An Overview

Fears of a recession fuel panic in the banking industry due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an increase in oil prices to over $100 per barrel, and the Federal Reserve rate rises. In addition, global financial markets have been shaken by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s tough measures to rein in runaway inflation, which has decreased business demand for mergers and slowed attempts to raise capital via stock and debt issues.

The global economy remains shaky as we approach 2023. Uncertainties abound due to an unprecedented collision of events, including Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, supply chain risks, a precipitous spike in inflation, and global monetary policy tightening. In some economies, the risk of a mild recession or stagflation is significant. The ramifications of a more unstable and turbulent global economy will be felt differently throughout the global banking sector. Large, well-capitalized, diverse banks should be able to weather the storms rather effectively.

Liquidity To Shrink

The enormous quantities of overnight funds kept at the Federal Reserve each day can create many problems for banks by burdening their balance sheets and reducing their ability to lend money. As a result, a broad range of market players has flocked to the Fed’s reverse repurchase facility, which has helped clean up excess liquidity in the financial system.

Investors are transferring deposits from banks to government money market funds, primarily investing in Treasuries and REOs, to avoid paying bank fees. The cash is sent via these funds to the Fed’s overnight window. According to Barclays, government money market funds’ allocations to repo have climbed from roughly 30% at the beginning of the year to around 40% of their assets.

The Federal Reserve will begin “quantitative tightening,” which started in September in June, by reducing its monthly balance sheet by $95 billion. It is feared that the outflow of bank deposits into money market funds might quickly erode bank reserves, which could impede lending to financial markets and the larger economy.

The drop in bank reserves may also increase the repo and effective fed funds rate, as was the case in September 2019, when bank reserves plummeted due to significant withdrawals for tax payments and the payment of Treasury auction purchases. That compelled the Fed to provide the banking sector with more reserves.

Returns Ratios Close To Pre-Covid But NIMs Muted

As 2021 concluded, the banking sector was still drowning in excess liquidity, significantly impacting net interest margins.

The banking sector’s margin in 2021 was 81 basis points lower than before the pandemic. Historically low-interest rates and a surge in deposits left institutions with a tonne of cash but few appealing locations to invest it. The biggest institutions in the country have felt the most strain since they have seen the biggest increases in deposits over the last two years. The Fed’s quantitative easing program, which has raised the number of reserves in the banking system, is partially to blame for this.

Expanding To Compete

Early in 2021, bank M&A activity picked up again as the credit outlook improved since buyers were no longer concerned about taking on excessive credit risk when purchasing another institution. In the second quarter of 2021, bank M&A significantly increased. Many banks turned to agreements to decrease costs and utilize part of the savings to invest in technology to stay competitive in an increasingly digital environment due to persistently low-interest rates and soft loan demand.

Deposit Betas Key Amid Rate Hikes

While excessive liquidity will continue to drag on profitability, institutions won’t need to raise their deposit prices as rapidly in response to hikes in short-term rates because of the pile of cash sitting on bank balance sheets.

The proportion of increases in the federal funds rate banks pass through to depositors, known as deposit betas, will be much smaller in the current rate rise cycle than in the last several tightening cycles. Banks are now experiencing a new financing issue since too many deposits are on their books. Although there is a lot of new competition for banks from digital banks, the financing requirements for conventional institutions are much lower now than during previous rate hike cycles, allowing only slight increases in deposit fees as interest rates rise.

What Are The Top US Bank Stocks To Consider Buying Now?

Anyone who has invested through many economic downturns is probably well aware that the banking sector is cyclical. The requirement for banks to utilize a lot of leverage to make money exacerbates this cyclicality. Bank’s operations are susceptible to market cycles since they lend out 90% of the money they receive in deposits. Boom-and-bust cycles are both caused by and may influence banks, and not all bank stocks provide dividends in both good and poor economic periods.

However, dividend investors shouldn’t entirely ignore the banking sector. Strong and dependable dividends may and are provided by well-managed institutions.

• American Express: American Express is included on our list of the top dividend-paying bank stocks because it has a history of generating strong returns, partly due to the fact that its dividend is both substantial and dependable. As seen in the graphic below, American Express has outperformed the market in terms of returns over the previous three decades.
• Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son: Butterfield has the highest dividend yield on our list, 5.4%, based on current stock prices. Even though Butterfield’s dividend is often consistent, the payout ratio of the business—which measures the dividend as a proportion of profits—remains below 50%, which is healthy but a little low for dividend-focused investors.
• Bank Of America: Since 2014, Bank of America has consistently grown its dividend payment, and its most recent dividend yield of 2.2% is higher than the S&P 500 firms’ average dividend yield. Bank of America is entirely focused and actively contributing to the future of banking. Additionally, it has a sound balance sheet and quick access to affordable cash.
• JPMorgan Chase: It is one of the “Big Four” American megabanks, along with Bank of America. The financial organization, ranked as the biggest bank in the country by asset value, has provided investors with solid returns since escaping the 2008 financial crisis. In addition, JPMorgan Chase’s stock has outperformed the S&P 500 during the previous ten years despite the pandemic having a significant negative influence on the performance of bank equities, as seen in the figure below:
• People’s United Financial: The fact that People’s United is the only bank that has grown its regular dividend every year for more than 25 years and is a Dividend Aristocrat should attract investors worldwide. People’s United has regularly increased its dividend throughout economic downturns, in contrast to many of the bank’s regional rivals and almost all of the larger banks. The data below shows that over the last 25 years, People’s United stock has beaten the S&P 500 by approximately a factor of two:

How Does Stockal Help In Taking Exposure Towards Banks?

A successful broker and platform are essential for world stock market investing. The way that contemporary applications have liberalized banking is excellent. Stockal is one such app that specializes in investing in US stocks in India and offers a range of alternatives, including ETFs, stacks, funds, and cash management. In addition, some well-known and respectable foreign corporations are represented in the US stock market indices, such as the S&P 500 Index, Russell 2000 Index, NASDAQ Composite Index, and Nasdaq-100 Index.

Those seeking world stock market diversification can consider investing in US bank stocks. A low correlation between the two large economies may provide a high risk-adjusted return over a long investment period. Several ETFs that focus on different industrial sectors or prominent US bank stocks are available for investment, or you may buy specific US stocks in India. Exchange-traded funds monitor the NASDAQ 100 and even the S&P 500, the two most significant US stock market indexes.

Before starting world stock market investing, you must create a foreign trading account and maintain a US bank account abroad. With a vast selection of available equities, easy-to-use tools, and well-researched approaches, Stockal is the ideal app for investing in US stocks in India. With its extensive features and well-stated choices, including fund management, fractional investment, and easy compliance, the app facilitates investing in US stocks in India.

Wrapping Up

Although there may be significant cyclicality in the banking sector, the best banks are often robust and tend to reward patient investors. Even in cyclical sectors, dividend-paying firms are well-positioned to generate significant long-term benefits for their owners. Even with the risks, including any of these top dividend-paying bank shares in your dividend stocks portfolio will probably increase the total returns on your portfolio.