Mortgage Blog

Optimism among Alabama’s business owners continues to grow.

That’s according to PNC’s semi-annual economic outlook survey.

According to the survey, which takes a look at hiring, pricing, sales and other economic trends for the state’s small and mid-size business owners, optimism is high across all categories

The survey says 49 percent of respondents describe their outlook for the national economy as optimistic in spring 2018 – a significant increase compared to 32 percent in the fall…

First Tennessee Bank and Capital Bank have made a multibillion-dollar commitment to low-to-moderate-income communities across its footprint.

The two banks — which fall under the umbrella of Memphis-based First Horizon National Corp. — announced Tuesday, April 10, plans for a five-year, $3.95 billion community benefit plan. That commitment will be made possible via lending, grants and investments and is 10 percent of First Tennessee’s post Capital Bank merger assets.

“Our company is dedicated…

Never before has politics played such an important role in site selection and the attraction of jobs and investment across the country, John Boyd says. Those members of Congress are vital to automakers in terms of trade, tax and infrastructure policy, he adds.

Venture capitalists continue to write big checks to fewer startups.

According to a new data report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), 1,683 venture-backed companies raised $28.2 billion in funding during the first quarter (1Q) of 2018. This is the highest amount of capital deployed in a single quarter since at least 2006.

It is also the fourth consecutive quarter where more than $20 billion has been deployed. The downside is that more than one-quarter of the total…

After the deals, TBK Bank’s parent will have one of the largest footholds in Colorado, which is attracting plenty of interest from North Texas banks looking to buy firms there in hopes of capitalizing on the growing economy.

Washington Federal is opening a new banking center in Phoenix to target franchises.

The franchise finance division, to be headed by Marisa Felker, will work out of the the bank's Arizona headquarters in Scottsdale. It's target is the roughly $256 billion franchise industry, said Mike Brown, the bank's Arizona regional president, in a statement.

The Seattle-based bank (Nasdaq: WAFD) has had some level of involvement with financing franchises for years, but the growth in franchising in Phoenix is…

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc. announced that one of its largest subsidiaries wrote its first homeowner's policy in New Hampshire as the company continues to expand outside of Florida.

The Fort Lauderdale-based company (NYSE: UVE) is South Florida's largest property insurer by direct premiums. Its expansion into New Hampshire is part of its broader strategy to diversify its revenue and risk away from hurricane-prone Florida. Its property insurance subsidiary, Universal Property & Casualty Insurance…

Ohio businesses are feeling very confident about the economy and themselves, according to the latest survey from PNC Bank.

In its spring economic outlook survey, the bank found record optimism from business owners, 96 percent of whom said they were either very optimistic or moderately optimistic about the prospects of their own businesses this year. About 52 percent of those surveyed expressed strong optimism about themselves.

Optimism about both the local and national economy was good as well,…

About one-third of Florida’s small and mid-size business owners plan to increase employee compensation in the next six months, according the spring 2018 PNC Economic Outlook.

The survey also found that most Florida business owners are optimistic about the economy and expect sales to increase between now and the fall.

The Florida survey results closely mirror those of a national survey by PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC), based in Pittsburgh and among the largest retail banks in the Tampa…

Looking for a financial planner? We invite you to start with our annual Top 25 lists, which are split into fee and commission firms, fee-only firms and banks that offer financial planning services.

What defines a fee and commission (also referred to as “fee-based”) financial planner?

It’s all in the way the planner is compensated. Fee-based/fee and commission planners receive a combination of fees (which may be an hourly charge, a retainer or a percentage of assets managed) and commissions…