Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI): ANSOFF MATRIX [Dec-2025 Updated]

Now that Midland States Bancorp, Inc. has divested its equipment finance portfolio, the real work-defining the next growth chapter-starts today. As someone who's watched these pivots for two decades, I know you need clear, actionable vectors focused squarely on your core community bank and wealth management strengths. We've distilled the path forward into four distinct strategies: think capturing more of that $96.8 million Q1 deposit growth, expanding into St. Louis, launching premium Private Banking for clients over $1 million in assets, or even acquiring a specialized insurance brokerage. Honestly, the blueprint is here; dive in below to see the precise moves Midland States Bancorp, Inc. can make to maximize its franchise value.

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI) - Ansoff Matrix: Market Penetration

You're looking at how Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI) plans to grow by selling more of its existing services to its current customer base. This is about digging deeper into the markets you already serve, which is generally the lowest-risk path for growth.

The strategy centers on a few key actions, building on momentum seen earlier in 2025. For instance, you saw the success of the Q1 2025 growth strategy, which added $96.8 million in retail deposits. That's a concrete win you want to replicate.

Here's a quick look at some of the key figures driving this focus:

You're definitely looking to aggressively cross-sell Private Wealth Management services to existing Commercial Banking clients. The Wealth Management Group is showing traction, hitting record revenue of $8.0 million in the third quarter of 2025, up from $7.4 million in the first quarter. Also, Assets Under Administration (AUA) grew to $4.36 billion by the end of Q3 2025, showing the service is gaining traction internally.

A major financial lever here is optimizing pricing on core deposits. The goal is to maintain the Q3 2025 cost of deposits at or below 2.12%. This is a tangible target, especially since the cost of deposits already fell to 2.12% in Q3 2025, aided by late 2024 Fed rate cuts and the intentional reduction of higher-cost brokered and servicing deposits.

You need to deepen relationships with the customers across the 53 branch network in Illinois and Missouri. This physical footprint is your core advantage for driving deposit and loan penetration. Total deposits at the end of Q3 2025 were $5.60 billion, and the loan-to-deposit ratio remained stable at 87%, so there's definitely room to grow deposits relative to loans within the existing footprint.

Finally, to manage the loan portfolio shift, you'll offer rate incentives to capture loan payoffs from competitors. This action directly replaces the divested equipment portfolio, which was sold for $502 million in cash in late November 2025. The proceeds from that sale are earmarked to reduce about $350 million of high-cost wholesale funding, so replacing that yield with high-quality, relationship-based loans from existing clients makes sense.

Consider these immediate actions for the team:

• Finance: Track the cost of deposits weekly to ensure it stays at or below 2.12% for Q4 2025.
• Commercial Banking: Identify the top 100 commercial clients for a Private Wealth Management service review by the end of the month.
• Branch Operations: Report on new retail deposit account openings per branch for the first two weeks of October 2025.
• Lending: Establish the competitive rate incentive structure for new loan volume by November 15, 2025.

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI) - Ansoff Matrix: Market Development

You're looking at how Midland States Bancorp, Inc. can take its existing successful banking and wealth management services and push them into new geographic areas. This is Market Development in action for Midland States Bancorp, Inc.

The core community banking franchise currently operates through 53 full-service banking offices, primarily concentrated in Illinois and the St. Louis metropolitan area. Midland States Bancorp, Inc. sees clear runway for deeper penetration in established, high-potential areas. Specifically, the strategy calls for accelerating expansion into the high-growth St. Louis and greater Chicago commercial markets. This focus leverages existing regional knowledge while targeting denser commercial activity.

To broaden the geographic reach beyond the current footprint, Midland States Bancorp, Inc. plans to establish new Commercial Loan Production Offices (LPOs) in adjacent Midwestern states. Think about states like Indiana or Iowa as logical next steps for a focused, low-overhead physical presence to originate commercial business.

The acquisition strategy remains a proven path for market development, given that Midland States Bancorp, Inc. has completed 16 successful acquisitions since 2008. The next phase involves targeting small, strategic acquisitions of community banks specifically outside the current 53 branch footprint to instantly gain market share and deposit base in new territories.

The Private Wealth Management platform is a key asset to export to new regions. This platform is showing strong results, which you can see in the latest figures. It generated $8.0 million in revenue during the third quarter of 2025. Assets under administration (AUA) for this platform reached $4.36 billion as of September 30, 2025, up from $4.18 billion at June 30, 2025. This success makes it ready to market aggressively to new regional markets.

Here's a quick look at the scale and recent performance supporting this market development push:

Finally, to support the physical expansion and the wealth management push, Midland States Bancorp, Inc. will use digital marketing. The goal here is to attract commercial clients in new metropolitan areas, defintely focusing on high-net-worth individuals who are often serviced digitally first. This complements the LPO strategy by building awareness before a physical office is established.

The strategic actions for Market Development include:

• Accelerate growth in the Chicago commercial market.
• Establish new Commercial Loan Production Offices.
• Target small, strategic community bank acquisitions.
• Expand Private Wealth Management platform reach.
• Use digital marketing for high-net-worth targeting.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI) - Ansoff Matrix: Product Development

You're looking at how Midland States Bancorp, Inc. plans to grow by introducing new products to its existing customer base. This is the Product Development quadrant of the Ansoff Matrix, and it relies heavily on your current capabilities.

For your specialized trust services, you're building directly on a solid foundation. As of September 30, 2025, the Wealth Management Group managed assets under administration (AUA) totaling approximately $4.36 billion. Developing business succession planning trust services leverages this existing platform, which is a clear advantage.

Regarding the premium Private Banking tier, the focus is on high-net-worth individuals. Launching a service tier specifically targeting clients with over $1 million in assets makes sense given the existing AUA base. This is about segmenting and deepening relationships within your current market.

The drive for operational efficiency is also a product-adjacent strategy, improving the service experience and cost structure. Midland States Bancorp, Inc. explicitly listed 'Automation of back-office processes using AI and RPA' as a key part of its strategy in the third quarter of 2025. While the direct cost savings from this specific automation aren't quantified yet, the company anticipates removing approximately $2.0-$2.5 million in quarterly operating expenses starting in 2026 from the sale of the equipment finance portfolio, showing a clear focus on expense management. That's a real number driving operational focus.

Here's a quick look at the relevant platform sizes and strategic mentions as of late 2025:

The introduction of a new suite of digital-first commercial treasury management products for small businesses is aimed at growing transaction revenue, which feeds into metrics like the Q3 2025 Net Interest Income of $61.1 million. Also, leveraging the Fintech Services initiative to co-develop a high-quality, low-risk digital lending product is a direct move to expand the loan book, which stood at $4.87 billion as of September 30, 2025.

You'll want to track the adoption rates for these new digital tools against the existing deposit base. If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises defintely.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI) - Ansoff Matrix: Diversification

You're looking at how Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI) is moving into new areas, which is the Diversification quadrant of the Ansoff Matrix. This isn't just about adding products; it's about fundamentally changing the business mix to manage risk and find new growth engines outside the core lending footprint. The recent actions show a clear pivot toward de-risking the balance sheet while building out the community banking and wealth management platforms.

Enter a new specialty finance vertical with a lower-risk profile, replacing the recently sold equipment finance portfolio.

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. has made a definitive move to exit a higher-risk asset class. They ceased originating new equipment finance loans and leases effective September 30, 2025. This was followed by the sale of substantially all of that portfolio to North Mill Equipment Finance LLC, which closed on November 28, 2025. This strategic divestiture is designed to sharpen the focus on community banking and wealth management.

Here's the quick math on that portfolio shift:

The company also previously sold $330 million, or 89%, of its GreenSky loans in April 2025 as part of this risk reduction effort. The proceeds from the equipment finance sale are earmarked to pay down approximately $350 million of high-cost wholesale funding, which should help capital ratios. The goal is to replace this with a lower-risk specialty finance vertical, though the specifics of the new vertical aren't detailed in the immediate post-sale announcements.

Establish a national, digital-only deposit gathering platform to secure low-cost funding outside the core region.

While Midland States Bancorp, Inc. is clearly working to reduce reliance on higher-cost funding, the data shows a reduction in overall deposits as they shed brokered and servicing deposits. At September 30, 2025, total deposits were $5.60 billion, down $342.1 million from June 30, 2025. This reduction was driven by a decrease of $81.5 million in brokered deposits and $286.8 million in servicing deposits during Q3 2025. The management expects this reduction of higher-cost deposits to positively impact the future net interest margin. To counter this, the Community Bank segment saw deposits rise by $69.9 million in Q3 2025.

This strategy is supported by earlier Q1 2025 data where retail deposits increased by $96.8 million due to a growth and marketing strategy implemented late in that quarter, even as total deposits fell to $5.94 billion from year-end 2024. The focus is clearly on shifting the funding mix toward more stable, lower-cost sources, which is the intent behind a national digital platform, even if the specific platform launch figures aren't public yet. The cost of deposits fell to 2.12% in Q3 2025.

Acquire a regional, non-bank financial services firm, such as a specialized insurance brokerage.

To build out the wealth management and non-lending revenue streams, Midland States Bancorp, Inc. is looking at acquisitions. The Wealth Management Group managed assets worth approximately $4.36 billion as of September 30, 2025, and Q2 2025 saw them add three new sales positions. The company is focused on growing this segment, which aligns with acquiring non-bank services like insurance brokerage to diversify fee income away from lending concentration. The tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio was 6.32% at March 31, 2025, and the CET1 ratio was 9.37% at September 30, 2025, suggesting capital is being managed to support strategic, non-organic growth when the right opportunity arises.

Invest in a minority stake in a high-growth, non-lending Fintech partner to gain new technology and revenue streams.

This action is about acquiring technological capability and new revenue streams without taking on full operational risk. The strategic shift away from equipment finance and the prior sale of GreenSky loans indicate a willingness to partner or divest non-core assets. The company is targeting a CET1 ratio over 10.0% as a near-term focus, which suggests they are building a capital buffer to selectively invest in technology partners that can enhance their core community banking or wealth management offerings, rather than just funding loan growth.

• The company is targeting a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio of 10.0%.
• Tangible Common Equity to Tangible Assets (TCE/TA) ratio was targeted over 7.0%.
• Noninterest income was $20.0 million in Q3 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.