Greetings, and welcome to the Comerica Bank third quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Kelly Gage, Director of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin. Thanks, Melissa. Good morning, and welcome to Comerica's third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Participating on this call will be our President, Chairman, and CEO, Curt Farmer; Chief Financial Officer, Jim Herzog; Chief Credit Officer, Melinda Chausse; and Chief Banking Officer, Peter Sefzik. During this presentation, we will be referring to slides which provide additional details. The presentation slides and our press release are available on the SEC's website, as well as in the investor relations section of our website, comerica.com. The presentation in this conference call contain forward-looking statements. In that regard, you should be mindful of the risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to vary materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this presentation, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Please refer to the safe harbor statement in today's earnings presentation on slide two. Also, the presentation in this conference call will reference non-GAAP measures. In that regard, I direct you to the reconciliation of these measures in the earnings materials that are available on our website, comerica.com. Now I'll turn the call over to Curt, who will begin on slide three. Thank you, Kelly, and good morning, everyone. Today, we reported third quarter earnings of $184 million, or $1.33 per share, exceeding expectations across most line items. Strong customer activity drove higher average deposits, which offset the impact of lower loans and helped net interest income outperform guidance for the quarter. The downward shift in the rate curve resulted in a meaningful improvement in AOCI, contributing to 23% growth in tangible book value. Credit quality remained solid, reflecting our proven underwriting discipline, as net charge-offs remained historically low. While customer sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, the initial decline in rates was well received, as select businesses showed early signs of an uptick in activity nearing quarter end. However, to see a more significant shift in behavior and reinvestment, we believe customers are looking for further rate reductions, confirmation of a soft landing, and getting past the impending election. Before we get into more detail on our strong quarter, I wanted to take a moment to touch on the historical milestone we celebrated on August 17th, Comerica's 175th anniversary. My leadership team and I spent a lot of time this past quarter visiting our markets, meeting with customers, colleagues, and community leaders. We have a great story and a value proposition that resonates with our target market. Our customers trust us with their business, and we take that responsibility seriously. As a bank, we have successfully navigated industry changes, global conflicts, and economic cycles over many years. We feel this impressive history underscores the strength of our unique model, and we believe our consistent execution, along with our strategic investments, position us to successfully support our customers now and into the future. Moving back to results, third quarter financial highlights are on slide four. High inflation and elevated rates continued to pressure loan demand, but we saw positive momentum in deposits as average balances grew in most of our businesses. Excluding the impact of BSBY cessation, net interest income increased 1.3% over the second quarter trough. Charge-offs of eight basis points remained below historical averages and even declined slightly from last quarter's already strong results. Lower non-customer income offset favorable trends in customer-related fees, and non-interest expenses were well managed. We continue to favor a conservative approach to capital, with our estimated CET1 increasing further to 11.97%, well above our 10% strategic target. Jim will discuss our capital management strategy later in this presentation. In all, it was a great quarter, with positive momentum moving into the end of the year. I will now turn the call over to Jim to review our third quarter financial results in more detail. Thanks, Curt, and good morning, everyone. Turning to loans on slide five, we saw some reversal of the growth signals from the second quarter, with loans coming down in August, but we're encouraged to see balances relatively flat in September. Most of the decline in average loans was in National Dealer Services and Corporate Banking. Dealers saw elevated balances in the second quarter related to the cyberattack that impacted the industry. As we look at dealer trends month to month, balances were most pressured early in the quarter, and September saw more positive activity. Corporate Banking, specifically US Banking, saw more relative pressure than other businesses as we focus on maintaining our pricing discipline and return targets. Additionally, soft loan demand across the industry caused some bank group consolidation. US Banking saw an improvement late in the quarter, and period-end loans were relatively flat to June 30th. Moving to businesses that grew, commercial real estate utilization increased, which is a continuation of the trend we have seen in this elevated rate environment. However, as rates come down, we expect to see an uptick in the pace of payoffs as projects sell or refinance into the permanent market as intended. Growth in environmental services was attributed to our renewables focus. In 2022, we formed a new renewables team, and we have seen strong results. Environmental services overall is a great business for us, and we feel our distinguished talent and unique expertise have allowed us to carve out a leading position in this niche industry. Touching briefly on loan yields, lower non-accrual interest was the main driver of the eight basis points decline, and we saw only a minor drag from lower short-term rates in the quarter. On slide six, we were encouraged by customer deposit activity. Average deposits increased 1.3%, with growth across most business lines. Average third quarter brokered time deposits were higher due to activity late in the second quarter. However, favorable customer deposit trends allowed us to repay almost $900 million in brokered CDs by the end of the third quarter. Despite that deliberate reduction in brokered CDs, we grew, we grew total period-end deposits by over $600 million. As we win new and expand existing relationships, we continue to see the elevated rate environment drive customers to bring those deposits into interest-bearing accounts. Despite continued modest cyclical pressure on non-interest-bearing balances, they performed in line with our expectations and remained favorable at 38% of total deposits. We took steps to adjust pricing as the Fed began to cut rates. We plan to continue monitoring the competitive environment as we manage ongoing deposit pricing alongside additional rate cuts in the future. With our strong relationship model, we feel well positioned to strike the right balance between our customers' objectives with our own funding needs and profitability. Our securities portfolio on slide seven benefited from the shift in the rate curve, as we saw a 24% improvement in our valuation adjustment in the quarter. This favorable mark-to-market impact more than offset repayments and maturities and drove a net $130 million increase in the portfolio. We continue to believe the expected repayment and maturities of this portfolio will enhance earnings in the coming quarters, even if we resume investment at some point in 2025. Turning to slide eight, net interest income increased $1 million- $534 million. Excluding the impact of the BSBY cessation, net interest income would have grown $7 million quarter- over- quarter. The shift in the rate curve allowed us to reallocate cash collateral from the CME to the Fed, benefiting net interest income. That, coupled with strong customer deposits, which allowed us to pay down wholesale funding and the benefit of maturing swaps and securities, offset pressures from BSBY cessation, lower loans, and non-interest-bearing deposit balances. As shown on slide nine, successful execution of our interest rate strategy and the composition of our balance sheet has made us slightly liability sensitive and allows us to better protect our profitability from a declining rate environment. By strategically managing our swap and securities portfolio while considering balance sheet dynamics, we intend to maintain our insulated position over time. We feel credit quality remains a competitive strength, as our overall trends in the third quarter remain solid and relatively unchanged from the second quarter, as shown in slide 10. Net charge-offs remain low at eight basis points, criticized loans were essentially flat, and non-performing assets remained well below historical averages. The overall economic outlook was also relatively unchanged, but lower average loans, especially in lower-risk portfolios, drove an increase in the allowance for credit losses to 1.43% of total loans. Even though our portfolio remains strong, we have potential for even further improvement if lower rates materialize and inflationary pressures abate. Regardless, we feel our proven conservative credit discipline continues to position us well to outperform peers through the cycle. On slide 11, third quarter non-interest income of $277 million decreased $14 million from the second quarter, primarily due to non-customer-related income. Changes in the value related to our Visa B derivative drove a $-11 million variance, as we recognized a $5 million loss in the third quarter compared to a $6 million gain in the second quarter. Risk management hedging income declined $10 million, as the lower rate curve reduced the amount of required collateral held at the CME. While this resulted in a decline in non-interest income, part of this benefited net interest income. We saw encouraging trends in several customer-related categories, with increased syndication fees, derivative income, commercial lending fees, and a small increase in commercial service charges. Fiduciary income was down, but excluding the $3 million seasonal tax-related benefit in the second quarter, it would have been up, consistent with improved market performance. We continue to be encouraged by the progress in targeted initiatives designed to further enhance non-interest income. Expenses on slide 12 increased $7 million over the prior quarter. Salaries and benefits were up $12 million, which included a $4 million increase in deferred compensation, which was mostly offset within non-interest income and various other smaller increases. FDIC expenses declined by $8 million, partially due to a $4 million favorable accrual adjustment in the third quarter, compared to a $3 million expense in the second quarter, both related to the special assessment. In all, we feel expenses were well controlled, and we continued to prioritize opportunities to drive positive operating leverage and improved efficiency. As shown on slide 13, our already strong capital position improved further in the third quarter. Solid profitability, lower loans, and conservative capital management drove our estimated CET1 to 11.97%. Adjusting for the AOCI opt-out, our estimated CET1 would have been 9.12%, which is well above required regulatory minimums and buffers. Movement in the forward curve, coupled with ongoing repayments and maturities in our securities portfolio, resulted in a 32% improvement in AOCI, increasing our tangible common equity ratio by over 150 basis points. Considering our compelling estimated CET1, well in excess of our strategic target and the favorable movement in the rate curve, we plan to utilize a portion of our excess capital to repurchase $100 million of our common stock shares, starting in the fourth quarter. Allocating capital to support our customers' loan needs always remains our first priority, so we intend to be measured in our approach and calibrate the size and frequency of future repurchases with expected loan trends. We will also continue to closely watch the forward curve, our profitability, the broader economic environment, and any regulatory updates, as they may also influence our strategy. Moving to slide 14, we do not yet have any meaningful update regarding the timing or specifics of the transition of the Direct Express program. As a reminder, our current contract allows Fiscal Service to utilize up to a three-year extension under our current terms. Fiscal Service would need to notify us of their intention to extend no later than early December, so we expect to hear more before the end of the year. However, our expectation of the timing of deposit transition has not changed. Based on the size, complexity, and critical nature of this program, our experience leads us to believe this transition may be longer rather than shorter. We do not anticipate an impact to 2024 deposit balances, non-interest income, or expenses. In fact, it is possible we may not see a significant impact to average deposit balances in 2025, although we need more information on the proposed transition plan to confirm. In the meantime, we plan to continue prioritizing targeted deposit strategies aligned with our core relationship operating model to further enhance our funding position and prepare for an eventual transition. Our outlook for 2024 is on slide 15. We project 2024 average loans to be 5% lower than 2023. Muted demand, which we feel has been consistent across the industry, and our deliberate optimization efforts in the latter half of 2023 are the main drivers for this decline. With some customer optimism following the third quarter rate cuts and normal seasonal patterns, we anticipate modest broad-based growth in the fourth quarter. One of the bigger variables will be our commercial real estate business, as we believe loan balances in this business may have peaked. Depending on the pace and size of further rate cuts, we could see a more rapid reduction in balances than projected in that business. Full-year average deposits are projected to be down 3%-4% from 2023. This slight reduction relative to last quarter's guidance is driven by the expectation of an approximate $1 billion decline in year-over-year brokered time deposits, not customer-related trends. Further reductions in brokered time deposits are also driving the projected 2% decline in average deposits in the fourth quarter, as fourth quarter customer deposits are projected to remain relatively flat. Although we are projecting some level of modest fourth quarter seasonality, third quarter averages were elevated by large temporary customer deposits, which were distributed by quarter end, as expected. Based on the high interest rate environment, we project deposit growth to continue to be concentrated in interest-bearing accounts, but we still expect to maintain a favorable deposit mix in the upper 30% range. We expect full year 2024 net interest income to decline 13%- 14% compared to 2023. This slight improvement relative to prior guidance is a result of our strong third quarter results. Fourth quarter net interest income is expected to grow 6% over the third quarter, or 1%- 2%, adjusting for the impact of BSBY cessation. We expect non-interest-bearing deposit pressures to be more than offset by benefits from swaps, securities, and the forward curve. However, we continue to watch non-interest-bearing balances and overall pricing dynamics as they could impact results. Credit quality remains strong as we've reduced another quarter of low net charge-offs. Interest rates remain elevated, and as customers continue to navigate high borrowing costs and inflationary pressures, we believe modest, manageable migration will continue. However, given our strong results to date, we forecast full year net charge-offs to remain well below our normal 20 basis point-40 basis point range. We expect non-interest income to be flat year-over-year, or down 2-3% when adjusting for BSBY and the impact of the Ameriprise transition. This reflects a modest reduction in prior guidance due to trends in risk management hedging income. Although the lower forward curve benefited AOCI and net interest income, it does pressure this line item. Fourth quarter non-interest income is projected to decline 1%-2% relative to the third quarter, also driven by lower risk management hedging income. Despite this and other non-customer related pressures, we continue to be encouraged by customer-related fee income trends. Full year non-interest expenses are expected to decline 2%-3% on a recorded basis and grow 4% after adjusting for special FDIC assessments, expense recalibration, modernization, and the impact from the Ameriprise transition. Fourth quarter expenses are projected to increase 3% over our strong third quarter results, or 4% on an adjusted basis, as detailed on the slide. Expense discipline remains a priority as we work towards our objective of positive operating leverage. Even with modest projected loan growth in the fourth quarter and the resumption of share repurchases, we expect our CET1 ratio to remain well above our 10% strategic target through year-end. In all, we expect a solid fourth quarter, which will set us up nicely for a strong start to 2025. Now I'll turn the call back to Curt. Thank you, Jim. This was an important quarter. As an industry, we saw the Fed take their first steps away from a higher for longer rate environment. For Comerica, the actions we took to deliberately minimize our natural asset sensitivity position allow us to better protect our net interest income from lower rates. Additionally, rate declines should be a net positive for credit quality and loans as customer profitability improves and they resume investing in their businesses. Coupling those tailwinds with our disciplined approach to credit and expenses, along with the resumption of share repurchases, creates what we believe to be positive momentum for generating compelling returns over time. We appreciate your time this morning, and now we'd be happy to take your questions. Thank you. At this time, we'll be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Our first question comes from the line of Manan Gosalia with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question. Morning, Manan. Hey, good morning. Good morning. So I wanted to dig in on deposits. You know, the average deposit rates went up a little bit this quarter. I think in the prepared remarks, you noted that there was some brokered time deposits that were higher earlier in the quarter that you paid down. So maybe if you can expand on, you know, what drove those overall average interest-bearing deposit rates higher? And, you know, if you have it, what spot deposit costs are, you know, as of September 30th or October 15th, whatever you have. Good morning, Manan, it's Jim. Thanks for the question. You know, we were really encouraged by the success we had in interest-bearing deposits in the third quarter. On average, you know, they were up $1.5 billion, and notably, on an ending basis, they were up $2.2 billion. Now, we know $300 million of that was brokered, but overall, just really great success in gathering interest-bearing deposits. So I will say in the higher for longer environment that we experienced through, you know, mid to late September, I mean, increasing pay rates has been somewhat of a common trend in the industry, including Comerica. You couple onto that the fact that we had such great success in bringing in these deposits, which, by the way, were very intentional. You know, we've been really successful in paying down wholesale funding in the last few quarters. That trend continues with brokered deposits being reduced both this quarter and next quarter. We're very happy to have those core interest-bearing deposits, even if we have to pay up just a little bit. I feel like the eight basis points increase we had on a quarter-to-quarter basis was really in line, not just with the industry, but well in line with our intentions and our goal of just raising strong core customer deposits. It's something we just felt really good about and think it's a great value proposition. Got it. And any indication on, you know, how deposit costs have been projected since the Fed rate cut? Yeah, we are really projecting very closely to what we've been planning all along. You know, I will say the spot rate at the end of the quarter was, you know, maybe slightly lower than the month before as we started to see success with our pricing strategy. You know, overall, rates trended up a little bit as the quarter went on. I'm always hesitant to give a very spot rate on a given day because it does move around a little bit. I will say that we are having success with our repricing. A lot of work went into this, a lot of strategy. I'm really proud of our product managers, for what they put together, not just in terms of what we're repricing, but just some of the product, designs they've done to make sure that we have mix shifts that are mutually beneficial to both us and our customers. But there will be a lot of moving parts and maybe, just looking forward to the fourth quarter, so I know that's really what you're interested in. You know, the success we had in repricing deposits, I think, really approached on a product basis, something approaching our cumulative beta, just north of 60%. So we're really happy about that. But of course, a number of other things are going on. You know, we are bringing in core deposits and being very successful in that, and that puts a little pressure on the overall beta as we look from third quarter to fourth quarter. You know, we do have a little bit of mix shift going on. We do continue to survey both our customer reaction as well as the competition, and what they're doing. And as I mentioned, just a little higher jumping off point, maybe at the end of the quarter than perhaps, on average, prior to that FOMC cut. So if you put all that together, and there's a lot going on there and a lot of variables, I do think when we get to the fourth quarter, you're going to see an overall beta relative to average FOMC rate changes, probably hovering somewhere between our standard beta of 47% and that cumulative beta that we had just north of 60%. So that's something we're really pleased about, but I will say a lot of moving parts, a lot of mix shifts, again, by design on our part as well as our customers. So it's something we're just going to have to continue to monitor, but so far, a pretty successful outcome. Got it. And do you think, betas, you know, from there, as we look out into 2025, you know, what, what's your best guess on whether deposit betas accelerate from there, because we get through more rate cuts? Or do they roughly stay the same because I guess, you know, loan growth could be improving next year? Maybe help us with how you're thinking through that. Thanks. First of all, I would say the rate of cuts always depends on what kind of landing we have. I've been very consistent in saying that. You know, it does look like we're going to have a soft landing, which I think puts a little pressure on the pace of betas, because it's always easier to change rates when there's perhaps a little more fear in the economy, which typically does accompany a rate reduction. But the way I look at it is we're starting from a strong position. You know, there are probably some mid-tier rates that we're hesitant to move down at this point, so I think the betas will pick up a little pace as we start to move through, you know, mid-2025, late 2025. I think they will accelerate a little bit, and then they'll probably back off as some of those rates start to approach a floor, and you have to pull back a little bit. So it'll be a little bit of a U-shaped curve, I suspect, for the industry. But again, a lot of it's going to depend on just what happens in the overall economy and what type of landing, the economy has. That's very helpful. Thanks so much for the color. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Pancari with Evercore ISI. Please proceed with your question. Morning, John. Morning. Morning. On net interest income, it's good to see the upside guide, despite the lower deposit growth expectation and your lower loan growth expectation. And I know you mentioned a lot of that is partly given the third quarter performance and your fourth quarter expectation on NII. You know, the 6% or the 1%-2% up ex-BSBY is noted given that. Curious, if loan demand remains relatively modest and you still see some continued competitive pressures around deposit pricing, how do you see NII trajecting beyond the fourth quarter? I know, you know, looking out there, it looks like expectations could be in the mid- to high-single-digit growth for net interest income as we look into 2025. Do you think that is reasonable if you've got some a slower rebound in loan growth as we move into next year? Good morning, John, it's Jim. I'm happy to take that question. Overall, we're pretty bullish about net interest income in 2025. It does look like we hit an inflection point in the second quarter of this year, and that's even with a little bit of BSBY drag in the third quarter. So really pleased with how that's trending. I would say, and as I've been saying, I think the overall trend, quarter to quarter to quarter, beyond where we're at now, is going to be up. There could always be some anomalous quarter, you know, whether it has to do with the timing of, you know, FOMC reductions or, you know, day count or whatever. You could always have a quarter where maybe it starts to plateau a little bit. But I think the general trend is going to be just continuously increasing net interest income as we move beyond 2024. So that's something we're really looking forward to. You know, we do expect loan growth on a somewhat continuous basis in 2025, so that will be helpful also. You know, I will say we're not ready to give guidance for 2025, so I'm hesitant to quote any specific loan growth numbers or net interest income numbers. But I would say overall, it's a pretty nice picture in terms of just ever-increasing net interest income as we move through the next, not just few quarters, but few years. Great. Thanks, Jim. Very, very helpful. And then separately, on if I could skip over to capital, your CET1 at just shy of 12% versus your 10% target is certainly noted. And I know you expect a resumption of buybacks of about $100 million in the fourth quarter. Maybe could you give us at least a trajectory on how you feel about the possible acceleration of buybacks as you go through 2025, just given that type of margin where you're running right now above your target? I don't think we're prepared yet to talk about 2025. We do acknowledge that we're carrying very strong levels of capital. Now, we do want to stay materially above our 10% target CET1, and frankly, I think we want to stay above probably an 11%, well above an 11% CET1 target, because we want to make sure we're ready for Basel III Endgame as it approaches, even though those rules are not quite final yet. But that still does give us a little bit of flexibility. So we expect, you know, earnings to continue to be very strong going forward. But we do have to, you know, as always, continue to make sure we prioritize capital for loan growth and our customers. You know, we have to keep an eye on rates in the overall economic environment. We know longer-term rates and the curve shift up a little bit since the end of the quarter, and again, we are sensitive to what's going on with AOCI and making sure that we don't get a surprise there. You know, continue to monitor this profitability and the regulatory environment, so it's just something we're going to have to monitor on a quarter-by-quarter basis as we move through 2025, but we do feel really comfortable with our capital position and really proud of the fact that we're starting the share repurchase this quarter. Great. All right, thanks, Jim. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jon Arfstrom with RBC Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question. M orning, Jon. Hey, good morning. Jim, maybe a bigger picture for you. Can you just talk a little bit about your philosophy on hedging right now and your approach to rate management? It feels like there's a better outcome on NI and the margin if rates fall further. But just talk a little bit about what you're trying to accomplish and how we should think about NII trajectory and margin trajectory if the Fed continues cutting. Good morning, Jon. Yeah, as you see, on our sensitivity slide in the deck, you know, we are just, you know, very slightly liability sensitive, actually a little less liability sensitive than last quarter, but still slightly liability sensitive. You know, I've been saying that I really think of us as largely interest neutral. You know, there's always a somewhat of a fixed component of that sensitivity equation that ties back to balances and the assumption that, you know, non-interest bearing balances will grow if rates continue to go down. And we may not get the full effect of that until we see a few more rate cuts, and we hit some type of inflection point in terms of how customers manage their money. And so I don't necessarily expect to get the full benefit of that balance until we get a few more cuts down the road. So as a result, from a pure rate standpoint, I really think of us as being closer to interest neutral, and eventually we'll get the balance benefit of that liability sensitivity also. And so I don't see the rate picture really changing things materially for us on a quarter-to-quarter basis because we are so close to neutral. And I think the real wild card, really, for us, is going to be deposit pay rates, how competition and the customers react. I think that's probably got a wider range of outcome than what you might argue in terms of, you know, asset and liability sensitivity assumptions. So, you know, much closer to interest neutral. The good news is I feel like we are insulated from any drop in rates and should be protected from that. Okay, and it feels like you're starting to get the early signs of maybe a little bit of customer acceptance to lower deposit rates. Is that a fair assessment? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. We felt, and Peter may want to comment, too, but I've been really pleased with how it's received, and our relationship managers are doing a great job, shepherding these through and explaining to the customers, and I'll give credit to our customers. They understand it, and when they ask for rate increases, as rates were going up, and I think they understand that when rates go down, you know, we have to be a little bit symmetrical there, and so overall, I feel like it's going really well. Jon, it's Peter. I would echo that. We feel like it's going real well, and we're being very selective across each of our businesses. I mean, some of them, we can achieve more success than others, but I think our continuous messages about our relationship strategy and being able to have these conversations before customers make moves is proven to be very successful. So I would echo what Jim's comments are there. Okay. And then just one kind of a follow-up on John's question on loan growth. But you talked you guys flagged a couple of times CRE payoffs and maybe an uptick in CRE payoffs, but on the flip side, maybe some better potential lending growth if rates do fall. How do you kind of square that? How material do you think the CRE payoffs might be? And this kind of gets to the 2025 loan growth question, but is that just a real impediment to 2025 growth? Yeah, Jon, it's Peter. It is certainly something we're watching. I think it's yet to be determined of how much of a headwind it is or isn't. I would say we feel like CRE loans have peaked in the third quarter here, and so it probably is sort of a downward slope as we get into next year. Now, that said, I think we feel like the rest of the portfolio will perform in the opposite direction and hopefully be able to offset that headwind, and we'll talk more about 2025 outlook when we talk about our next call. But, at least as we sit today, I think CRE is probably a downward slope from here on, and our expectation is with rates coming down further, sort of where we feel like the rest of the portfolio maybe has bottomed a little bit, that'll hopefully offset the headwind on CRE. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Thanks, Jon. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Bernard Von Gizycki with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question. Good morning, Bernard. Hey, guys. Good morning. So just a quick question, a modeling question on the risk management hedge income, given the geography change. So is there a rule of thumb on how much risk management income would decline and NII increase on a 25 basis points rate cut? Good morning, Bernard. You know, I don't necessarily have a rule of thumb for you, but you can probably look at how you know, 3 year-5 year treasuries move this quarter and draw a little bit of a conclusion relative to the previous quarter. We said it's tied to our swaps, and our swaps do have a much shorter duration than our bond portfolio. But we did see a shift of income, as we mentioned in the script, from non-interest income to net interest income. You see that on the non-interest income slide. Risk management and hedging income was down $10 million. You know, net interest income probably benefited from $8 million of that in the third quarter, and net interest income will continue to benefit from that in the fourth quarter. We do have some, you know, positive inflows in the net interest income, and I think on the strength of those, you know, we did improve our outlook, reflected in part the great third quarter success. I do think as I look to that down 13%-14% guide, I do think we have a really good shot at being closer to the 13% than the 14%. We continue to look at, you know, really strong net interest income, and I think that explains some of the weakness in the non-customer portion on the non-interest income side. Got it, and then just separately, you know, I appreciate that the forward curve has changed. It feels like it's ebbed and flowed, just, you know, even day by day, but on slide seven of the deck, you know, you estimate the securities AOCI unrealized losses will decline by, I think it's about 16% by 1Q 2026. The footnote, I believe, it's the forward curve at 9/30, and, you know, given changes in the forward curve since then, there's, like, two less rate cuts priced in. Just wondering, any idea of the impact from just this, you know, higher forward curve versus the 9/30. that I believe is assumed in that assessment? You know, it's been moving around quite a bit since 9/30, you know, trending up somewhat. So I don't really have a number for you as to where it sits today. You know, we do have some sensitivities on the capital slide that point to overall AOCI and a, you know, large portion of that, the vast majority of that relates to bonds. So that's a little bit of a harbinger that you can look at there. But overall, you know, we'll just have to wait and see, you know, where rates end up in this fourth quarter. Okay, great. Thanks for taking my question. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you'd like to join the question queue, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from the line of Ben Gerlinger with Citi. Please proceed with your question. Good morning, Ben. Just kind of high level, a little more philosophical than anything. So you guys stuck your neck out a little bit this year in terms of loan growth expectations. And please, by no means feel like I'm picking on you because everyone seemed to, and then everyone seemed to walk it back a bit. Just because you have a little bit more of a national and commercial footprint than most of my coverage, I'd say on average. When you think about kind of the impediments, why loan demand really wasn't there, and is there anything that stood out? Is it other than just lack of rate cuts? And then kind of as we go into next year, I mean, does political uncertainty actually fix anything, or is there kind of an inflection point on rates where you might see demand? Just kind of thoughts on what you're hearing from boots on the ground level. Yeah, Ben, it's Peter. It's a, it's a really good question. You know, I, I don't know that my story is any more compelling than maybe some of the other things that you're hearing. But I think I would probably say that we all felt like some interest rate relief would really drive loan demand, and I think that's kind of proven to be not necessarily the case. So the feedback we're getting from our portfolio was that 50 basis points was nice, but not inspiring necessarily, and that really, I think what most of the economy's gonna need to see is another 50 basis points-100 basis points to really see some stimulation there. So, you know, we certainly were feeling earlier in the year that the second half of 2024, we would start to see loan demand pick up, and that really hasn't occurred. So, you know, what does that mean for going into the future? I think that probably it does become a little more of even a second half of 2025 conversation about what does loan demand look like in the economy. And certainly getting to the other side of the election, I think will be helpful because I do believe that business owners wait to make decisions until they understand what the tax outlook might look like for them. I think to Jim's point, continuing to see the economy kinda level out here. But you know, I don't know that there's anything more compelling other than to tell you that what we are hearing is that interest rates are gonna need to come down probably another 50 basi points- 100 basis points to really start to inspire business owners to make more decisions here on investing capital. Gotcha. No, that's helpful. I mean, some clarity on the political front, whether team red or team blue, would definitely help, but I get what you're saying. It's kind of more of just lack of animal spirits across the board, but- Yeah. If you do, if you did kind of have to rank order any certain areas that kind of might be chomping at the bit, like economically speaking, that seem to probably want to take loans a little bit faster, or anything that comes to mind that might be kind of first out of the gate to increase loan demand? You know, Ben, when you look at our portfolio, I would say our national and specialty businesses have probably started to see a little bit more pickup across the board. Our pipeline feel like it actually has grown a little bit more in those businesses in the last quarter. I think it's really more general Middle Market C&I, where you're just gonna have to have that reduction in interest rates to get the stimulant of borrowing. And to your comment about animal spirits, I think your average Middle Market business in the country right now is just waiting for that interest rate relief. They're not in a situation where they have to do anything. If anything, they're building a little bit of cash, they're making good money. You know, why take any chances when they believe that the outlook on interest rates is really gonna be in their favor next year? On the other hand, our national specialty businesses, I think, you know, they're gonna kind of run their businesses. I don't wanna say despite interest rates, but we are seeing some pickup there. That's where I think you put all that together between sort of muted Middle Market growth, CRE coming down and some of our other specialty businesses picking up. That's kind of where you're hearing us talk about sort of modest to flat loan growth going into the fourth quarter and possibly next year. Got it. Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. Thanks, Ben. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Chris McGratty with KBW. Please proceed with your question. Morning, Chris. Hi, good morning. Jim, just wanted to get a better just understanding of the guide for Q4 for NII. The +6% or the +1%-2%, the gap was $534 in the third quarter. Is the math 6% off of that? I'm just trying to make sure I got the right NII for the fourth quarter. It is, yeah. It's the printed number, 6% above that. BSBY, you know, obviously, is about a $25 million swing, if you look at the BSBY schedule that we have in the, you know, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. And again, that schedule's in the deck. But yeah, it is 6% on the printed number. Okay. So that would to get to that closer to 13% down, you'd be, you know, north of $ 560 kind of ballpark for Q4? Yeah. Yeah, pretty, you know- Thank you. Probably closer to five. Yeah, mid-five sixties to five seventy. Okay, awesome. And then second, on ECRs, as a commercial bank, you know, it's kind of a hidden deposit beta. Can you maybe opine about what lever that might be in the expense line over the next few quarters? You know, I think there is a little bit of opportunity with ECRs as rates continue to come down. Our ECRs actually had a much lower beta than our deposits did, so I do expect service charges to benefit over time as rates continue to come down. And I think it'll be noticeable, but I don't think it'll be huge. It'll be really just a fraction of what you're gonna get on the pure deposit pay rate side. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Samuel Varga with UBS. Please proceed with your question. Good morning, Sam. Hey, good morning. I just wanted to ask if you can put maybe a finer point on the margin in the fourth quarter. I understand that you're looking to pay down some of the brokered deposits, but just wanted to get a sense for, I guess, a finer point on how you're managing that extra liquidity and what your level of willingness is to move cash lower, move brokered lower, and sort of protect the margin a bit more. Hey, good morning, Samuel. You know, we do expect the balance sheet to become a little bit more efficient as we move into the fourth quarter. You know, we on a quarter-to-quarter basis, we will see a little bit lower wholesale funding on average. Brokered deposits are where you're gonna see the biggest change, as we pay down quite a few, almost $900 million at the end of the third quarter, and a somewhat similar amount as we move through the fourth quarter. So we, we did inflate the balance sheet a little bit with excess cash, supported by those higher level of brokered deposits, because frankly, the loan growth that we might have expected at one time when we took those brokered deposits out, didn't fully materialize. And so, you know, I will say that we expect improvement in the NIM as we move into the fourth quarter. I think many of you know, on the call that I really hate talking about NIM, and I think, yet again, we have another example where net interest income increased, even with the BSBY drag, yet the NIM went down because of dynamics of the balance sheet. So never really like to talk a lot about NIM percentage. Having said that, it is gonna move up, you know, materially, just because of a more efficient balance sheet and, you know, probably end up somewhere near a three handle, you know, 3% as we move through the fourth quarter. But a lot of that will just depend on, you know, just the various levers within the balance sheet and how they move. Understood. Thanks for commenting on that, Jim. And then the other question I had is just around the Environmental Services teams that you have, and obviously, you're pretty, pretty bullish just on the opportunity set here. So can you talk a little bit more about the business in terms of the growth ramp with the teams that you have and what your expectations might be over the next couple of years in terms of where the business can go? Yeah, Sam, this is Peter. So it is a business that, we're very proud of. We've been at this business for a long time now. A couple of years ago, we started a renewables group as well, that shows up in that, in that line item. And, you know, quite candidly, our Environmental Services business has been a quarterly positive performer for several years now, and I think that outlook will continue. We've got a great team. I think we're the best in the business. You know, we continue to try to give resources to those folks. So, you know, I'd be surprised to see anything other than, the pace that you've seen the last few years continue, in that space. It's a fantastic, it's really a great Middle Market business. It's a specialty business, but the size of the loans, the fee income that it generates. It's just a fantastic business for us, and so it's one that we're gonna continue to lean into. I would expect that on a go-forward basis, you know, the growth rates would be similar to what you've seen in the last few years. That's how I would think about it that way if I were you. Great. Thanks for all the color. I appreciate it. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Rose with Raymond James. Please proceed with your question. Good morning, Michael. Hey, hey, good morning. I think all the NIM and loan growth questions have been asked, so maybe I'll ask on just you know the pace of future investments you know specifically as it relates to loan hires. I think we're hearing more commentary you know across other banks that you know hiring efforts are going to be a little bit more robust as we enter next year. Wanted to get you know your thoughts there to maybe drive some incremental loan growth, and then you know maybe any sort of updates you have just in terms of costs related to you know eventually crossing $100 billion in assets. Thanks. Michael, it's Peter. I might take the first one, and then I'll probably let Jim take the second one. I think the thing that you're exactly right. The competition for talent is tremendous right now. I think no matter which market we're in, no matter what kind of line of business you look at, there's a lot of competition for talent. I continue to believe that something that makes us very special is we have a fantastic training program, where you know a lot of our relationship manager growth over the next few years is because of talent that we have hired and trained and developed, and they go to market with that sort of culture and expectation, and I think a better knowledge of credit than our peers. And so, that program is one that we are leaning heavily into of trying to get folks into that program and out of it as well trained and ready to be successful as we possibly can. I think hiring from other banks can be successful, but I also think it's expensive, and I don't think it's necessarily the best way to grow your culture or your brand. So I think that distinguishes us when you look at Comerica from others as to why we've got a really good outlook there. And so we're intending to grow that population especially in our Middle Market and Business Banking businesses, where we've got opportunities in Texas and California. And we will certainly add talent from other banks. We do that all the time. But I think that you put those two things together, it's a very compelling story as to why you would, you know, look at Comerica compared to others. And so, Jim, I might flip to you on the $100 billion number. Yeah, specific to the $100 billion efforts, you know, I always remind people that, you know, we're one of two existing banks that have been in that regime in the past, so we've been there, we know how to do it. We kept some of the practices that we had in place at that point in time. Of course, the bar has gone up since then, but we feel like we have really strong capital planning and stress testing practices, liquidity stress testing practices. When I look at what it takes to get ready for $100 billion, you know, beyond just having that general good risk framework, which we're making great progress on, you know, the task that probably takes the most effort is just the data and all the reporting that's required, and that has probably the longest tail on it. And we've been working on that, really for the last, you know, year, year and a half. We're making great progress. We plan on being done well ahead of, you know, hitting $100 billion. And so our goal overall is to do this in layers so that any one year, there's not a huge step up in expenses. You know, we will ultimately have a higher run rate, you know, a modestly higher run rate because of $100 billion in Category 4 readiness, but we're also working to offset those costs. You know, my goal is to put it in context of you'll, you'll never actually notice a big step up, specifically due to a Category 4 readiness effort, because we are layering them in as time goes on and feel like we're on a really good track to be ready well ahead of hitting $100 billion. Very helpful. And then maybe the natural follow-up question is that, you know, relates to next year, and I'm not trying to pin you down here, but I think we're hearing other banks at least plan for positive operating leverage next year. I heard your comments on kind of NII trajectory, you know, balance that with, you know, maybe some expense growth related to what you just talked about. But is it at least the initial plan or expectation that you can generate positive operating leverage next year? Thanks. You know, it's always our goal to have positive operating leverage, and obviously, 2023, with the regional bank crisis and its trailing effects on 2024, made that very challenging. But positive operating leverage is always our goal, and I would say 2025 is no exception to that. You know, that's our own expectation, and that's what we are shooting for. And that will be through a combination of both revenue efforts, as well as making sure that we calibrate expenses appropriately. All right, great. Thanks for taking my questions. Thank you. Thank you. Our final question this morning comes from the line of Anthony Elian with JPMorgan Chase. Please proceed with your question. Hi, good morning. Appreciate the comments you provided on loan growth and customer sentiment towards quarter end. Just asking the question around loan growth expectations a different way, you know, once borrowers get past hurdles of the election and we see more rate cuts, do you see a loan growth at the company at a level comparable to the rest of the industry? Or do you think you can grow faster than the industry, just given your footprint and other segments you've mentioned? Yeah, Anthony, it's Peter. You know, I'd answer that a couple of ways. You know, we had a lot of years where we were growing at the rate of the industry, if not even slightly below for a while. But if you kind of went back 2019, 2022, so call it the non-COVID, the non-2023 years, we were growing at a rate equal to or above the industry. So I think on a go-forward basis, particularly when we get to the other side of, as I talked earlier about CRE, kind of downward slope from here. I think we should be able to grow at the industry growth rate or better when we get into 2025 and 2026. That would be the expectation. I certainly think, when you look at our portfolio, all of our specialty businesses being highly exposed in Texas and in California, we would expect of ourselves to be growing better than the overall industry. We've proven that we could do that the last couple of years, absent sort of these major events. The only part of that I would just, you know, caution again, is the CRE headwind that we have. The rest of the book, on a go-forward basis, we would expect to be able to grow better than the industry. Peter, I might just add, too, that when you look at this as Curt, that the markets we operate in really all of our geographies have grown this year and expected to grow next year above GDP. So we feel really good about sort of the markets we operate in, the national specialty businesses that Peter referenced earlier. Part of our capital management strategy is to reserve capital for loan growth, so we are anticipating loan growth on a forward basis, where we feel really good about our funding position. And credit continues to be very well behaved. So we're ready, willing, and able, and got a great team on the field. And back to the question earlier about relationship managers. We've got plenty of capacity right now for growth, but again, we are building in additions of capacity through our training programs and selectively, in some of our businesses, external hires. Thank you. And then my follow-up, you saw good growth in Equity Fund Services deposits during the quarter. Can you talk about what specifically you saw in that segment that drove the growth and the expectations on your end? Thank you. Yeah, Anthony. So I mean, Equity Fund Services has been a really good business for us. In 2023, it was one that we did optimize quite a bit, I think, through last year. We are seeing good success in that business. It's a little bit of a different environment there. There's not maybe as much fund formation as there was for a while. There's not as much activity in the private equity space, as you know. But on a loan outlook standpoint, I feel like it's sort of up from here. We did sort of expect to see a little more growth in Q3. It worked a little bit against us in August, but I think that's starting to flatten out. And on the deposit side, I mean, I just think we're continuing to add sort of more, what I would call bilateral relationships, where we're the only bank, which leads to more deposits, which leads to more treasury and fee income. You know, we're trying to do less participations per se in that business and more bilateral deals. And so I think we're just capturing relationship. And I think as events occur in the book that our customers have, we've proven as a really good bank for them to place their deposits with. And as we talked about earlier, that's at appropriate rates across our portfolio. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call back to Mr. Curt Farmer, President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, for final comments. Thank you, all of you, for joining us again today. As always, thank you for your ongoing interest in Comerica, and we hope you have a good day. Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.