I’m delighted that Sievewright & Associates (S&A) is now a part of SRM!
The acquisition comes after five straight years of solid growth in the S&A business, where we served more than 100 credit unions across the country ranging from $400 million to $53 billion of assets. The opportunity to join forces with an organization of SRM’s caliber, scale the business, and broaden support for credit unions all presented compelling reasons to sell.
I’ve known SRM team members for several years and I knew the firm’s culture and capabilities would be an excellent fit for me and my colleague, Loretta Weller-Mowers, who brings an outstanding range of skills and experience to the table. Our interactions with our new SRM colleagues over the past several weeks have reaffirmed the value proposition, and it’s already clear that the benefits we expected – as we worked through the acquisition details – are real and should prove substantial.
The S&A business focused on supporting credit unions in strategy, digital transformation (including the DigitalMAP service), and thought leadership (delivered primarily through the Strategic Leadership Series membership program).
I’m confident that more clients will now benefit from the integration of S&A’s services with SRM’s core capabilities – particularly in vendor contract optimization and negotiation. Together, we will provide credit unions with unique and unmatched solutions.
This acquisition comes at a critical time for our market. The financial services industry continues to undergo change and disruption. Several macro trends are transforming it, namely:
- Consolidation and the relentless pursuit of scale (visible across all asset segments)
- Advances in technology and digitalization
- Changes in consumer behaviors and preferences
- Intense competition
- Unprecedented demographic trends
- Talent management, including the challenge of retaining, attracting, and developing employees in a unique socioeconomic environment
Financial institutions are also experiencing challenges adding loans and deposits in a rising interest rate environment. These challenges are creating liquidity pressures for many. As rates continue to rise, pressure to lower costs and drive higher levels of operating efficiency will intensify.
Fundamentally, credit unions and banks must define and execute effective growth strategies, whether organic or inorganic, while managing their balance sheets to avoid liquidity pressure and exposure to interest rate risk.
The Bottom Line
The coming together of SRM and Sievewright & Associates is truly an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Through Perspectives Reports published as part of the Strategic Leadership Series program, I will continue to deliver timely insights on the trends I described above and consult with credit union leaders to help them operate at peak performance.
SRM’s services and expertise will help guide more clients as they take on bottom-line savings projects and future-proofing exercises, including planning for digital assets and cryptocurrency infrastructure. I’m excited about what the future holds and look forward to having more conversations about the strength of this union with my clients and my entire network.
