An ELI5 abstract of how and why SVB failed, and whether or not there have been any purple flags that retail traders might have used to foresee this. What can we, as traders, be taught from this incident?
Spoiler alert: it could have been extremely tough. This text examines how, in an alternate actuality, SVB might not have collapsed in any case.
Final week, we watched because the 16th largest financial institution within the US collapsed. Up till final Friday, it was the most popular financial institution for startups and tech corporations, price over $200 billion and was a inventory market darling (having been really helpful by numerous “gurus” and funding subscription providers) that benefited from the pandemic.
Till all of it got here right down to zero.
SVB a darling inventory for many
Silicon Valley Financial institution (SVB) Monetary supplied banking providers to start-ups, who put their funds raised from personal fairness or enterprise capital corporations into the financial institution and use it for working bills, payroll, and so on.

From a enterprise standpoint, SVB delivered great progress – from $6 billion in interest-earning belongings in 2007 to $210 billion in 2022 – an approximate 27% annual progress price.
SVB’s progress in deposits and loans held regular at 10% – 20% within the years after the International Monetary Disaster. After which from 2018 onwards, the expansion charges accelerated to round 40% CAGR ranges.

This additionally translated into stable web revenue progress for the financial institution:

In consequence, SVB’s inventory usually traded at a premium to different banks due to its greater progress charges and excellent returns. Within the final decade, its return on fairness (ROE) outpaced even banking friends like JPMorgan Chase and Financial institution of America.

After the subprime mortgage disaster that brought on the collapse of Lehman Brothers, traders have been paying nearer consideration to the loans portfolio of banks. In SVB’s case, administration reassured traders that their loans have been of low danger (though some had their doubts about whether or not a recession would ultimately result in the start-ups who loaned from SVB to default on their funds).

From a credit score perspective, SVB’s loans and bonds have been of credit score high quality; their information confirmed a low chance of default. However the purple flags have been beginning to indicate.
In This autumn 2022, SVB disclosed vital funding losses, which included a success of $27 million on the sale of $1 billion of US treasury bonds.

After which in March, the darling inventory crashed inside 24 hours.
How did Silicon Valley Financial institution collapse so rapidly?
The way it was attainable for such a big financial institution to break down in simply 48 hours, in much less time than what it took for crypto Terra Luna / USDT to go to zero final 12 months?
The first purpose for SVB’s fast collapse (in a minimum of 48 hours) was on account of a financial institution run.
The secondary purpose was on account of administration’s missteps (I counted no less than 3).
In ELI5 (clarify like I’m 5) converse, a financial institution run happens when shoppers need to withdraw more cash from a financial institution than it has out there.
Financial institution run = when clients withdrawing cash > cash out there within the financial institution.
How did the financial institution run out of cash?
Properly, while you and I (depositors) put cash in a financial institution, the financial institution typically pays us (a low) curiosity on it whereas taking our funds to reinvest in monetary merchandise with the next price of return – similar to by way of loans, equities, mounted revenue merchandise, and so on.
The distinction between what the financial institution pays us vs. what they earn = their earnings. And as of December 2022, SVB’s web revenue margin was nonetheless juicy at 22.05%.
However beneath the hood, the truth was that SVB had acquired a lot deposits throughout the previous few years (due to the run-up in VC funding by way of the pandemic) that it wasn’t in a position to mortgage them out quick sufficient.
So, as an alternative of constructing dangerous loans (similar to to debtors with poor credit score however with excessive urgency wants), SVB determined to put money into fixed-income investments – together with long-dated US authorities bonds – which have been a lot safer.
This was a administration misstep, though not but painfully apparent at the moment (given the alternatives).
Now, if rates of interest had remained low, this wouldn’t have been an issue. However then the Federal Reserve determined to lift rates of interest, and so they raised it quick.
Rates of interest went from successfully zero to virtually 5% in lower than a 12 months.
This brought on 2 issues for SVB:
- The upper rates of interest additionally brought on SVB’s mounted revenue investments to drop quickly in worth.
The second administration misstep right here was that SVB did not execute rate of interest swaps.
Bonds have an inverse relationship with rates of interest: when charges rise, bond costs fall. Therefore, SVB began seeing enormous losses on its bond portfolio. One technique to take care of that will be to hedge by way of rate of interest swaps, however in its FY2022 monetary report, SVB reported nearly no rate of interest hedges on its huge bond portfolio.
Whereas dangerous, this nonetheless wouldn’t have been an issue in the event that they have been in a position to merely maintain till the bonds mature, as it could get again its capital then. Nevertheless, with low cost funding drying up, SVB’s clients have been additionally beginning to run into issues themselves, and wanted to withdraw its deposits to maintain their enterprise alive. In consequence, SVB’s deposit base began shrinking considerably, with non-interest-bearing deposits falling by 25% from December 2021 to September 2022.
Within the final quarter, SVB’s non-interest-bearing deposits declined by 36%.
As SVB began working out of liquid funds to fulfill these withdrawal requests, the financial institution had no alternative however to begin promoting its bond investments. However who on earth would need to purchase bonds with a low 1+% coupon price once they can get the next price T-bill at the moment? And therefore, SVB needed to promote the bonds at a steep low cost with the intention to liquidate its locked-up funds.
Then, on 8th March, SVB introduced that it had offered a complete of $21 billion of its investments at a loss with the intention to meet withdrawal demand, and that it was going to situation fairness to lift further capital.

This was the third administration misstep: its communication failure.
In an alternate actuality the place the financial institution had managed its communications higher (and never in such a factual, easy method that clearly brought on depositors to panic), we are able to solely think about one the place the financial institution run might not have occurred.
However SVB’s announcement spooked depositors, who began withdrawing their capital on account of worries over the financial institution’s illiquidity. A giant a part of the panic was additionally as a result of many depositors had greater than $250,000 in SVB accounts, which aren’t insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance coverage Company (FDIC).
Inside 24 hours, almost 25% of all of SVB’s deposits had been withdrawn (9th March).
On 10th March, the financial institution was seized by U.S. regulators and the FDIC ordered its quick closure.
The entire collapse unravelled in slightly below 48 hours, making it the most important financial institution failure within the US for the reason that world monetary disaster.
Did the US authorities bail out SVB? No.
It was a painful weekend of ready with bated breath, however on 13th March, regulators stepped as much as assure all of the remaining deposits at SVB (together with uninsured funds) and unveiled a brand new Financial institution Time period Funding Program (BTFP).
The BTFP is designed for banks to have the ability to borrow funds backed by authorities securities to fulfill withdrawal calls for from deposit clients. This prevents banks (within the aftermath of SVB) from being compelled to promote authorities bonds or different belongings which were shedding worth on account of rising rates of interest.
With this transfer, it’s clear that the regulators know that the general public is spooked and try to stop comparable financial institution runs at different establishments.
However solely the depositors are protected; shareholders of SVB and unsecured collectors aren’t.
This was not a bailout. The federal government will not be saving SVB – it should keep collapsed and wound up with its remaining belongings dispersed to clients and collectors.
Now that all of us perceive the backstory of SVB and the way it was attainable for such a big financial institution to break down so rapidly, what’s extra essential is what we are able to possbily be taught from this. Therefore, the larger query right here is:
Might retail traders have noticed the purple flags?
Firstly, let’s be frank and acknowledge that not everyone seems to be able to understanding the (usually convoluted) banks’ monetary statements and notes.
However even if you happen to might, crucially, there was no strategy to know whether or not SVB had sufficient to stop a financial institution run, even when traders have been involved that the start-ups SVB served may begin withdrawing their funds.
That’s as a result of in 2018, President Trump signed off new regulatory adjustments that eased the necessities put in place within the aftermath of the GFC below the Dodd-Frank and the Shopper Safety Act. This successfully lowered danger administration necessities for banks below $250 billion in belongings.
In consequence, SVB was not required to reveal how a lot it had in high-quality liquid belongings to assist it cowl web money outflows (if depositors began withdrawing en masse), so it wasn’t one thing that retail traders might choose up on.
SVB was additionally not required to reprice their Treasury belongings primarily based on present market costs except they offered them, so the impression of its declining bond portfolio worth was not recognized. One might solely guess, however keep in mind, this wouldn’t have been an issue IF the financial institution hadn’t wanted to promote bonds off to fulfill withdrawal calls for.
What’s extra, 2 weeks earlier than SVB’s collapse, its CEO Greg Becker offered ~12,500 of his firm’s shares.
I suppose if an investor who had been vested and had been monitoring the corporate carefully, then recognizing the mixture of purple flags might have helped you to dump earlier than its collapse:
- SVB began reporting a narrowing deposit base since Dec 2021
- SVB’s clients are primarily tech corporations and start-ups, who’ve been shedding employees and began defaulting over the previous 12 months
- The Type 4 submitting displaying SVB’s CEO promoting his shares to web $2.2 million
However even with that, it wasn’t really easy. In any case, the inventory was being touted as “low cost” by many subscription providers, and till Wednesday, Moody’s and S&P International had Silicon Valley Financial institution as an funding grade issuer – which means SVB had a low chance of default and loss severity.

Solely Thursday (after the announcement) did Moody’s and S&P International modified their outlook on the financial institution from steady to damaging.
TLDR (Hindsight Evaluation):
1. Traders had no strategy to know whether or not SVB had sufficient liquid belongings to stop a financial institution run, on account of prevailing regulatory reporting requirements.
2. SVB’s declining bond portfolio losses have been additionally unknown, for the reason that financial institution wasn’t required to report it till offered.
3. There have been hardly any obvious purple flags in SVB’s loans portfolio, given the low ratio of non-performing loans.
4. The $2.2 million inventory sale by SVB’s CEO 2 weeks earlier than its collapse might have been a warning signal, however not a conclusive sign.
5. You would need to go in opposition to the prevailing sentiment that SVB was an undervalued, high-quality monetary establishment whose share value acquired battered solely due to the unlucky macro-economic local weather for tech corporations.
6. Even Moody’s and S&P International rated SVB as funding grade i.e. one with a low chance of default and loss severity.
So might this have been foreseen? Not precisely.
The best way I see it, SVB’s collapse in the end comes right down to a mixture of two essential administration errors:
- Investing within the mistaken belongings, after which failing to hedge that as rates of interest rose
- Poor dealing with of SVB’s communications (on 8th March), which spooked its depositors and triggered a financial institution run
Even if you happen to have been a savvy investor who might spot #1, nobody might have predicted #2 with accuracy. The truth is, nobody did.
It’s all the time straightforward to say (with hindsight accuracy) that there have been obvious purple flags that traders missed. However after reviewing all the info and evaluation, I discover that this wasn’t essentially the case with SVB.
As you may see, it could have been tough to foretell SVB’s collapse with certainty. As a result of if #2 had been dealt with higher (and also you guys can debate over what that entails, similar to elevating funds from different banks or establishments as an alternative of promoting their bonds, and even tweaking the best way they made their announcement to make the illiquid state of affairs much less painfully apparent), a financial institution run might or might not have occurred.
And in that alternate actuality, who is aware of? SVB may need risen from the flames to reclaim its standing as a darling inventory in any case.
Writer’s Notice: I don’t personal shares in SVB and was by no means invested. Nevertheless, this incident undoubtedly raises new studying factors for us traders to be aware of. Whereas watching the disaster unfold, the most important query behind my thoughts was whether or not retail traders might have foreseen this, and thus prevented their losses.