New Syntellis Performance Solutions Report: Financial Executives Have Limited Confidence

By AIT News Desk On Jun 29, 2020

Financial Institution executives call for greater use of profitability analysis in uncertain industry landscape

Syntellis Performance Solutions, a leading provider of financial planning software, data and analytics solutions for healthcare, higher education and financial institutions, today released a report that found 71% of financial institution executives have limited confidence in their institutions’ ability to forecast and manage profitability performance—despite their understanding of the growing importance of profitability analysis amid an uncertain industry landscape.

In addition, 87% of survey respondents believe their institutions should be doing more to leverage profitability analysis to inform strategic decisions, according to 2020 Profitability Perspectives, the fourth annual survey of executives from U.S. banks, credit unions and other financial services organizations conducted jointly by Syntellis—previously Kaufman Hall Software—and the Financial Managers Society.

A significantly greater percentage of financial executives (29% vs. 20%) describe their organizations as very prepared to use current planning processes and tools to forecast and manage profitability performance compared with the prior year, suggesting that some organizations have made considerable progress, according to the report.

“Leading financial institutions are simultaneously confronting a host of challenges to their profit margins from external factors, and realizing they lack the internal processes and tools to adapt strategically,” said Kermit S. Randa, chief executive officer of Syntellis. “The findings of our 2020 Profitability Perspectives report suggest that financial institution leadership teams are making headway, but still have a long way to go before reaping the full benefits of profitability analysis. With the focus on financial management and improvement at a record high, financial institution leaders need insights into what’s driving profitability so they can accelerate decisions and advance their business plans.”

The report cites new competition, low interest rates, economic uncertainty, regulation and understanding profitability drivers as the greatest profitability challenges to financial institutions.

“The landscape for financial institutions was challenging even before the COVID-19 pandemic shocked economies worldwide,” said Ken Levey, vice president of Financial Institutions Software for Syntellis. “For instance, the rapid growth of online institutions that lack branch infrastructure and can price more aggressively is posing a major competitive threat. This report will help decision-makers at financial institutions understand the steps their peers are taking to manage profitability confidently in an uncertain environment.”

A majority (61%) of financial executives reported that they have gaps in their understanding of profitability specifics but are working to improve their analytics capabilities. 17% of respondents reported having a clear understanding of their customers, products, organizational units, and channels, up from 10% in 2019.

Contributing to this lack of understanding is the inability of many financial institutions to adequately monitor customers and relationships. Similar to 2019, approximately two-thirds of respondents’ institutions are not monitoring relationships, or the full network of customers a single client influences in the institution. Importantly, relationships can magnify the results of any customer interaction and impact satisfaction and profitability.

The 2020 Profitability Perspectives report also includes several recommended strategies financial institutions can use to drive greater profitability, including:

Providing employees with education on profitability drivers and analysis
Making it possible for finance professionals to spend more time developing and using profitability analytics that inform strategic decision-making and execution
Monitoring each of the important dimensions of profitability (organization/line of business, product, relationships, customer/member and officer)
Improving visibility so relationship managers can see all accounts influenced by one customer