BancAlliance announced it has successfully launched Alliance Academy, a new continuing education program for member banks. Alliance Academy offers live, on-site educational opportunities for BancAlliance members to gain further insight into credit, underwriting, presentation and related skills relevant to loan, credit and other officers of financial institutions.
“Providing ongoing educational opportunities for our members is a fundamental aspect of the BancAlliance charter,” said Lori Bettinger, president of BancAlliance. “Alliance Academy provides a venue where members and the underwriting staff of our asset manager, Alliance Partners, can learn from each other and from third-party experts, ultimately resulting in a more cohesive and powerful network of community banks.”
Alliance Academy has conducted three sessions of its first class, “Understanding Cash Flow Lending,” with two more sessions scheduled for this fall. Sessions conducted at BancAlliance’s Chevy Chase, MD-headquarters and in San Francisco attracted over 50 member banks.
Classes are presented by Alliance Partners staff together with The Gaffin Group, an independent research firm that provides analytics, consultation, and implementation services to private equity investors, debt capital providers and middle market operating companies.
“Alliance Academy provides a rigorous and comprehensive set of analytical tools and underwriting criteria that, properly used, allow community banks to effectively participate in the rewarding middle-market sector,” said Mark S. Gaffin, founder and president of The Gaffin Group. “We look forward to working with the experienced team at Alliance Partners to offer future educational sessions that interest and engage BancAlliance members.”
Alliance Academy is just the latest benefit available to community banks that join the BancAlliance network. Founded in 2011 by Alliance Partners and 25 founding member banks, BancAlliance is a cooperative lending network that has since grown to include over 185 community bank members.
The BancAlliance network is a shared corporate and specialty lending platform that identifies, evaluates, and refers loan opportunities to its community bank members. In addition, members have access to ongoing monitoring of all loans sourced through the network. Our mission is to enable our members, the banks that direct our activities, to prudently diversify into high-quality corporate and specialty loans in a manner consistent with the highest commercial and regulatory standards – without changing the nature or mission of the traditional community bank. BancAlliance has over 185 member banks located in 38 states. Learn more at www.bancalliance.com.
Alliance Partners is an asset management and advisory firm focused on helping regulated financial institutions and other investors optimize their asset strategies and build more profitable and more balanced loan and investment portfolios.