Bankwell Financial Group Inc
Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in
New Canaan, Connecticut and offers a broad range of financial services through
our banking subsidiary, Bankwell Bank (the Bank), a Connecticut state non-member
bank founded in 2002. Our primary market is the greater Fairfield and New Haven
County, Connecticut area, which we serve from our main banking office located
in New Canaan, Connecticut and eight other branch offices located throughout
the Fairfield and New Haven County area.
We are committed to being the premier “Hometown” bank in Fairfield
and New Haven Counties and surrounding areas. We believe that our market exhibits
highly attractive demographic attributes and presents favorable competitive
dynamics, thereby offering long-term opportunities for growth. We have a history
of building long-term customer relationships and attracting new customers through
what we believe is our superior customer service and our ability to deliver
a diverse product offering. In addition, we believe that our strong capital
position and extensive local ownership, coupled with a highly respected and
experienced executive management team and board of directors, give us credibility
with our customers and potential customers in our market. Our focus is on building
a franchise with meaningful market share and consistent revenue growth complemented
by operational efficiencies that we believe will produce attractive risk-adjusted
returns for our shareholders.
Responsive, Customer-Centric Products and Services and a Community Focus. We
offer a broad array of products and services which we customize to allow us
to focus on building long-term relationships with our customers through high-quality,
responsive and personal customer service. By focusing on the entire customer
relationship, we build the trust of our customers which leads to long-term relationships
and generates our organic growth. In addition, we are committed to meeting the
needs of the communities that we serve. Our employees are involved in many civic
and community organizations which we support through sponsorships. As a result,
customers and potential customers within our market know about us and frequently
interact with our employees which allows us to develop long-term customer relationships
without extensive advertising.
Strategic Acquisitions. To complement our organic growth, we focus on strategic
acquisitions in or around our existing markets that further our objectives.
We believe there are banking institutions that continue to face credit challenges,
capital constraints and liquidity issues and that lack the scale and management
expertise to manage the increasing regulatory burden and will likely need to
partner with an institution like ours. As we evaluate potential acquisitions,
we will continue to seek acquisitions that provide meaningful financial benefits,
long-term organic growth opportunities and expense reductions, without compromising
our risk profile.
Utilization of Efficient and Scalable Infrastructure. We employ a systematic
and calculated approach to increasing our profitability and improving our efficiencies.
We continually upgrade our operating infrastructure particularly in the areas
of technology, data processing, compliance and personnel. We believe that our
scalable infrastructure provides us with an efficient operating platform from
which to grow in the near term, and without incurring significant incremental
noninterest expenses, while continuing to deliver our high-quality, responsive
customer service, which will enhance our ability to grow and increase our returns.
Disciplined Focus on Risk Management. Effective risk management is a key component
of our strong corporate culture. We use our strong risk management process to
monitor our existing loan and investment securities portfolios, support operational
decision-making and improve our ability to generate earning assets with strong
credit quality. To maintain our strong credit quality, we use a comprehensive
underwriting process and we seek to maintain a diversified loan portfolio and
a conservative investment securities portfolio. Board-approved policies contain
approval authorities, as appropriate, and are reviewed at least annually. We
have a Risk Management Steering Committee comprised of executive officers who
oversee new business initiatives and other activities that warrant oversight
of risk and related mitigants. Internal review procedures are performed regarding
anti-money laundering and consumer compliance requirements. Our Chief Risk Officer
reports directly to the Chair of our Audit Committee.