SFNC
#Thanks.
Well, first of all, I think we're starting to get some pretty good traction with regard to loan growth, <UNK>.
We've said all along that our goal is to get our loan-to-deposit ratio up to the 90% range.
It's a little over 80% today.
If we keep feeding the pipeline like we did over the last quarter, we'll get a lot closer to 90% over the next year.
Even though the yields on those loans are pretty low, they're better than any other alternative we have today.
So we're very optimistic about that.
We're also very optimistic about some of the new initiatives we have in our non-interest income lines of business, particularly credit card.
We have a new leader in that group who has 40 years of payments experience.
We've been through some pretty significant studies on ways to enhance that program.
I think we'll see significant progress in 2017 in our credit card portfolio.
I would tell you that the regulatory scrutiny has not let up.
And as we get bigger, we will expect more of that.
That's one of the reasons that we have beefed up audit and compliance, because for Simmons Bank safety and soundness has always been a cornerstone.
But there is, as you know, a lot of emphasis today on consumer compliance, and we're in tune with that.
So we would expect that our internal language will shift a little bit just from growth to growth and compliance.
Our business unit managers have done a very good job of establishing their risk metrics within their units.
But that's a new wrinkle in our operation; it's taken a much higher level of interest today than it ever has been and I really don't see that decreasing.
As far as headwinds go, our ability to attract the talent that we need in markets, our ability to grow in some of the key markets, may be a little slower than we would like.
We're not going to rush and make a bad decision; we're looking for the right people.
And I think our track record has proven that our patience pays off.
The team we have in St.
Louis and the team we now have in Northwest Arkansas and in Kansas City, are just exceptional.
And for the long haul, that is in the best interest of the Bank.
So, we will continue to look for excellent talent in all of our markets and quite honestly, we've had pretty good success in attracting what we consider to be the best of the best in those markets.
We'll continue that track.
I don't know if you have any specific questions about any other headwinds that the industry may face.
Be glad to address that if you do.
No, we think we can get there and 12 to 24 months.
That would certainly be our goal.
As you can probably tell, our cost of funds has come down, so we're not being really aggressive out in the market today as far as trying to gather high-priced deposits.
So we've got plenty of liquidity to work with on our balance sheet today to grow those loans to a 90% loan-to-deposit ratio.
Sure.
Thank you.
Thank you very much and thanks to all of you for joining us on our conference call today.
We appreciate your support and we will look forward to visiting at the end of the next quarter.
Thanks and have a great day.
