At Westland, we’ve always taken a conservative approach to who we partner with, from lawyers to tax accountants… and even with whom we do our banking. For the past 40 years we’ve banked with conservative banks in our area, and currently with Riverview Community bank, (NASDAQ: RSVB.) As an investor, you might be wondering how that decision is faring in these tumultuous times.
According to Simply Wall Street, RSVB is trading “at a good value compared to its peers in the industry”. Of late, essentially everyone in the banking sector took a hit post the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank, especially regional banks. At market close Monday there were around 12 banks that had their trading suspended due to extreme high volatility.
Our banking partner, however, only declined 11.85% Monday, more akin to the larger banks. Tuesday morning we saw it rise nicely again- up 13% since opening and is holding steady today, Wednesday. Our methodology in chosing Riverview Bank centered heavily on its longevity, as it has been open to business owners like ourselves for over 100 years, surviving downturns like the Great Depression and The GFC in 2008. The bank has an extremely competent governing Board of Directors and operates conservatively in regards to fiscal risk, which makes them a strong partner when unprecedented events like last Friday occur. Unlike Silicon Valley Bank, who elected to focus primarily on a homogenous customer base mainly consisting of venture capital-backed companies and start-ups, our bank serves a wide variety of companies in the area. In the case of SVB, their depositors were affected when equity markets came under duress during the past year, and many of these firms chose to spend their cash reserves instead of trying to raise new capital at lower valuations. Then suddenly everyone wanted to take their money out. Add in SVB’s choice in investing in long term bonds together with rising interest rates– and– bam! While the situation is fluid, we continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep you posted on any relevant updates in the ensuing days.
For any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at carson@westlandinestors.com.
(RVSB’s stock performance over the past 5 days)
