2026 Financial Institutions Conference: Afternoon Sessions
Available Until
Online
4.70 Credits
Member Price $229.00
Non-Member Price $279.00
Overview
Sessions covered in this On-Demand replay of the Financial Institutions Conference:
ALCO Reimagined
ALCO meetings have understandably taken a back seat to more pressing items as financial institutions have had to navigate multiple black swan events. Now that the dust has settled and we enter a "new" operating environment, it is time to challenge the sometimes-stale ALCO agendas and reimagine the focus of your quarterly meetings. This session will highlight best practices for evolving your quarterly ALCOs away from a regulatory-driven, check-the-box exercise into a standing-room-only meeting focused on driving strategy.
The Return of Bank M&A: Understanding New Market Trends & How They Should Shape Your Strategic Thinking
After several years of muted activity, bank M&A came back to life in 2025. This session will walk you through the current state of play in bank M&A. In addition to a review of recent transactions and metrics, this session will cover the tailwinds and headwinds expected to fuel continued M&A activity in 2026.
From Generative AI to Agentic Intelligence: What Financial Leaders Need to Know
This session will cover how AI is transforming banking operations, and the differences between generative, agent-based and enterprise-grade AI solutions. Learn how organizations can responsibly adopt AI through strong governance, risk management and ethical frameworks. You will leave this session with clarity on real-word AI use cases, future AI trends and actionable steps to assess readiness, mitigate risk and align AI initiatives with regulatory and business expectations.
In the Crosshairs: Accountant Liability Issues
This session will take a look at various issues and ethical choices CPAs face on a regular basis along with a review of codes of conduct and the legal ramifications for crossing ethical lines.
NOTE: Certificates of attendance showing the CPE credit earned from this On-Demand program will be sent to your primary email on file approximately 2 weeks after viewing as we receive attendance reports from our streaming service provider. Members will also see this program reflected in their CPE tracker.
Leader(s):
Leader Bios
Adam Keefer, Managing Director, Piper Sandler & Co.
Adam Keefer is a managing director in the financial services group at Piper Sandler.
Previously, he was a managing director in the investment banking group of Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P. Since joining the firm in 2004, Keefer focused on financial institutions in the western region. He has extensive experience serving as an advisor in mergers and acquisitions, public and private capital raising transactions, recapitalizations, restructurings and other strategic initiatives for Sandler O’Neill’s clients, including the $2B merger between Umpqua Holdings Corp. and Sterling Financial Corp., Pacific Capital Bancorp’s $1.5B sale to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. and Washington Banking Company’s $265M strategic merger with Heritage Financial Corp.
Prior to joining Sandler O’Neill, Keefer served as an investment banking analyst for D.A. Davidson & Co.
Following a year of study at the London School of Economics, Keefer graduated with honors from Trinity College in Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He has also completed Pacific Coast Banking School’s graduate program in banking at the University of Washington.
Carlos Vega, Director, Wipfli LLP
As a Digital Strategy Director at Wipfli, I lead digital transformation strategy, professional services, and partner engagements with major US and global banks, credit unions, de novo banks, Insurance, Wealth and Asset Management and fintech startups. With over 20 years of experience in strategy and digital transformation across industries, I have a proven track record of delivering customer-centric solutions that drive growth, loyalty, and innovation across financial services and automotive industries.
Dan Farmer, Senior Consultant, Darling Consulting Group
As a Senior Consultant at Darling Consulting Group, Daniel assists financial institution executives in strengthening their asset liability management (ALM) process. He provides custom solutions for managing interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and capital while maintaining a focus on strategy and optimizing earnings. Daniel also works closely with financial institution executives and teams to harness the power of data analytics to distill actionable insights and enhance strategic decisions using DCG’s Deposits360°®, Loans360°®, and Liquidity360°® platforms.
Daniel began his career at DCG in 2016 as a financial analyst and holds a B.S. in Economics & Finance from Bentley University
J Bradley Sargent, Managing Member, The Sargent Consulting Group, LLC
Brad is the Founder and Managing Member of The Sargent Consulting Group. Brad assesses clients’ challenges and identifies solutions quickly and cost-effectively. Brad focuses clients on “defining a win” in every situation and working towards that goal. Those wins have ranged from $100m+ judgments in federal court to reduced jail time for criminal convictions. Brad’s candor and competency creates relationships with clients that endure and he is frequently sought at times of great crisis, when a truly trusted advisor can make the most impact. Brad loves distilling complicated financial information into a compelling, simple story and he has been recognized as an expert witness in multiple venues and is a highly sought guest lecturer and speaker. Brad has created a firm culture that treats every matter the same regardless of size, does not take itself too seriously (the work is serious enough) and looks to laugh out loud every day.
Non-Member Price $279.00
Member Price $229.00