Bankwell named to list of nation’s best-performing community banks

New Canaan-based Bankwell was the sole Connecticut financial institution named among 2016”™s “Top 100 Best-Performing Community Banks” in a report issued by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

S&P compiled its list of community banks ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion in assets, with a series of metrics including loan growth, net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans, efficiency ratio, pretax return on average tangible common equity and net interest margin. Bankwell, with $1.6 billion in assets and record net income of $12.4 million for 2016, has nine branches in Fairfield and New Haven Counties.

Bankwell CEO Chris Gruseke told the Business Journal that the news caught him off-guard. “To be honest, I wasn”™t really paying attention to this,” he said, though he added that Bankwell”™s inclusion did not strike him as a surprise. “We have one of the cleanest balance sheets in the state, with virtually no losses.”