Last week, FHLBank Topeka released its operating results for 2021. I’m pleased to report that your cooperative continues to be financially strong and see solid financial results despite our members being flush with deposits and liquidity. As you put your liquidity to work funding what we hope is increasing loan demand, we hope you’ll reach out to us for flexible, customizable funding options through our advance products. Advances are the cornerstone of our balance sheet and the key driver to our overall financial performance.

As a member of our cooperative, your product use fuels not only your success but that of other community bankers in our district. We look forward to continuing our partnership as your preferred source for your wholesale funding needs. Never hesitate to contact your Regional Account Manager or the Lending Desk if we can be of any assistance in helping your institution analyze options to best meet your wholesale funding need even if it is just for a few days or weeks.

Recent and Upcoming Affordable Housing Program (AHP) Opportunities 

Through our competitive AHP scoring process in December 2021, 15 affordable housing projects in our district were determined to have the highest scores and thus eligible to receive a total of $8.9 million in 2021 AHP grants. Visit our website for details such as the grant amounts, members involved and number of households helped.

Helping create and rehabilitate affordable housing is at the heart of our mission. Thank you to our members who sponsored these needed housing initiatives in their communities, and thanks to all members who support the cooperative as the income resulting from product use is what provides the funding for these very impactful projects in our district. Our 2022 AHP competitive application period opens July 5, 2022.

Another grant opportunity opens next week. The Homeownership Set-aside Program (HSP) provides down payment, closing cost and repair assistance to very low-, low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers. We will have $6.24 million in HSP funds available this year. For 2022, we’ve increased our maximum subsidy per household from $5,000 to $7,500 to provide even more meaningful assistance for new homebuyers. 

Visit our website to learn what else is new with HSP and how you can help potential homeowners in your community. Funds are available starting Monday, March 7. For questions or assistance, please contact our Housing and Community Investment department at 866.571.8155. 

SOFR Index 

We’ve recently seen growing interest in adjustable-rate advances tied to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). SOFR-indexed advances were introduced in late 2020 to provide additional advance options where members can lengthen the term of advances at rates that adjust with market interest rates. The borrowing cost of these advances are comparable to overnight and short-term advance rates. We have issued 47 SOFR advances since their debut with 15 of those totaling $863 million issued in the fourth quarter of 2021. We currently have more than $1.6 billion in SOFR advances outstanding.

This expansion tracks with SOFR’s growth as an alternative to LIBOR. The FHLBank System reached a milestone early this month when it surpassed $500 billion in SOFR-linked bonds issued since its first issuance in November 2018.

If you would like to learn more about SOFR-indexed advances, talk to your Regional Account Manager or the Lending Desk.

Annual Management Conference – Register Now 

For the first time since 2019, our AMC is back in person this April. I always enjoy this opportunity to interact with members face to face.

Past attendees list the networking opportunities as one of their main reasons to attend the conference. Another top reason to attend is our stellar speaker lineup. As I reviewed the agenda, one of the topics that jumped out to me is this year’s featured economist, James Hotchkiss. It’s certainly been a wild ride for the U.S. and global economies as we traversed the pandemic the past two years and when you consider the economic impact of current issues facing our members from interest rates to loan demand to deposit flows.

I hope you’ll join me and the rest of the FHLBank team April 20-22 in Olathe. Online registration is now open at www.fhlbtopeka.com/amc. 

Board Congratulations 

Michael Jacobson, Chairman, President and CEO of NebraskaLand Bank in North Platte, Nebraska, and an FHLBank director was recently appointed to state senator by Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts. At FHLBank Topeka, we are very aware of Mike’s strong leadership skills through his service on our board of directors. We congratulate him on his appointment and know he will represent Nebraskans and those in community banking well in the Nebraska Statehouse. 

New Regional Account Manager 

I am pleased to announce the recent hiring of Tony Venditte as our new Regional Account Manager for central and eastern Nebraska and northeast Kansas. Tony previously worked as a correspondent banker for United Banker’s Bank. 

He is a graduate of two Nebraska schools – Doane College in Crete, where he received his bachelor’s of business administration and Bellevue University in Bellevue where he earned an MBA. Tony will work out of Lincoln. You can contact him at tony.venditte@fhlbtopeka.com.

Tony joins our other regional account managers: Jeff Steiner, who serves most of Kansas; Rusty Davis, who serves Colorado, western Kansas and western Nebraska; and Drew Simmons, who serves Oklahoma. 

eNotes Update 

Just yesterday, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority in Denver became the first FHLBank Topeka member or housing associate to complete a transfer of an electronic promissory note (eNote) to our eVault. This was exciting progress for our eNotes initiative. We have worked with our fellow FHLBanks since 2017 to lay the groundwork for the pledging of eNotes for one-to-four family residential real estate property categories and second mortgages on one-to-four family residential real property.

If you are interested in learning more, visit our landing page that houses resources explaining the operational requirements needed to pledge eNotes. Recent additions to the page include a podcast episode featuring Kylie Mergen, director of Financial Services, and an article from the Kansas Banker magazine outlining legal considerations with electronic signatures.

We always appreciate your feedback on how we can improve your cooperative. Please reach out to me or any member of the FHLBank team with your questions or suggestions.