebrate. The bank broke the $500 million assets ceiling in the fourth quarter of 2016, joining eight other midsize banks based in South Florida.
Banks are subject to a suite of regulation, and as a smaller institution the cost of compliance can often eat away at earnings. As banks grow they tend to realize economies of scale.
Banco do Brasil Americas, also known as BB Americas, came into being when Brazil-based Banco do Brasil entered the U.S. in 2012 and acquired Miami-based Eurobank in 2013 and rebranded.
Since then the bank has grown significantly, reaching $515.4 million assets, $366.9 million in loans, and $428 million in deposits as of Dec. 31. What’s also remarkable is that BB Americas had a noncurrent loan ratio of 0 percent at the same time.
The Business Journal spoke with bank President and CEO Antonio Cassio Segura and executive VP and Chief Lending Officer David Kofino about the bank’s past and future growth strategy.
The interview has been condensed for clarity and space.
SFBJ: How did you achieve this growth?
Segura: We have very good services for international customers. We understand them and they feel comfortable banking with us. We have people banking from 22 different countries. It’s a multicultural thing, understanding how to bank the international customer that comes to South Florida. We have invested in people to help serve this type of customer. That is the main point that is contributing to growth.
SFBJ: Has the bank been growing its footprint outside of South Florida?
Segura: We have a domestic present in South Florida and in Florida we are getting some good business. We don’t have a physical presence on the West Coast and Jacksonville, but we support our customers’ investments there. We do business all over Florida.
SFBJ: You previously said that growth plan included targeting the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York/New Jersey regions. Is that still the plan?
Segura: It is the plan, although we’ve changed it a little bit. Today we can say that when it comes to domestic opportunities, we’re equal opportunity. The next step is to keep growing; diversifying risk, diversifying the customer base. We are creating an entire strategy to grow domestically not only in Florida but in the northern states, too. Now, instead of opening branches in other states, we are launching in the first half of the year our digital banking platform. We are going to go to other states, and the physical presence will follow this digital presence. I told you Connecticut, Massachusetts … but let’s say that we get a lot of business in California so we may decide to go to California. The digital strategy is a way to open the doors for us and help us make decisions about the best places to go.
Kofino: This is a way to test the waters without a huge investment.
SFBJ: BB Americas’ loan portfolio grew in the fourth quarter. What lending verticals are you looking at?
Kofino: Commercial loans, [both commercial real estate (CRE) and commercial and industrial (CNI) lending.] On the CRE, we have various types of transactions from small- and medium-sized condominiums and residential products to shopping centers. It’s a whole array of CRE transactions, and we also have a nice foundation of CNI business that has been steadily growing with local products that are for importing and exporting. We will continue to grow in areas that have been good to us so far.
Segura: The good thing about the banking market is that you have a lot of middle-sized, small-sized companies doing very well. Being a small bank, we can differentiate ourselves to personalize services. We try to work as doctors, we see our customers and build the solutions that best fit them. It’s not a one size fits all.
SFBJ: CRE lending has been touch-and-go in South Florida. How do you grow safely?
Kofino: Growth for us has been dramatic, but it’s been of a very high quality. We’ve not had loss and almost no past-dues. It’s important to know that though we’ve been growing very rapidly, which is sometimes associated with making risky loans, we’ve been growing in a quality way.
Segura: When you have a lot of originations you can choose. We also have had a lot of nice partnerships with banks, we do a lot of loan participations with them. It’s a professional high-level relationship with South Florida community banks.
Kofino: Participation also gives you access to customers that maybe as a small community bank you can’t bank yourself, but if two $500 million banks team up together they you’re a $1 billion entity that can go after bigger deals. It’s a good strategy.
SFBJ: Is the goal still to get to $1 billion in assets?
Segura: It’s still there, maybe 2018 or 2019. We had fast growth and we want to keep growing over $100 million a year. 2018 is better for us.
Nina Lincoff covers banking, finance, insurance and investments. Get the latest banking news with our free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
Source: South Florida Business Journal
Industries & Tags
Banking & Financial Services
Nina Lincoff ReporterSouth Florida Business Journal
Antonio Cassio Segura, president and CEO of BB Americas.
Jock Fistick
When it comes to making money as a bank, size does matter. So Miami-based Banco do Basil Americas has a good reason to celebrate. The bank broke the $500 million assets ceiling in the fourth quarter of 2016, joining eight other midsize banks based in South Florida.
Banks are subject to a suite of regulation, and as a smaller institution the cost of compliance can often eat away at earnings. As banks grow they tend to realize economies of scale.
Banco do Brasil Americas, also known as BB Americas, came into being when Brazil-based Banco do Brasil entered the U.S. in 2012 and acquired Miami-based Eurobank in 2013 and rebranded.
Since then the bank has grown significantly, reaching $515.4 million assets, $366.9 million in loans, and $428 million in deposits as of Dec. 31. What’s also remarkable is that BB Americas had a noncurrent loan ratio of 0 percent at the same time.
The Business Journal spoke with bank President and CEO Antonio Cassio Segura and executive VP and Chief Lending Officer David Kofino about the bank’s past and future growth strategy.
The interview has been condensed for clarity and space.
SFBJ: How did you achieve this growth?
Segura: We have very good services for international customers. We understand them and they feel comfortable banking with us. We have people banking from 22 different countries. It’s a multicultural thing, understanding how to bank the international customer that comes to South Florida. We have invested in people to help serve this type of customer. That is the main point that is contributing to growth.
SFBJ: Has the bank been growing its footprint outside of South Florida?
Segura: We have a domestic present in South Florida and in Florida we are getting some good business. We don’t have a physical presence on the West Coast and Jacksonville, but we support our customers’ investments there. We do business all over Florida.
SFBJ: You previously said that growth plan included targeting the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York/New Jersey regions. Is that still the plan?
Segura: It is the plan, although we’ve changed it a little bit. Today we can say that when it comes to domestic opportunities, we’re equal opportunity. The next step is to keep growing; diversifying risk, diversifying the customer base. We are creating an entire strategy to grow domestically not only in Florida but in the northern states, too. Now, instead of opening branches in other states, we are launching in the first half of the year our digital banking platform. We are going to go to other states, and the physical presence will follow this digital presence. I told you Connecticut, Massachusetts … but let’s say that we get a lot of business in California so we may decide to go to California. The digital strategy is a way to open the doors for us and help us make decisions about the best places to go.
Kofino: This is a way to test the waters without a huge investment.
SFBJ: BB Americas’ loan portfolio grew in the fourth quarter. What lending verticals are you looking at?
Kofino: Commercial loans, [both commercial real estate (CRE) and commercial and industrial (CNI) lending.] On the CRE, we have various types of transactions from small- and medium-sized condominiums and residential products to shopping centers. It’s a whole array of CRE transactions, and we also have a nice foundation of CNI business that has been steadily growing with local products that are for importing and exporting. We will continue to grow in areas that have been good to us so far.
Segura: The good thing about the banking market is that you have a lot of middle-sized, small-sized companies doing very well. Being a small bank, we can differentiate ourselves to personalize services. We try to work as doctors, we see our customers and build the solutions that best fit them. It’s not a one size fits all.
SFBJ: CRE lending has been touch-and-go in South Florida. How do you grow safely?
Kofino: Growth for us has been dramatic, but it’s been of a very high quality. We’ve not had loss and almost no past-dues. It’s important to know that though we’ve been growing very rapidly, which is sometimes associated with making risky loans, we’ve been growing in a quality way.
Segura: When you have a lot of originations you can choose. We also have had a lot of nice partnerships with banks, we do a lot of loan participations with them. It’s a professional high-level relationship with South Florida community banks.
Kofino: Participation also gives you access to customers that maybe as a small community bank you can’t bank yourself, but if two $500 million banks team up together they you’re a $1 billion entity that can go after bigger deals. It’s a good strategy.
SFBJ: Is the goal still to get to $1 billion in assets?
Segura: It’s still there, maybe 2018 or 2019. We had fast growth and we want to keep growing over $100 million a year. 2018 is better for us.
Nina Lincoff covers banking, finance, insurance and investments. Get the latest banking news with our free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
Source: South Florida Business Journal
