Seifried & Brew, LLC (S&B) provides expertise in bank analytics, municipal analytics, and economics, exclusively for the community bank industry. S&B believes that risk management and monitoring are key components to running a top-performing community bank. We help bankers understand and communicate their banks’ risk and reward relationship to their board and leadership team.
S&B was founded in 2010 by Dr. Ed Seifried and Jay Brew. Dr. Ed is a professor emeritus of economics at Lafayette College and recognized economics keynote speaker. Jay Brew is an expert in the community banking industry for his knowledge of risk, strategy, and the value of a well-planned investment portfolio. His series of co-authored books span these and other topics.
In 2017, ownership of the company passed on to Jamie Sumner and John-Carl Brew (J.C.), Jay’s son. While ownership has changed, Jay Brew and Dr. Ed continue in advisory roles to Jamie and John-Carl. Jamie and John-Carl’s focus since then has been to develop the methodology and scope of their analysis and bank interactions based on the vision of the company’s founders.
Our years of interactions and experiences with community banks led us to develop our proprietary performance/risk model, the hallmark and cornerstone of our analytics. This model determines how well a bank balances its risk vs. reward by benchmarking the bank’s composite score against national and regional peer groups. Additionally, S&B offers strategic and capital planning services founded on the philosophy of traditional, conservative banking. These services help the bank’s board and management team plan for the future while maintaining the integrity of its past.
One key area of risk common to banks is municipal credit risk. Our credit risk analysis team utilizes a municipal credit model for enhanced monitoring of the risk in each bank’s municipal bond portfolio. Designed to comply with regulatory guidance for due diligence before purchase and on an ongoing basis, our third-party credit risk analysis is independent of the major rating agencies and investment brokers.
S&B's philosophy is founded on traditional, conservative, and profitable community banking that creates an environment for our nation to prosper. Conventional concepts are the root of every insight we offer. They historically are, and always will be, the foundation and strength of our financial system.
OUR BELIEF
At Seifried & Brew, we believe in traditional/conservative community banking. We believe that prudent risk management trumps performance. The Great Recession proves our point. We also believe that community banks can strive for high performance while maintaining a low level of risk.
OUR MISSION
S&B’s mission is to equip banks to identify and manage risk at the board and management level. We still uphold our founding principle that traditional conservative community banking is at the heart of this nation’s economic system.
DR. ED'S CHART AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
Everyone who has heard Dr. Ed speak knows Dr. Ed's Chart. Dr. Ed has chosen key economic ratios for his followers to use as tools in the strategic planning process. Dr. Ed's Chart cuts through the myriad of data and tells a clear story of how the economy is performing.