Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you look at Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL), are you seeing just another regional bank, or a values-driven powerhouse that's actually delivering strong returns? As of the third quarter of 2025, this certified B Corporation proved its model is working, with total assets hitting a solid $8.7 billion and core net income reaching $27.6 million for the quarter. We need to unpack how a bank founded by labor unions in 1923 manages to grow its assets under management (AUM) to $16.6 billion while maintaining a laser focus on social responsibility, plus how its unique deposit base-including $1.4 billion in political deposits-fuels its engine. The real question is, what does this distinct mission mean for its near-term risk and opportunity profile, especially with its net interest margin (NIM) expanding to 3.60%?

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) History

You're looking for the foundational story of Amalgamated Financial Corp., and the direct takeaway is that this isn't a traditional Wall Street tale; it's a century-long narrative born from the labor movement. The company's origin as a union-owned bank deeply informs its current strategy as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), focusing on social impact alongside financial returns.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

The company's primary subsidiary, Amalgamated Bank, was chartered on March 16, 1923, and officially opened its doors on April 14, 1923.

Original location

The first branch opened in New York City on East 14th Street, Manhattan, right next door to a former Tiffany's on Union Square. Today, the headquarters is at 275 Seventh Avenue in New York City.

Founding team members

Amalgamated Bank was founded not by a small team of financiers, but by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, one of the nation's oldest labor unions. Its initial leadership included Chairman Hyman Blumberg and President R. L. Redheffer. The bank's current President and CEO is Priscilla Sims Brown.

Initial capital/funding

The bank's initial funding came from its community. Within a short time of opening, 2,400 people had deposited $450,000 with the bank, demonstrating immediate support from the union members and working families it was established to serve.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The company's trajectory has been shaped by a few defintely pivotal decisions that moved it from a local union bank to a national, publicly traded, mission-driven financial institution.

The most significant shift was the 2018 IPO and the subsequent 2021 corporate reorganization to become a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). This transition meant Amalgamated Financial Corp. legally committed to a dual bottom line, a rare move for a public company. It's a bank that formally prioritizes its Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL).

Here's the quick math on their current scale: as of September 30, 2025, the company reported total assets of $8.7 billion and total deposits of $7.8 billion. This scale allows them to make an impact far beyond their initial New York roots.

• IPO and PBC Status: The IPO in 2018 provided the capital base for national expansion, but the PBC designation in 2021 was the real game-changer, formalizing their commitment to social and environmental justice.
• Political Deposit Growth: A key area of differentiation is their political deposit base, which grew to $1.4 billion as of September 30, 2025, an increase of $235.0 million during the third quarter alone. This focus on politically active customers is a strategic, high-growth niche.
• Strategic Focus: They maintain a strong capital position, with a Common Equity Tier 1 Capital ratio of 14.13% as of June 30, 2025, which provides a solid buffer against market volatility while supporting their measured loan growth.

The company's history shows a consistent, century-long commitment to labor and progressive causes, which now translates into a strong market position serving non-profits, political organizations, and mission-aligned businesses.

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) Ownership Structure

The control of Amalgamated Financial Corp. is a unique blend of public accountability and mission-driven governance, with a significant stake held by its founding labor union affiliates, Workers United. This structure means strategic decisions are influenced not just by market forces but also by a commitment to social responsibility, a core tenet of its status as a Delaware public benefit corporation (PBC).

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Current Status

Amalgamated Financial Corp. is a publicly traded company, listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker AMAL. It operates as a bank holding company for its wholly-owned subsidiary, Amalgamated Bank, and is the first publicly traded financial institution to be designated a Public Benefit Corporation. This PBC status legally mandates the company to balance the financial interests of its shareholders with the specific public benefit of advancing positive social change. As of September 30, 2025, the company reported total assets of $8.7 billion and stockholders' equity of $775.6 million, reflecting a rock-solid balance sheet.

Here's the quick math: with a market capitalization of approximately $828 million as of early November 2025, the company's valuation is relatively small, but its mission focus gives it a clear competitive edge in attracting purpose-driven deposits and clients. That focus is defintely a key differentiator.

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Ownership Breakdown

The ownership structure is dominated by institutional investors, but the large insider stake is critically important because it includes the company's original union-affiliated owners. The concentration of shares among these groups means that a small number of stakeholders exert significant influence over corporate governance.

What this estimate hides is the power of the insider block. The union-affiliated entities, though grouped with other insiders, represent a controlling interest that anchors the company's social mission. For a deeper dive into who is buying and why, you can check out Exploring Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Leadership

The executive team is a mix of seasoned banking professionals and leaders committed to the company's dual mandate of financial performance and social impact. The leadership team is responsible for steering the company's strategy, which includes a heavy focus on commercial banking, trust services, and political deposits.

• Priscilla Sims Brown: President & CEO. She was appointed in June 2021 and guides the bank in championing social responsibility through values-based banking.
• Jason Darby: Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. He oversees the financial strategy and reporting for the corporation.
• Mandy Tenner: Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer. She manages legal and compliance, and is noted as a 10% owner of the company.
• Sam Brown: Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Banking Officer.
• Sean Searby: Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer.

This team's average tenure is around 3.8 years, which is long enough to execute a strategy but fresh enough to bring new perspectives to a century-old institution. The CEO's total yearly compensation is around $5.33 million, which is above average for similar-sized U.S. banks.

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) Mission and Values

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) operates with a Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL). that explicitly ties its financial performance to social impact, a unique stance in the banking industry. This cultural DNA, rooted in its 1923 founding by labor unions, means their business strategy is defintely a triple bottom line approach: people, planet, and profit.

For context, this commitment is not just marketing; as of September 30, 2025, the company reported total assets of $8.7 billion and net income of $26.8 million for the third quarter, showing that mission-aligned banking can still deliver solid financial results. [cite: 4, 7 from first search]

Given Company's Core Purpose

The company's core purpose is to be the financial partner for organizations and individuals committed to social impact, a goal that guides lending and investment decisions. They are America's largest B Corp bank, meaning they meet high standards of verified social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. [cite: 1, 6 from first search]

Official Mission Statement

The mission is a clear statement of intent, focusing on empowering clients to drive measurable social change.

• To be America's socially responsible bank empowering organizations and individuals to advance positive social change.

It's a simple, active goal. They don't just bank; they empower. That's the key difference.

Vision Statement

The vision statement maps the specific areas where the company aims to create impact through its financial services. This is where the rubber meets the road on their values.

• Banking that furthers economic, social, racial and environmental justice.

Here's the quick math: when Amalgamated Financial Corp. reports total deposits of $7.8 billion (as of Q3 2025), that capital is directed toward these four pillars of justice, rather than activities that might undermine them. [cite: 4 from first search]

Core Values

These four core values define the cultural framework for every employee and every business decision, from underwriting a loan to setting a dividend policy.

• Courage: Take on tough challenges and stand by their mission, even when it is unpopular.
• Conviction: Operate with a deep belief in the power of mission-driven banking.
• Consistency: Apply their values uniformly across all financial products and services.
• Collective Action: Work with clients and partners to achieve a greater impact.

Given Company Slogan/Tagline

The company uses a few powerful taglines that immediately communicate their unique value proposition to potential clients and investors.

• Bank on Impact: Put your money where your values are. [cite: 5 from first search]
• Helping those who do good, do better.

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) How It Works

Amalgamated Financial Corp., operating through Amalgamated Bank, functions as a mission-aligned commercial bank and trust company, generating revenue primarily by transforming its significant, values-driven deposit base into a diversified, low-risk loan portfolio and fee-generating trust services.

The core of its operation is a classic banking model-borrowing short (deposits) and lending long (loans)-but with a specific focus on organizations and individuals committed to social impact, which drives its unique deposit franchise and lending strategy.

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Product/Service Portfolio

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Operational Framework

The company's operational framework is built on two main pillars: efficient capital deployment and a values-based customer acquisition engine. They don't chase every loan; they focus on mission-alignment, so their customer acquisition costs are defintely lower in their niche.

• Funding and Liquidity: Amalgamated Financial Corp. relies on its stable, low-cost deposit base, where non-interest-bearing deposits represent a significant 39% of the total, which helps keep the cost of funds low. As of Q3 2025, total deposits reached $7.8 billion.
• Lending Strategy: The focus is on commercial lending (C&I, multifamily) and mission-aligned portfolios like C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) assessments, which saw 8% growth in Q3 2025. This strategy maintains a low-risk asset profile, evidenced by nonperforming assets to total assets improving to 0.26% in Q3 2025.
• Digital Modernization: A fully integrated digital modernization platform was launched in Q3 2025 to improve productivity and provide a holistic customer view, which is key to efficiently scaling operations and delivering customized solutions.
• Profit Generation: The bank primarily makes money from net interest income (NII)-the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits. Management guides for full-year 2025 NII between $295 million and $296 million. Fee income from the trust business, with $16.6 billion in assets under management, provides a crucial secondary revenue stream.

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Strategic Advantages

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s competitive edge is its dual identity as a bank and a certified public benefit corporation (B Corp). This mission-driven approach is not just marketing; it's a tangible financial advantage that insulates them from some of the deposit volatility regional banks face.

• Mission-Aligned Deposit Franchise: The bank's commitment to social and environmental values attracts 'super-core' deposits from sticky, values-driven organizations like labor unions and political groups, which are less sensitive to rate changes than general market funds. Deposit growth in the Climate and Sustainability segment, up 21% in Q3 2025, proves this model works.
• Capital Strength and Low-Risk Profile: The bank maintains robust capital levels, with a Common Equity Tier 1 Capital ratio of 14.13% as of June 30, 2025, well above regulatory minimums. This strength, plus a strategic avoidance of high commercial real estate concentration, provides stability and flexibility.
• Diversified Fee Income: The Trust and Custody business, holding nearly $38 billion in assets under custody, provides a non-interest-based revenue stream that diversifies earnings away from pure lending margins, offering a hedge against interest rate fluctuations.

To understand the investor side of this unique model, you should be Exploring Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) How It Makes Money

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) primarily makes money like any commercial bank: by borrowing money at a lower rate (deposits) and lending it out or investing it at a higher rate, which is known as generating net interest income (NII). The second, smaller revenue engine is fee-based services from its Trust and Investment Management division.

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Revenue Breakdown

For the third quarter of 2025, Amalgamated Financial Corp. reported total revenue of approximately $85.65 million, a solid beat on analyst estimates. The vast majority of this revenue comes from the spread between interest earned on its loan and investment portfolios and the interest paid on deposits, which is the definition of Net Interest Income (NII).

The core business is clearly NII, which came in at $76.45 million for Q3 2025, a 4.9% jump from the prior quarter. Non-Interest Income, which includes commercial banking fees and trust income, was $9.2 million, a healthy 15% increase quarter-over-quarter. That's a strong signal of diversification, defintely what you want to see.

Business Economics

The bank's economic model is built on two key pillars: a low-cost deposit base and a focused, mission-aligned lending strategy. The low cost of funds is critical, and it's a direct result of their customer base of labor unions, non-profits, and political organizations.

• Net Interest Margin (NIM): The NIM, which is the spread between lending and borrowing rates, expanded to 3.60% in Q3 2025. This expansion is a sign that the bank is effectively managing its deposit costs while increasing loan yields in the current rate environment.
• Deposit Base Strength: Non-interest-bearing deposits-the cheapest form of funding-represented 37% of their total deposits in Q3 2025. This is a massive competitive advantage over peers who have to pay up for nearly every dollar of funding.
• Political Deposits: A unique, cyclical, yet powerful funding source is their political deposits, which swelled to $1.4 billion as of September 30, 2025, driven by the election cycle. This gives them a huge, albeit temporary, influx of cheap cash to deploy.
• Loan Portfolio Focus: The lending is concentrated in Commercial and Industrial (C&I), Multifamily, and Commercial Real Estate (CRE) loans, which collectively made up 65.7% of the total loan portfolio as of Q3 2025. They are actively shifting away from non-growth portfolios like residential and consumer solar loans.

Here's the quick math: a lower cost of deposits combined with rising loan yields means a wider, more profitable NIM, and that's exactly what they delivered in Q3.

Amalgamated Financial Corp.'s Financial Performance

The Q3 2025 results show a solid, if not spectacular, financial picture, proving the sustainability of their model even with economic headwinds. The key is the quality of their balance sheet and the returns they generate on capital.

• Net Income and EPS: Net income for Q3 2025 was $26.8 million, translating to diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.88. For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, net income was $77.81 million.
• Asset Management Scale: Their Trust business is a significant, fee-generating asset, holding $37.9 billion in assets under custody and $16.6 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2025. This is a stable, high-margin revenue stream that diversifies risk away from pure lending.
• Asset Quality: Credit quality remains very strong. Nonperforming assets totaled only $23.0 million, which is a mere 0.26% of total period-end assets, a significant improvement from the prior quarter. This low nonperforming asset ratio suggests tight underwriting and a low-risk loan profile.
• Capital Strength: Tangible book value per share-a critical metric for bank investors-rose to $25.31 in Q3 2025.

What this estimate hides is the potential volatility from the political deposit segment, which will likely run off after the election cycle concludes, putting pressure on the cost of funds in 2026. Still, the underlying commercial banking and trust businesses are performing well. You can dive deeper into the ownership structure and institutional interest in Exploring Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Action: Portfolio Managers should model a 2026 cost of funds increase of 10-15 basis points to account for the post-election deposit cycle shift.

Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) Market Position & Future Outlook

Amalgamated Financial Corp. is strategically positioned as a values-driven niche bank, leveraging its unique deposit base to maintain a rock-solid balance sheet and drive targeted loan growth. The company's future trajectory hinges on successfully scaling its specialized business lines and managing credit risk in a fluctuating rate environment.

Competitive Landscape

In the regional banking space, Amalgamated Financial does not compete on sheer size, but on its distinct mission and deposit franchise. To give you a clear picture, here's a look at Amalgamated Financial next to two key competitors, using total assets as a proxy for relative market share within this peer group as of Q3 2025.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company's focus on mission-aligned lending and its stable, low-cost deposit base provide clear opportunities, but it still faces the same macroeconomic headwinds as any regional bank. Here's a quick map of the near-term landscape.

Industry Position

Amalgamated Financial is a small-cap player in the US banking sector, but it punches above its weight in its specific niches. It's America's largest B Corp bank, which is a key differentiator in attracting mission-aligned capital.

The company's financial health remains strong as of Q3 2025, with a Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Ratio of 14.21%, well above regulatory minimums, and total assets standing at $8.7 billion. This capital strength is defintely a buffer against market volatility.

Its strategic focus on non-traditional, values-driven deposits translates into a stable, low-cost funding base, which is a massive competitive advantage when other banks are fighting for expensive deposits. For a deeper dive into the numbers, check out Breaking Down Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

• Maintain a high Net Interest Margin (NIM) of 3.60% as of Q3 2025.
• Guided full-year 2025 core pretax pre-provision earnings to be between $164 million and $165 million.
• Trust business holds significant scale with $54.5 billion in assets under custody and investment management.

The next step for you is to monitor the Q4 2025 earnings release for any shifts in their credit quality metrics, especially around non-performing assets, which were at 0.41% of total assets in Q1 2025.