Op-Ed

Op-Ed

Did Avalanche Learn Anything?

Insights Suggests They Did The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It’s been barely six months since Avalanche CEO Mark Knopfler retained Talisman and promised lobbyists and customers that they would fare better. “This episode has clearly hurt us,” Mr. Knopfler said. “We have to do a lot of work about building trust back.”

The episode he was referring to was the discovery of Avalanche pushing products onto customers which were unsuitable for their risk profile. Independent analysis by OVERVIEW, a risk assessment software, confirmed. This setback rocked Avalanche stock and led to employee retention difficulties; the effect of departing staff further spiraled company stock to a new low… Avalanche saw a $5 million dollar loss within the first two weeks.

Since then, Mr. Knopfler and the Avalanche Board of Directors have done everything they could to improve their customer investment tools. Avalanche announced a merger with Talisman, the foremost leader in financial consulting, in order to help them mitigate errors impacting nearly 6 million user accounts. In the same week, Avalanche partnered with local community leaders to unveil helpful tools and mitigate financial losses, in efforts to earn back the trust of their community.

While banks have also not been particularly aligned in their lending and investing behavior to popular concerns, Avalanche is slowly changing that image. Under Talisman’s direction, a membership roadmap was unveiled for impacted clients; they were encouraged to join committees, such as the Mountain Club. Another committee in Forward Future, which supports small-business partners and helps clients create transformative plans in favor of larger returns. Both committees welcome their members to collaborate in brainstorming their investment options, and help concentrate members’ efforts on building a true Community Development Financial Institution.

Equally impressive, Avalanche’s local partnerships educate customers and ensure transparency for the entire customer base, with respect to the bank's investment practices. The new drive for customer retention has allowed Avalanche to inspect and create exactly what their customers want - a financial system aligned with long-term public interest. Taken together, the consumer financial protection tools outlined in Avalanche’s new report are empowering consumers and small businesses to vote with their dollars. A more responsive banking system was created in the process, and the resulting vision fortifies long-term economic performance goals for the consumer.

For Avalanche Bank, the lesson is not just about pushing portfolio management, it’s how well they are poised to handle their newest campaigns and where their priorities lie. Switching to responsible banking and empowering consumers to regain control of their accounts parlays the company’s mission statement into action.

Mr. Knoffler and team have been keen to invest in transparency protocols. Thus far, all incorporated solutions have supported enhanced availability of information from the bank and consumers were enabled to more effectively analyze their individual banking objectives.