Pub. 3 2014 Issue 8

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 16 T HE 2014 KBA TRUST DIVISION HELD their annual conference at the Drury Plaza Hotel – Broadview in Wichita in October. The speaker line-up consisted of three economists; John Tousley, Goldman Sachs; William Ehling, Federated Investors; and Steve Wyett, BOK Financial. All three agree that we will see a slow but favorable improvement in the economy and a strong equity market. Several performance indicators in the stock market, bond market and other economic factors were discussed that defend the theory that the market is solid even though October has already seen huge increases and record drops. The velocity of money has slowed due to regulatory over reach. As a result, inflation has been effectively muted. According to the economist speakers, gathering of and selective use of big data from smart phones can provide for enormous gains in some sectors and there is a race to gather information and use it well. As the Federal Reserve begins to raise rates sometime over the next 12 months it will create some volatility in the bond market. The mismatch between skills and jobs available have contributed to a decrease in labor force participation that has resulted in a perceived decrease in unemployment. It is difficult to use unemployment figures in quantifying the strength of the economy so the Federal Reserve has not responded with adjustments in interest rates like it has in the past. More people are renting instead of buying a home now so multi-housing units are up and single family housing is growing at a very slow pace. Jeff Lanza, retired FBI agent, delivered a dynamic presentation over “Leadership Ethics.” Sharing multiple examples of white collar crime and the greed that drives it, Jeff demonstrated how people with an ego can justify bad behavior. He outlined the vision and mission that leaders can develop along with solid hiring practices to effectively build a solid foundation of values. Organizational culture that holds people accountable will contribute to long term success. Eric Calvert from Bever Dye Law Firm gave a presentation titled, “Estate & Trust Planning Update” in which he outlined the summary of the federal tax laws that are affecting estate planning. Shane McCall, Trust Counsel at The Peoples Bank, shared multiple practices, forms and updated policies in his presentation titled, “Detecting Trust Problem Areas”. Shane was a welcome face as a long respected peer in the Trust Division. The conference closed with an invigorating talk from hotel mogul Jack DeBoer. Jack is the founder of the extended stay concept and the author of a book titled, “Risk Only Money”. He delivered a captivating talk on the value of character and relationships in business. There were vendor prize drawings that included the following; • Broadridge Financial Solutions – $100 gift card to Gary Howland, BOK Financial, Marysville, KS • INFOVISA, Inc. – $50 Omaha Steaks gift card to Brian Dutton, CornerBank, Winfield, KS • Vanguard – Golf Accessories Basket to Barbara Timmons, The Peoples Bank, Smith Center, KS • Federated Investors – Kindle Fire HD to Paul Worth, Southwest National Bank, Wichita, KS Mark your calendar for the 2015 Trust Conference on October 15-16 in Manhattan. KBA TRUST CONFERENCE Pictured left to right are Joseph Karnes, Central National Bank, Junction City; Jeff Lanza, speaker and retired FBI agent;KBA Trust Division President John Thaemert, Citizens State Bank & Trust Co., Ellsworth, and Barbara Braa, Douglas County Bank, Lawrence.