WoodTrust Asset Management Update: Moving Forward

It goes without saying 2020 has been a unique and challenging year for many of our clients, colleagues, families and communities. However, this year has further reinforced the tremendous appreciation we have for our clients.

On behalf of the entire WoodTrust team, thank you for your trust, business and relationships!

While we have been intensely focused on maintaining our dedication to trust, integrity and superior service while emphasizing the health and safety of our associates and clients, we’ve also been moving forward. Investments in people and technology are occurring rapidly while families, businesses and nonprofits find value in the client-focused services we offer.

At the end of the year, our discretionary assets under management reached a new record of $2.33 billion, representing a more than 13% increase versus one year prior. Together with our bank balance sheet, WoodTrust now serves nearly $3 billion in total client assets. Notably, our asset management team has the great fortune to provide dedicated trust and investment services to over 500 relationships across the country.

Speaking of the trust and investments service team, the number of WoodTrust associates continues to grow – further strengthening our years of valuable knowledge and experience. Currently, the WoodTrust Asset Management team within WoodTrust Bank has:

  • 27 Talented Professionals
  • 14 Professional Designations (AFIM, CFA, CFP, CRSP and CTFA)
  • 13 Average Years at WoodTrust
  • 26 Average Years of Professional Experience

This past year certainly reinforced the importance of surrounding talented, experienced WoodTrust associates with great technology – this is not a new concept. Nevertheless, the disruption caused in 2020 served as a catalyst for us to make significant investments in the future, to ensure our long-term commitment to clients. Some examples:

  • WoodTrust.com has been completely redesigned to improve accessibility across devices, provide easier and faster access to secure account information, and deliver more comprehensive information about the variety of services we offer.
  • Webex video conferencing utilities have been deployed allowing for quicker, on-demand, face-to-face interactions between our associates and clients.
  • An investment in OneSpan provides for the electronic signing of documents in a secured environment, allowing documents requiring signature to be executed and delivered with a few pushes of a button.
  • Committing to our largest technology investment ever, WoodTrust has agreed to convert our Trust core data processing system to Fidelity National Information Systems, Inc. (FIS) – one of the world’s leading providers of financial services technology solutions. We are excited and pleased that the new and expanded systems and processing capabilities, offered through FIS, will allow for better integration with our banking platform and will best meet the goals of our clients for many years to come. More information on this will be coming at a later date, with minimal impacts to clients.

These technology investments are critical to moving forward. With that said, however, they are merely supplements to our dedicated associates who are unwavering in their desire to help clients achieve their financial goals.

Again, thank you! All of us at WoodTrust greatly value and appreciate your business, faith and confidence. We are humbled to have been selected as your financial services partner – we take that obligation seriously. We look forward to serving you in the coming year and wish you a happy and healthy New Year!