Amerant Bancorp Inc. (AMTB): ANSOFF MATRIX [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking at Amerant Bancorp Inc. with its \$10.4 billion in total assets and a clear goal: hitting that 1% Return on Assets target for the second half of 2025, all while managing the \$139.9 million in non-performing assets reported in Q3 2025. Honestly, figuring out the right growth lever-whether to dig deeper into Florida with existing clients, expand into new metros like DFW, launch new digital products, or even explore niche lending-is key to making that ROA number stick. So, I've mapped out four clear, actionable paths using the Ansoff Matrix to show you exactly where Amerant Bancorp Inc. can place its next bets for growth, balancing core strength with necessary risk management.

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (AMTB) - Ansoff Matrix: Market Penetration

You're looking at how Amerant Bancorp Inc. can grow by selling more of its existing services to its current customer base. This is about deepening relationships right where they already operate, primarily within Florida.

Core Deposit Growth via Cross-Selling

The immediate focus is on expanding core deposits. As of the third quarter of 2025, Amerant Bancorp Inc. reported core deposits of $6.2 billion, which was an increase of $59.4 million, or 1.0%, over the second quarter of 2025 figure of $6.1 billion. The strategy here involves pushing treasury management services to the existing commercial client base to secure stickier, lower-cost funding. This leverages the existing commercial relationships already utilizing Amerant Bancorp Inc.'s lending and other services.

Targeting High-Net-Worth Clients

To attract high-net-worth individuals in South Florida, Amerant Bancorp Inc. plans to use its improving operational efficiency as a competitive edge. The core efficiency ratio improved to 66.35% in the second quarter of 2025, though the overall efficiency ratio was 69.84% in the third quarter of 2025. Management has guided the efficiency ratio toward the mid-60s for the second half of 2025. This efficiency should translate into more competitive deposit rates offered to this segment.

Driving Digital Transaction Volume

Accelerating the use of digital tools is key to increasing transaction volume from the existing consumer base across the 22 Florida banking centers targeted for this strategy. While Amerant Bank operated 20 banking centers as of Q1 2025, with 19 in South Florida and 1 in Tampa, a new Miami Beach center and a Downtown Tampa center brought the count to 21 by September 2025. Success here means existing consumer accounts are more active digitally, which lowers per-customer servicing costs.

Deepening Commercial Real Estate Relationships

The goal is to deepen relationships with existing commercial real estate clients to help achieve the stated 10%-15% loan growth target for 2025, a target set when loan growth forecasts were higher. However, gross loans were $6.9 billion in the third quarter of 2025, reflecting a 3.4% decline from the prior quarter, though Q4 2025 net loan growth is projected between $125 million and $175 million. This strategy centers on capturing more wallet share from current borrowers.

Here's a snapshot of relevant metrics for this market penetration focus:

The International Banking segment also shows success in acquiring new customers, which feeds into the existing market penetration strategy:

• Approximately 50% of new accounts opened in Q3 2025 originated from other countries.
• Key originating countries include Argentina, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Peru.
• This growth strengthens the overall customer base within Amerant Bancorp Inc.'s established markets.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (AMTB) - Ansoff Matrix: Market Development

You're looking at how Amerant Bancorp Inc. (AMTB) plans to grow by taking its existing services into new markets or expanding its presence in current ones. This is Market Development in action, and the numbers show where the focus is right now.

Systematically expand the commercial lending team in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, a market Amerant already serves.

You know Amerant Bancorp Inc. had a Loan Production Office (LPO) in Dallas since early 2019. The company finished 2024 with 698 Full-Time Equivalent employees (FTEs) across its markets, and the stated focus for 2025 includes selectively investing in business development personnel to drive incremental growth. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Focus business development on Latin American clients to grow cross-border trade finance and foreign exchange services.

While Amerant Bancorp Inc. closed some foreign accounts in 2019 due to risk thresholds, the focus is clearly shifting back to international business. The volume of derivative transactions with clients was higher in 2024 compared to 2023. The stated goal is to enhance the international banking structure to grow international deposits, building on the existing capability that provides online account opening for international customers. Here's the quick math: the company is aiming to leverage its existing international client service infrastructure to capture more cross-border flow.

Open new regional offices in high-growth Florida sub-markets like West Palm Beach and Tampa, as planned for 2025.

The physical expansion in Florida is concrete and measurable. As of September 30, 2025, Amerant Bancorp Inc. operates 22 Banking Centers, broken down as follows:

This expansion includes the recent grand opening of the West Palm Beach Banking Center and Regional Office earlier in the summer of 2025. Furthermore, the plan for the greater Tampa market involves new locations scheduled to open before year-end 2025 (Tampa) and early 2026 (St. Petersburg). You can also see the density increasing in Miami Beach, with one new center opening in September 2025 and a second planned for Bay Harbor in late 2025.

Target high-net-worth clients in the New York City area with existing wealth management and trust services.

Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a dedicated wealth management focus, which includes trust and estate planning products for high-net-worth customers. The Assets Under Management and Custody (AUM) figures show growth in the overall book of business, which these services feed into. The AUM stood at $2.3 billion at the end of Q4 2023. By Q4 2024, this grew to $2.9 billion. The latest reported figure, as of Q2 2025, is $3.07 billion, an increase of $132.4 million from Q1 2025. The quarterly cash dividend declared in Q1 and Q2 2025 was $0.09 per common share. What this estimate hides is the specific allocation of that $3.07 billion AUM directly attributable to the New York City client base, but the presence of a CRE-focused LPO there suggests an established commercial relationship base to cross-sell to.

The Private Client Relationship Management team focuses on two pillars: preservation and growth.

• Investment Services are offered via Relationship Managers.
• Trust Services help navigate unique estate planning situations.
• Retirement Services provide a detailed roadmap for the next stage.
• Education Services coordinate assets for planning.

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (AMTB) - Ansoff Matrix: Product Development

You're looking at how Amerant Bancorp Inc. can grow by developing new products for its existing markets, which is the Product Development quadrant of the Ansoff Matrix. This means taking what Amerant Bancorp Inc. already knows-its customer base and geographic footprint-and offering them something new or enhanced. It's about deepening relationships, so let's look at the numbers driving these potential moves.

For instance, addressing asset quality directly through a new offering is a clear action. You'd want to launch a specialized loan restructuring product to proactively manage the $139.9 million in non-performing assets reported as of the third quarter of 2025. This figure represents 1.3% of total assets for Amerant Bancorp Inc. in that period. This isn't just about cleaning up the books; it's about creating a service line that could be valuable for other institutions down the line, but first, it needs to resolve the current $124.3 million in non-performing loans.

To bolster the funding side, which is always critical, introducing a premium, high-yield digital-only savings account makes sense to attract new core deposits in the Florida market. You know that as of the third quarter of 2025, Amerant Bancorp Inc.'s core deposits stood at $6.2 billion, showing a 1.0% increase quarter-over-quarter. The customer deposit growth in that quarter was $88.1 million, which shows the market is receptive to new deposit products, even as the bank managed down higher-cost brokered deposits. A digital-only offering could capture retail and small business money that might not walk into one of the 22 banking centers.

For wealth management, developing a proprietary robo-advisory service for mass-affluent clients within Amerant Investments, Inc. targets an existing client segment with a modern tool. While the latest reported Assets Under Management (AUM) was $3.07 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2025, which was a 4.5% increase from the prior quarter, this service would aim to capture more of that asset base or attract new clients who prefer a lower-touch, technology-driven approach. Amerant Investments, Inc. already offers Portfolio Advisory Services, so this is a clear product line extension.

Finally, creating a new, streamlined construction financing product specifically for mid-sized residential developers in South Florida taps into the bank's geographic strength. Amerant Bank operates 20 of its 22 banking centers in South Florida. This focus area is where the bank has deep local decision-makers, a stated advantage for its construction loans. This new product would support loan growth, as the bank projected a net loan growth of $125 million to $175 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, following total gross loans of $6.9 billion in Q3 2025.

Here are the key Q3 2025 metrics that frame these Product Development opportunities:

These product initiatives are designed to leverage the existing franchise, which reported a Net Interest Margin of 3.92% in the third quarter of 2025. You need to ensure the development of these new offerings aligns with the expense reduction initiative targeting $2 million to $3 million in quarterly savings beginning in 2026.

• Launch loan restructuring for $139.9 million NPA.
• Introduce digital savings to grow $6.2 billion core deposits.
• Develop robo-advisory for mass-affluent on $3.07 billion AUM base (as of Q2 2025).
• Create construction finance for South Florida developers.

Finance: draft the projected ROI model for the digital savings account by next Wednesday.

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (AMTB) - Ansoff Matrix: Diversification

You're looking at how Amerant Bancorp Inc. can grow beyond its current footprint and product set. This diversification play, mapping to the Product Development and Market Development quadrants of the Ansoff Matrix, requires concrete numbers to back the strategy.

Consider acquiring a small, specialized FinTech firm to offer a new product like small business payment processing outside of Florida. This moves Amerant Bancorp Inc. into a new product space while targeting new markets. Currently, Amerant Bancorp Inc.'s physical presence is concentrated, with 22 banking centers total, 20 of which are in South Florida and 2 in Tampa, Florida. A digital-first product bypasses this physical constraint.

Entering a new, non-Florida metropolitan area with a new, simplified small business loan product addresses market development. You'd be targeting a new geography while offering a product designed to avoid the complexity that might be reflected in the current $6.9 billion in total gross loans as of Q3 2025. The focus on asset quality is evident, with non-performing assets at $140 million or 1.3% of total assets in Q3 2025, suggesting a need for carefully vetted new loan origination strategies.

Establishing a niche asset-backed lending division focused on a non-core asset class, such as marine or aviation financing, is a pure product diversification play. This would be a new asset class to complement the existing loan portfolio. The total assets stand at $10.4 billion as of Q3 2025, and adding a specialized, potentially higher-yield asset class could shift the overall risk profile.

Launching a national digital-only bank brand focused solely on high-interest consumer certificates of deposit (CDs) directly targets the funding side. This aims to diversify the $8.3 billion total deposit base, which saw core deposits at $6.2 billion in Q3 2025. The net interest margin (NIM) for Amerant Bancorp Inc. was 3.92% in Q3 2025. Attracting national CD funding could provide a more stable, lower-cost funding source, depending on the rates offered, especially if it reduces reliance on brokered deposits, which were reduced by $93.7 million in Q3 2025.

Here's a quick look at some key Q3 2025 figures to ground these potential moves:

The operational efficiency, measured by the efficiency ratio, was 69.84% in Q3 2025. Any new venture must be weighed against the current expense structure. Non-interest expense was $77.8 million in the quarter. Furthermore, the company paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per share on November 28 of this year. If onboarding takes 14+ days for new digital products, churn risk defintely rises.

The strategic options for growth outside the core Florida market involve different levels of investment and risk exposure:

• Acquire FinTech for payment processing outside Florida.
• Enter a new metro area with simplified small business loans.
• Establish niche asset-backed lending division.
• Launch national digital-only CD brand.