Norman LevineBankUnited, IncBKUTOP PICKJan 12, 2015

Regional banks and anything that's interest-sensitive is doing extremely well today. Trading around book value, good loan growth, still gas in the tank. Exposure to commercial real estate not excessive.

(Top Pick Sept. 9/16, Up 6.84%) It went bankrupt during the crisis and was rescued and recapitalized. It is headquartered in Florida and takes retail business, but is mainly a commercial bank. It is dependent on loan growth more than interest rate growth. Loan growth has been a little sluggish, but he feels it will go up. He is putting new clients into it.

(Top Pick July 25/16, Up 13.19%) It came out of bankruptcy in 2007. It is more sensitive to loan growth than interest rates.

Within the US banks, he prefers the regionals. This one is a commercial bank, not a retail bank. It loans money to companies and real estate developers, etc. in Florida and the New York metropolitan market. Exceedingly well capitalized. Very well-run. He likes that it is very picky on its loans. They have cut back on some of their commercial lending because it has gotten too competitive and the margins have been squeezed. This will definitely be a beneficiary of higher interest rates. Dividend yield of 2.66%.

Bought some years ago and turned into the largest commercial bank headquartered in Florida. The dividend growth is not high enough for him. Loan growth in the back of the year is expected to slow. Almost 3% dividend and only some dividend growth. He would own it otherwise.

A regional bank that has a lot of exposure to small business loans, but trading at rather high valuations, and we are not really seeing the growth. There are more attractive regional banks that are seeing better growth, such as Zions Bank (ZION-Q). BankUnited would be a Hold, or just stay away.

Regional, commercial bank. It doesn’t loan much to consumers. Florida and New York Metro area. One of the best management teams in the banking industry. Their capital structure is very conservative and they are well capitalized. They guided down on future growth. They are going to hold off on growth until times get better and he likes that.

(A Top Pick Jan 12/15. Up 25.23%.) A commercial bank, and the big deposit taker in Florida and the New York metropolitan area. It loans to companies and real estate developers, the 2 hottest areas in the US.

(Top Pick Sep 5/14, Up 15.51%) It is a commercial bank that is benefiting from the fact that Florida is outperforming the rest of the country. An extremely well capitalized bank that is still the one to own.

(A Top Pick Jan 30/14. Down 3.69%.) This is a freshly recapitalized bank. Relative to the Canadian landscape, it would be “best of breed” tier 1 ratio capital. Very, very strong. Fundamentally all the banks and insurance companies are going to work on an interest rate rise, and until we see that, the profitability engines are just not kicking out the profit that would be expected. You could buy it here and it might move sideways for a little while, but once the interest rates start to move this will benefit. He likes it looking forward.

Florida based commercial bank. It is over capitalized right now. Second biggest deposit taker in the state of Florida. Great real estate market. What US banks need is for interest rates to go up.

Hottest markets in the US for real estate and mortgages are Florida, the Carolinas and New York City. This bank is in Florida, and in the last year, has gone into the New York market. Well-placed. However, these banks need higher interest rates. They had a good run when people thought rates were going higher. Rates didn’t go up, but will eventually. US banks will do well in that environment.