BCOW
Industry:
Banking

DESCRIPTION

1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin is the holding company for PyraMax Bank, a community savings bank that has operated in the Milwaukee metropolitan area since 1895. PyraMax Bank runs six full-service branches across Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Ozaukee Counties in southeastern Wisconsin, serving local individuals and small businesses. The bank's core business is traditional community banking: gathering deposits from local retail and commercial customers, then deploying those funds into loans. PyraMax Bank's loan book totals roughly $398M, with commercial real estate making up about 58% of loans, one-to-four family residential mortgages around 25%, commercial and industrial loans around 12%, and consumer loans the remainder. The bank is actively shifting its mix toward higher-yielding commercial real estate and C&I loans and away from residential mortgages. PyraMax Bank makes money by earning a spread between loan yields and deposit costs. The bank sells most conforming fixed-rate residential mortgages into the secondary market, generating gain-on-sale income and servicing fees. On the deposit side, the bank deliberately avoids leading on deposit pricing, instead targeting specific products to attract funds cost-effectively. PyraMax Bank supplements deposits with Federal Home Loan Bank advances to manage funding and interest rate risk. The bank also has a small insurance subsidiary and holds bank-owned life insurance that generates modest non-interest income.

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