Strategic Risk Associates (SRA) Joins the American Fintech Council to Drive Responsible Innovation

SRA transforms experience into expertise at scale, enabling fintech companies to utilize its holistic risk intelligence platform to manage enterprise risk.
Announced November 14, 2023

Strategic Risk Associates (SRA) Raises $12M in Series B Funding Led by EJF Capital, JAM FINTOP and FINTOP Capital

Injection of capital to accelerate growth and enhance SRA Watchtower’s integrated risk platform for financial institutions

The Holistic Risk Intelligence Platform

Watchtower offers a panoramic view of risk, revealing insights that drive strategic decisions
Born from deep financial industry experience and a drive to innovate, SRA's “by bankers, for bankers” philosophy reframes risk as a catalyst for progress.

5

stages of risk maturity

15

YEARS OF
SERVICE

50+

Team
Members

400+

BANK + FI
Clients

2,000+

RISK + Performance
INDICATORS

$500B+

RISK
Managed AUM

Selected Clients

The holistic risk intelligenge platform and RISK consulting Services

ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT
Executive and Board Level Insight to Manage Risk
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RISK Consulting
End-To-End Risk Consulting Services
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Fintech Risk Management
Actively Monitor and Assess FinTech Risk
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Enteprise Risk For insurance
Remove Silos and Improve KPIs Organization-wide
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Latest Episodes From THE RISK INTEL PODCAST

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Watchtower IS ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL
RISK + PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Stop managing your risk with manual processes, spreadsheets and presentations. SRA Watchtower is always connected and always on.

HINDSIGHT

Watchtower ERM is a general ledger for every critical risk activity. It is the single source of truth for all risk and performance factors, providing you with a peerless record of where you've been.

  • Qrtly + Monthly Risk Trend Analysis
  • Risk Governance  Documentation
  • Regulatory Tracking + Reporting
  • Historical Board Reporting
  • Risk Assessment Tracking
  • 1st - 3rd
    Line Collaboration

INSIGHT

SRA Watchtower and its veteran banking practitioners provide a continuous stream of data and insights so you can see and solve risks before they become unsolvable.

  • Strategic Imperative Alignment
  • Peer  Benchmarking
  • Risk Data Governance (Lineage + Integrity)
  • Risk Appetite Alignment + Management
  • KRI / KPI “Guardrails + Speedbumps”
  • Real Time Issue Tracking + Notifications

FORESIGHT

With SRA Watchtower, bankers, credit union leaders and insurance executives now have the most current, relevant and accurate information so they can make swift and informed policy decisions to help secure the future prosperity of their organizations.

  • External Economic Data + Forecasting
  • Forward Looking Credit Stress Testing
  • Future Looking Capital Planning Data
  • Mergers + Acquisitions Risk Analytics
  • Projected Risk Trends + Profiles

first hand accounts from sra clients

Risk executives are on the line everyday to keep banks and financial institutions safe, sound and ready for growth. They count on SRA Watchtower to see problems before they become too big to solve.

Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Management

Primis Bank
McLean, Virginia
Primis Bank Enterprise Risk Management group uses two software solutions to help us capture risk that may be building in the bank.  Our goal is to capture risks as early as possible in order to give us time to build controls around the risk in order to contain exposure.  SRA’s Watchtower solution and capital planning model worked in identifying and monitoring a risk that was building.  As we saw the weakness growing quarter over quarter in SRA Watchtower we knew that we had an area of the bank that needed attention.  That’s the value of SRA’s solutions:  Being able to self-identify a problem through SRA Watchtower and validating that we have the capital to support the potential effects of the problem as we institute a remediation program.  Our other ERM software solution never gave us any indication of the impending challenge.  The reason that SRA’s Watchtower captured the risk early is due to the risk indicator questions that SRA’s consultants helped us design in order to identify risk specifically inherent in each regulatory defined risk category.  Our other software solution is not format-able; it can’t accommodate individual bank-specific idiosyncrasies nor accommodate questions that focus attention on the particularities of a risk category (credit risk indicators are very different from compliance risk indicators).  Our other ERM software was completely ineffective in “seeing” risk building.  

Robby Harmon, CERP

EVP, Chief Risk & Administration Officer
TriStar Bank
Dickson, Tennessee
We completed due diligence on several companies.  The main thing I kept coming back to was the work experience of the staff with SRA.  With former regulators and bankers it made sense to me to do business with people who understand the business. As a small bank we are just now beginning the ERM process.  This process along with other things we are working on helps set us for the $500mm threshold as well as show our auditors and examiners we are monitoring our risk.  My experience in working with Beth Watson and Cathy Jackson has been incredible.  Both are professional, knowledgeable and willing to teach. 

timothy w. grooms

Chief Risk Officer
First State Bank
Winchester, Ohio
First State Bank utilizes SRA Watchtower to monitor our implementation of the strategic plan and to ensure we are remaining within our risk appetite. SRA Watchtower has assisted FSB in assessments of our risk profile, allowing the Bank to operate in a safe and sound manner while taking advantage of opportunities for growth. The ability to provide uniform reporting across multiple areas of risk has provided easy to understand reports that assist in identifying trends; resulting in improvements to strategic planning and the development of future risk appetites.

Patricia n. Hogan

EVP, Senior Risk Officer, BSA & CRA Officer
Union Bank
Vermont & New Hampshire
Union Bank is using Watchtower to identify and document risks throughout the organization.  Watchtower allows us to easily identify our top risks so that we can focus our energies on our most important priorities. We are still in the process of implementing Watchtower, but can see that we will be able to track open items and initiatives more efficiently, and allow for comprehensive reporting.

banking, technology, Insurance + former audit and regulators

SRA technology and methodology was designed and built by former leaders from all aspects of consumer and commercial banking, financial services and credit unions.

our team
The holistic risk intelligence platform

SRA watchtower

Built to continuously inform, enlighten and empower banking executives and boards.

The only technology platform that aggregates, integrates and normalizes all critical risk and performance indicators on a continuous basis. SRA Watchtower was custom designed by banking practitioners exclusively for the modern banking enterprise.

SEE OUR PLATFORM
ADVISORY + professional services

sra CONSULTING

Insights, expertise and best practices from experienced local, regional and national bankers and bank examiners.

SRA Consulting provides financial institutions with end-to-end services to improve management of internal complexities, regulatory requirements and capital decisions to enable safe and long-term profitability.

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michael glotz
Founder * CEO
michael glotz
Founder and Managing Partner
michael glotz
Chief Risk Officer
michael glotz
Chief Technology Officer

SRA CLIENTS

andy lock

The Watchtower implementation took 60 days, with excellent support from SRA. The software is very robust and easily configurable. We have extensively used the warehouse of KRIs to identify and track our risks while adding to the library is easy as well. Our Board appreciates the clarity provided by the dashboards, with the ability to drill down quickly to understand specific risks.
CHIEF RISK OFFICER, TOWNEBANK

leslie S. CUNDIFF

SRA’s lead credit analyst brings a consultative approach reflective of her banking and business experience. She completed insightful Key Risk Reviews on a large number of credits in a short period of time.
SENIOR credit officer / central virginia bank

Joseph J. Slovick, III

We are very pleased with our decision to hire SRA for multiple projects. Their deep CRM experience and strong regulatory background proved very beneficial for our bank.
Senior Vice President, Eastern Savings Bank

SRA LIVESTREAMS

banking, technology, academia +
the United States Treasury

SRA technology and methodology was designed and built by leaders from all aspects of consumer and commercial banking, financial services and credit unions.

our team
CapitalOne Bank
MBNA
Office of the Comptroller
FDIC
Bank of America
Citibank
American Express
Louisiana State University
SunTrust
Bloomberg

The Holistic Risk Intelligence Platform

Watchtower offers a panoramic view of risk, revealing insights that drive strategic decisions
Born from deep financial industry experience and a drive to innovate, SRA's “by bankers, for bankers” philosophy reframes risk as a catalyst for progress.

OUR VISION for RISK & PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

SRAis built to modernize the fulfillment of advanced risk management and strategic imperative performance for financial institutions. We are turning our vision into reality for our clients with state-of-the-art technology, deep experience, and clear and universal language so board of directors and specialized managers have the information they need to take positive action.

software

SRA’s software is patented and state-of-the-art, built by design for banks. SRA Watchtower seamlessly scales from young DiNovo banks to well-established multinational financial institutions. Our technology faithfully helps our clients fulfill their responsibility to their customers, colleagues, board members and shareholders.

people

The SRA leaders are hands-on practitioners from national banks, federal government regulators, state bank examiners and credit union executive teams. Our experience in banking, technology, data science, banking law, credit, risk, compliance, governance and finance make us an invaluable problem-solving team.

Study & Advice

How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we are understood

DESIGNING & PLANNING

How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we are understood

Management & Supply

How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we are understood

from our clients

testimonials

The ultimate goal of the architect...is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture... should be a fruit of our endeavor to build an earthly paradise for people.

John Travis - Artist

The ultimate goal of the architect...is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture... should be a fruit of our endeavor to build an earthly paradise for people.

John Travis - Artist

The ultimate goal of the architect...is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture... should be a fruit of our endeavor to build an earthly paradise for people.

John Travis - Architect

The ultimate goal of the architect...is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture... should be a fruit of our endeavor to build an earthly paradise for people.

John Travis - MAnager

focused on financIAL INSTITUTIONS

SRA provides technology and advisory solutions exclusively to financial institutions in six critical domains

Governance

Board Reporting
Board Training
Governance Framework
Executive Reporting

strategy

Profitability
Growth
Planning
M & A

credit

Management
Review & Stress Testing
Process Design
Policy Development
Loan Review

Finance

Market, Liquidity & IRR Risk
Capital Management
Capital Planning
Stress Testing

risk

Compliance
Operations
Cyber Security
Legal & Regulatory

people

Fractional C-Level
Executive Coaching
Risk Training
Recruitment