As the Chief Credit Officer (CCO), you oversee the growth and quality of your institution’s commercial credit portfolio with an eye on managing risk, loan performance, and compliance. But if you’re like many financial institutions, the chances are that you do not have all the tools you need. A modern digitized portfolio management system can efficiently help you achieve your growth objectives, while providing additional insights that make you and your team even more effective.
Bringing people and data together to enhance your operations
Surprisingly, many financial institutions – large and small – continue to manage their bank’s commercial loans on disparate systems, backed by an ocean of spreadsheets. When loan officers, processors, sales managers, or compliance officers need access to details on specific loans, they must hunt to find the data they need and it’s seldom quick.
In contrast, a digitized loan portfolio management system integrates all portfolio information into a single, unified platform. It provides a quick snapshot of the entire loan portfolio and details on individual credits. Digital loan portfolio systems are used for various purposes, including borrower and collateral tracking, standard and ad-hoc reporting, performing periodic loan reviews, and managing loan documents. CCOs can more easily stay on top of risk management and overall loan performance using a simple, unified platform for all commercial loan information across the institution.
Key ways a modern portfolio management system benefits CCOs and their internal teams
A digitized system provides a wide range of views into the entire loan portfolio.
Easily find what you need for each loan or all borrowers and guarantors
Facilitate decision making with a shared portfolio that everyone can see
Quickly identify concentrations for better risk management with extracts and reporting by loan type, industry, geography, and more
Zoom in for loan-level details and history, including notes, activity, covenant exceptions, and document exceptions
Zoom out for daily snapshots of your entire loan portfolio or a segment of the portfolio
Customize dashboards for loans, customers, collateral, and relationships
Customize loan portfolios – easily tailored for each user’s needs
A modern loan portfolio system helps CCOs achieve key strategic objectives.
1. Grow the loan portfolio
Quick access to information, shared views among team members, and consistent, repeatable processes all lead to greater productivity and job satisfaction. This can result in more time for employees to focus on prospects and customers, building relationships and developing lending opportunities.
As new loans are being processed, employees can better track progress and provide updates, resulting in a better customer experience and reducing the likelihood of customers going elsewhere to meet their borrowing needs.
2. Manage risk and compliance
As noted in the Comptroller of the Currency’s Handbook, “Better technology and information systems have opened the door to better management methods. A portfolio manager can now obtain early indications of increasing risk by taking a more comprehensive view of the loan portfolio.”1
Additionally, system users can produce reports easily and answer questions quickly – in minutes vs. days. Your auditors will be pleased to see standardized reports with key data that’s easily accessible.
3. Monitor loan portfolio quality
Monitoring is easier with a single entry point for critical information such as risk ratings, collateral descriptions, appraisals, loan profiles, documents, and approval workflows. A digitized loan portfolio system can also offer simplified tracking of borrowers, guarantors, and assets.
4. Oversee special assets proactively instead of reactively
While the commercial lending industry continues to see dramatic growth and performance, the tide can turn quickly. Given the events of the last few years, many analysts are predicting another wave of CRE special assets in the coming years. A comprehensive, digitized loan portfolio management system can allow lenders and credit executives to identify risk trends and take corrective actions before it’s too late.
Chief Credit Officers have many significant responsibilities. By enhancing their commercial loan operations with a digitized portfolio management system, CCOs gain a critical tool to achieve their strategic objectives and empower their team.
With a digitized lending system, your institution will be poised for growth
In a recent survey of over 1600 U.S. business leaders, 91% expect to need more or the same amount of credit in 20222. A digitized portfolio system can help you prepare for this potential loan growth and implement best practices in portfolio management.
Sources:
1 Loan Portfolio Management, Comptroller’s Handbook, Comptroller of the Currency
2 2022 Business Leaders Outlook, JPMorgan Chase
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