Banker’s Toolbox, van Wagenen Partner to Offer CRE Loan Stress Testing

""Banker's Toolbox"":http://www.bankerstoolbox.com/ and ""van Wagenen Financial Services, Inc."":http://www.vanwagenen.com/, have teamed up to offer commercial real estate (CRE) loan stress testing software to their real estate customers.

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Through this partnership, van Wagenen, an Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based provider of collateral insurance for financial institutions, is offering Banker's Toolbox's Crest software as a way for CRE lenders to further mitigate risk by evaluating the impact of market changes on their CRE portfolios.

""Community and regional banks have felt the brunt of the CRE market downturn,"" said Rob Wood, van Wagenen's VP of sales. ""By partnering with Banker's Toolbox, we can offer our bank customers another tool to mitigate their financial risk in managing commercial real estate.""

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Austin, Texas-based Banker's Toolbox said its Crest software helps banks comply with the 2006 Interagency Guidance on CRE Concentrations, which requires stress testing portfolios that exceed certain concentration levels. According to the company, this software provides accurate stress test results with fewer date requirements, overcoming the ongoing data-gathering challenge faced by all banks.

In addition, Banker's Toolbox said the Crest software enables banks to segment their CRE loan portfolio based on numerous factors, including geography, property type, or industry. The company explained that its universal stress factors enable financial institutions to run scenarios that incorporate hypothetical changes to income, property valuation, and interest rate.

The resulting stress test results and analysis aim to make it simple for banks to outline hazardous CRE loan concentration areas within the lending base and also forecast complications with risky borrowers, Banker's Toolbox said.

""van Wagenen has a long history of providing services to help banks reduce their risk of real estate loss,"" said Daniel Cho, CEO of Banker's Toolbox. ""Banker's Toolbox's Crest perfectly complements their services by helping banks understand the future risks in their CRE loan portfolio far enough in advance to take actions to reduce that risk.""