Develop Commercial Lending Talent | ABA Commercial Lending Schools

Develop the next generation of commercial lenders before your talent gap becomes a growth problem. 

Customer expectations, competition and economic uncertainty are changing what banks need from their lenders. Yet many institutions face a training gap that leaves lenders underprepared for increasingly complex credit and relationship decisions.The strongest lending organizations invest in developing teams capable of structuring profitable loan programs with better precision, judgment and confidence that meet the moment.

Is your team ready?

Solve your training gap at the ABA Commercial Lending Schools

The Commercial Lending Schools provide a connected development path to prepare your team to tackle lending with confidence.

Here’s why you should send your lenders to the Commercial Lending Schools:

• Develop a team that makes stronger — and more profitable — lending decisions
  The Commercial Lending Schools offer two curriculums, Foundational and Advanced, tailored to the development path of every lender on your team. Emerging lenders will learn to structure high-performing loans through consistent and strong credit, cash flow and repayment analysis. Experienced lenders will learn to transition from proficient lender to strong leader through profitable and compliant portfolio, risk and lending team management.
• Foster greater judgment and consistency amid today’s complex lending challenges
  The Commercial Lending Schools offer cornerstone programming for lenders to navigate today’s challenges. Help your team make the right calls on which loans to pursue — and which ones to pass on — with access to our unique ABA Commercial Loan Simulation and the Financial Statement Analysis Workshop.
• Help lenders increase profitability through exposure to diverse perspectives and benchmarking opportunities
  Your team can build a peer network with a broad national base of lending and credit risk professionals at banks from a range of asset sizes, ensuring stress-testing and benchmarking opportunities from lenders who aren’t your bank’s direct competition.
• Tailor your lender’s development to your bank’s priorities
  Only at ABA Commercial Lending Schools: Your lenders will be able to choose one elective course to support their unique development path — and your bank’s initiatives.
• Prepare future lending leaders and strengthen your talent pipeline
  Successful lending organizations build leadership benches rather than waiting for external hires to fill critical roles. Our Advanced School prepares experienced lenders to transition into strategic leaders, readying them for the responsibilities of organizational decision-making. Macro perspectives in portfolio, risk and lending team management, plus many more topics, will instill confidence in your lenders’ development path.

Which school should you send your lenders to?

Build a development path, not a one-time training experience.

Best candidate profiles:

• Foundational: Emerging lenders who need to develop stronger loan structuring through fundamentals in credit analysis, cash flow, repayment and more.
• Advanced: Experienced lenders who are ready to transition into lending leadership through portfolio, risk and team management.
• Financial Statement Analysis Workshop: Send any of your lenders to this pre-school workshop designed to solidify skills in utilizing tax returns and loan documentation to identify high-performance loans.

Need to talk through your team development goals? Reach out for one-on-one guidance.

Connect with the Commercial Lending Schools team to discuss your bank’s specific needs.