SouthState Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Having said all that, it is clearly a battle on the deposit front. And the most sensitive things that are going to be to interest rates on deposit accounts are going to be money markets and CDs. And like everyone else, we’re feeling the same thing. And that’s why I think as we look at the next year and if we look at those deposit betas, and we assume that we end the year about 100 basis points higher than where we are today, a lot of that — we think 40% to 50% of that gets front-loaded into the first quarter. And the reason for that is we certainly are feeling the pressure on the money market CD side. And as of January 1, we raised rates across the board. So I think that area of the balance sheet is going to feel much more rate-sensitive than our checking accounts.

And our job, of course, is to continue to grow core clients to protect the deposit franchise, which is, as you know, the most important part of our balance sheet. So as you see volatility in rates and how the yield curve has changed over the past 12 months, it was going to catch up. It is catching up for sure, but we still feel good today about our total cycle beta. And assuming that the Fed stops raising rates here in the next quarter or so, we’ll see a lag. It’ll definitely continue to increase some, but we like sort of our position and that NIM guide kind of has all that put together. So hopefully, that’s helpful.

William Matthews: And Catherine, its Will. I would — just to elaborate a little bit. Obviously, this cycle is a little different than ones we’ve seen in the past. And we’re giving you our best estimates based on what we see thus far, but we’re certainly out there balancing the same battle everyone else is. We do feel like we entered it with a really healthy core deposit base and mix. And we’ve really allowed our market leaders who are closest to the customers and the ability to negotiate with clients on a one-off basis and rather than us trying to make all the decisions from headquarters. So that’s our strategy thus far. And hopefully, we’ll be successful and have a say somewhat like last time, but it is a different environment. Of course, we acknowledge that.

Catherine Mealor: For sure. Okay. That’s duty helpful. And maybe the other question is this is just on the on the reclass of the interest cost of the swap collateral that you disclosed this quarter. I saw it’s about $8.4 million today as — and that’s been increasing, obviously, as rates have been going up over the past couple of quarters. So as we think about what — if we’re trying to model what that number is, is it fairly steady at this $8.4 million, assuming the Fed maybe up a little bit with just 2 more hikes? And then as it plateaus, this is about where that level should be? Or is there something more with rates changing that drives what that number is over the next few quarters?