Wintrust Financial (WTFC) 10-K 2010 FY Annual report

Exhibit 13.1

2010—Sticking to the Plan

Wintrust allows you, your business or the company you work for to HAVE IT ALL.

At Wintrust, we offer the products and technology of the big banks but pair it with exceptional
service, understanding and proper focus. It means you can Have It All^TM — a full slate of powerful
and sophisticated financial products and the local decision making and personal service that only a
group of community banks and specialty financial companies can offer.

Retail Banking

• Footprint of 15 chartered banks and 86 facilities

• Deposit Products

• Home Equity & Installment Loans

• Residential Mortgages

Wealth Management

• Asset Management (Individual & Institutional)

• Financial Planning

• Brokerage

• Retirement Plans (Business)

• Trust & Estate Services (Corporate & Personal)

• Life Insurance Premium Financing

Commercial Lending

• Commercial & Industrial (Asset Based) Lending

• Commercial Real Estate, Mortgages & Construction

• Lines of Credit

• Letters of Credit

• Commercial Insurance Premium Financing

Treasury Management

• Retail & Wholesale Lockbox

• On-Line Lockbox (iBusinessPay)

• On-Line Banking & Reporting (iBusinessBanking)

• Remote Deposit Capture (iBusinessCapture)

• Merchant Card Program

• Payroll Services (CheckMate)

• ACH & Wire Transfer Services

• International Banking Services

Specialized Financial Services for:

• Building Management Companies

• Condominium & Homeowner Associations

• Franchisees

• Indirect Automobile Lending

• Insurance Agents & Brokers

• Mortgage Companies (Warehouse Lending)

• Municipalities & School Districts

• Physicians, Dentists & Other Medical Personnel

• Temporary Staffing & Security Companies

Selected Financial Trends

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Selected Financial Highlights

	Years Ended December 31,
	2010			2009			2008			2007			2006
	(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Selected Financial Condition Data (at end of year):
Total assets	$	13,980,156		$	12,215,620		$	10,658,326		$	9,368,859		$	9,571,852
Total loans, excluding covered loans		9,599,886			8,411,771			7,621,069			6,801,602			6,496,480
Total deposits		10,803,673			9,917,074			8,376,750			7,471,441			7,869,240
Junior subordinated debentures		249,493			249,493			249,515			249,662			249,828
Total shareholders’ equity		1,436,549			1,138,639			1,066,572			739,555			773,346
Selected Statements of Income Data:
Net interest income	$	415,836		$	311,876		$	244,567		$	261,550		$	248,886
Net revenue(1)		607,996			629,523			344,245			341,493			339,926
Core pre-tax earnings(2)		196,544			122,803			94,410			95,552			102,566
Net income		63,329			73,069			20,488			55,653			66,493
Net income per common share — Basic		1.08			2.23			0.78			2.31			2.66
Net income per common share — Diluted		1.02			2.18			0.76			2.24			2.56
Selected Financial Ratios and Other Data:
Performance Ratios:
Net interest margin(2)		3.37	%		3.01	%		2.81	%		3.11	%		3.10	%
Non-interest income to average assets		1.42			2.78			1.02			0.85			1.02
Non-interest expense to average assets		2.82			3.01			2.63			2.57			2.56
Net overhead ratio(3)		1.40			0.23			1.60			1.72			1.54
Efficiency ratio(2)(4)		63.77			54.44			73.00			71.05			66.94
Return on average assets		0.47			0.64			0.21			0.59			0.74
Return on average common equity		3.01			6.70			2.44			7.64			9.47
Average total assets	$	13,556,612		$	11,415,322		$	9,753,220		$	9,442,277		$	8,925,557
Average total shareholders’ equity		1,352,135			1,081,792			779,437			727,972			701,794
Average loans to average deposits ratio (excluding covered loans)		91.1	%		90.5	%		94.3	%		90.1	%		82.2	%
Average loans to average deposits ratio (including covered loans)		93.4	%		90.5	%		94.3	%		90.1	%		82.2	%
Common Share Data (at end of year):
Market price per common share	$	33.03		$	30.79		$	20.57		$	33.13		$	48.02
Book value per common share(2)	$	32.73		$	35.27		$	33.03		$	31.56		$	30.38
Tangible common book value per share(2)	$	25.80		$	23.22		$	20.78		$	19.02		$	18.97
Common shares outstanding		34,864,068			24,206,819			23,756,674			23,430,490			25,457,935
Other Data (at end of year):(8)
Leverage ratio		10.1	%		9.3	%		10.6	%		7.7	%		8.2	%
Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets		12.5			11.0			11.6			8.7			9.8
Total capital to risk-weighted assets		13.8			12.4			13.1			10.2			11.3
Tangible common equity ratio (TCE)(2)(7)		8.0			4.7			4.8			4.9			5.2
Allowance for credit losses(5)	$	118,037		$	101,831		$	71,353		$	50,882		$	46,512
Credit discounts on purchased premium finance receivables — life insurance(6)		23,227			37,323			—			—			—
Non-performing loans		142,132			131,804			136,094			71,854			36,874
Allowance for credit losses to total loans(5)		1.23	%		1.21	%		0.94	%		0.75	%		0.72	%
Non-performing loans to total loans		1.48			1.57			1.79			1.06			0.57
Number of:
Bank subsidiaries		15			15			15			15			15
Non-bank subsidiaries		8			8			7			8			8
Banking offices		86			78			79			77			73

(1)	Net revenue is net interest income plus non-interest income.
(2)	See Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Non-GAAP Financial Measures/Ratios,” of the Company’s 2010 Form 10-K for a reconciliation of this performance measure/ratio to GAAP.
(3)	The net overhead ratio is calculated by netting total non-interest expense and total non-interest income and dividing by that period’s average total assets. A lower ratio indicates a higher degree of efficiency.
(4)	The efficiency ratio is calculated by dividing total non-interest expense by tax-equivalent net revenues (less securities gains or losses). A lower ratio indicates more efficient revenue generation.
(5)	The allowance for credit losses includes both the allowance for loan losses and the allowance for unfunded lending-related commitments.
(6)	Represents the credit discounts on purchased life insurance premium finance loans.
(7)	Total shareholders’ equity minus preferred stock and total intangible assets divided by total assets minus total intangible assets
(8)	Asset quality ratios exclude covered loans.

2010Annual Report 3

To Our Fellow Shareholders

Welcome to Wintrust Financial Corporation’s 2010 annual report. We thank you for being a shareholder.

First, let’s set the stage.

We are over a year into a recovery that appears to be neither robust nor confidence inspiring. Consider that 2010 ended with-

• A national unemployment rate of 9.4%, with the rate for Illinois and Chicago area at 9.3%. While an improvement over 2009, we still have nearly 400,000 friends, neighbors, and customers out of work.

• The FDIC closing 157 banks nationwide. Eighteen of those banks were in Illinois and Wisconsin.

• A housing market still in decline. Chicago area home values dropped another 7% in 2010, with a more than 25% drop in the last three years.

• The Chicago area placing second in the nation (behind Phoenix) in home repossessions. More than 45,000 homes were repossessed in the Chicago area in 2010, with the area seeing nearly 139,000 foreclosure notices.

• One out of every 27 Chicago area properties receiving a foreclosure notice in 2010. The national average for 2010 was one out of every 45.

• According to Moody’s, the state of Illinois and the Chicago area are still considered to be “In Recession.”

Even with these national and regional economic challenges,the Company achieved the following in 2010:

• Generated net income of $63.3 million.

• Increased assets 14.4% ($1.8 billion) to $14.0 billion.

• Increased deposits 8.9% ($887 million) to $10.8 billion.

• Increased loans 18.1% ($1.5 billion) to $9.9 billion.

• Increased the net interest margin by 36 basis points to 3.37%.

• Completed capital offerings that raised net proceeds of $537.8 million.

• Continued to bring value to its shareholders, raising tangible book value per share by 11% to $25.80.

• Fully repurchased the $250 million in TARP-CPP preferred securities.

• Achieved its 14th consecutive year of profitability.

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While we continue to outperform many of our peers in profitability, sustainable growth, credit quality, and growth in tangible book value, we know we can do better.

Failure to Plan is Planning to Fail

Benjamin Franklin famously stated, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” This simple philosophy is one we have always taken to heart.

The fact that your Company has been consistently profitable, grown the last three years (while many others retrenched) and regularly increased tangible book value is no accident. There was (and still is) a plan.

With your help and support as shareholders, we developed and implemented a plan almost five years ago, when the beginnings of the current credit cycle became apparent to us. While discussing the events of the past years and what we have planned for 2011 and beyond, we’d like to take a little time to take stock of our progress against that plan so far.

Master Planner

Last year (2010) marked the 70th anniversary of the release of Alfred Hitchcock’s first American film. It also marked the 30th anniversary of the iconic filmmakers death. We think there are excellent parallels between the planning that Hitchcock put into his movies and the success of his films and the story of our company leading up to and through this current banking cycle.

Hitchcock was a meticulous planner. When he approached a film, he painstakingly laid out each individual shot. Camera angles, lighting, movement — he planned every shot and created a storyboard for each. Industry legend states that Hitchcock actually found the process of shooting and editing the film horribly boring. His creative process found its home in the planning and creation of storyboards.

So, if you’ll bear with us (and in an effort to make it a bit more entertaining), we’d like to approach the telling of our story as storyboards in a film. After all, we think we have a pretty compelling story to tell.

2010Annual Report 5

Scene 1 — A Storm is Coming.

It was a dark and stormy night in January 2006. After more than a decade of constant double digit growth, the Company sensed something different in the air. In our 2005 annual report, we noted that:

“Our commitment to our core loan underwriting standards ....restrained loan growth in the second half of 2005, as we have not sacrificed our asset quality or pricing standards simply to grow outstanding loan balances.”

We are students of history. Business runs in cycles and we had seen this banking cycle before:

• A flat to inverted yield curve.When this occurs, history usually points to banking entering a recessionary cycle that is equal in magnitude to the length of the inversion.

• Loosening credit standards by a number of our local and national competitors.The current massive write-offs, non-performing assets and bank failures are partially a result of those loosened standards.

• Declining credit spreads.Often a consequence of the inverted yield curve, excessively low rates made it almost impossible to get paid for taking risks on loans. (Regardless of the collateral, all loans carry risk.)

So we did what we think any sensible Company would do — we developed a plan to deal with the situation and recalibrated.

The plan itself was pretty simple:

1.	Protect our shareholders’ investment in Wintrust.
2.	Continue to provide our customers with the same or better products and technology of the big banks but provide unmatched service.
3.	Slow down our aggressive growth model.
4.	Maintain our underwriting and pricing discipline.

6 Wintrust Financial Corporation

5.	Reduce expenses and our cost of funds.
6.	Recognize and address problems early.
7.	When appropriate, raise capital to fuel future acquisitions and growth.
8.	Take advantage of market dislocations to purchase assets, portfolios and companies and to hire staff.
9.	Return to our asset driven growth model, as market conditions allow.

Throughout the plan, we would always remember who we are: a group of Community Banks.

Scene 2 — Leave the Party Early.

Our plan was not popular and drew criticism within the industry and the investing/analyst community. To us, however, two things were clear: first, we don’t work for industry accolades, we work for you, the shareholder and for our customers. Second, we believed pulling back was integral to our long term health and necessary to protect your investment.

Some have compared our decision to pull back in 2006 and 2007 to a teenager leaving a party early. The parents are out of town. It’s a great party. But you know the police are going to break it up. You just don’t know when. So, you leave early. By all indications, the party raged for another year or so before others left. And even longer before the police arrived.

We all know the stories of the excesses in the industry now. From the run-up in commercial and residential real estate values, to poor underwriting and pricing discipline to predatory lending, this time was not a shining one for our industry.

With your support, the Company stepped back and focused on creating long term value rather than short term gains. Our early retreat positioned us to be among the first banks emerging from the crisis. We were well situated to capitalize on opportunities available to those not burdened with recovering from the consequences of staying at the party too long.

Scene 3 — Stopping a Locomotive.

So, we hunkered down. After a compound annual asset growth rate of more than 43% for the first 14 years of our existence, in 2006 and 2007, we decided to “hit the brakes,” as evidenced by a few the Company’s performance measures in 2007:

• Our annual asset growth rate dropped to -2.1% , declining from $9.6 billion to $9.4 billion in assets.

• Our net revenue for 2007 was essentially flat.

• Our total deposits, net income and earnings per share declined.

• Our non-performing assets (NPAs), as a percentage of total assets, started to increase.

This was all part of the plan. It had to be. Allowing higher rate certificates of deposit to run off lowered our deposits, as well as our cost of funds. In standing by our sound underwriting standards, we did not see our typical loan growth, reducing our income. It truly was a time to hunker down.

2010Annual Report 7

Scene 4 — The (Financial) World Comes to an End.

Not really. But to many, it certainly seemed like it. By late 2007, the dangers of the sub-prime mortgage market became apparent, with 2008 dominated by news of one financial crisis after another.

During 2008, the national economy saw:

• The collapse of Bear Steams and Lehman Brothers.

• The collapse and government take-over of American International Group (AIG), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.

• The takeover of Wachovia by Wells Fargo and Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch by Bank of America.

• The failure of 25 banks nationwide including IndyMac and Washington Mutual, two of the largest bank failures in U.S. history.

• The passage of the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the creation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

• The creation of the $250 billion Capital Purchase Program (CPP) with the first $125 billion going to nine large banks.

• A drop of more than 4,500 points (34%) in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, including a drop of more than 22% in eight days of trading in October.

Meanwhile, in 2008, the Company:

• Grew assets, loans and deposits.

• Remained profitable.

• Increased our tangible book value per common share (protecting our shareholders’ investment).

• Raised $50 million in capital in the form of preferred stock, without diluting our shareholders.

We also found an unexpected ally, the U.S. Treasury and the CPP program. The $250 million investment we received under CPP was not necessary to keep us healthy. It did, however, allow us to accelerate our plan to rebound out of the recession.

Scene 5 — We Re-Enter the Fight, Cautiously.

The bad news continued well into 2009, with:

• The failure of another 140 banks.

• The U.S. unemployment rate passing 10%.

• Two of the big three automakers (Chrysler and General Motors) filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

For Wintrust, this set the scene where the Company suits up and re-enters the fight. With $300 million in new capital, the Company followed its plan to cautiously get back to our traditional business. We started by adding to the team, taking advantage of dislocations in the marketplace, including:

• The purchase of a $1 billion life insurance premium finance portfolio at a sizable discount from a large competitor and

8 Wintrust Financial Corporation

	the hiring of their staff, making FIRST Insurance Funding the largest life insurance premium finance company in the country.
•	The creation of one of the largest mortgage originators in greater Chicago by adding to our already strong Wintrust Mortgage and bank mortgage teams by purchasing certain assets of Professional Mortgage Partners in December 2008.
•	Adding strength to our asset management team by purchasing certain assets and liabilities of Advanced Investment Partners in March 2009.
•	The hiring of dozens of commercial lenders, personal bankers, mortgage loan officers and financial advisors from our competitors around the area.

The Company did this while “restarting the growth engine,” adding in 2009:

• $1.6 billion in assets, a 15% increase to $12.2 billion.

• $1.5 billion in deposits, an 18% increase to $9.9 billion.

• $791 million in loans, a 10% increase to $8.4 billion.

• 20 basis points to our net interest margin.

• Another 11.7% to our tangible book value per share.

The events of 2009 in the national and local economy and within Wintrust set the stage for a return to our original formula of success from 1991 to 2005.

Scene 6 — The Return.

We came into 2010, with the goal of continuing the plan, specifically:

• Calculated growth.

• Increase core earnings.

• Clean out problems as they arise.

• Seek out market dislocations.

• Protect our shareholders.

Calculated Growth

This is our true character, steady, organic loan and deposit growth.

With the addition of a number of new lenders throughout the organization, the opening of middle-market commercial lending offices in downtown Chicago and Milwaukee and the start of aggressive calling efforts, 2010 saw considerable loan growth across our system with new commercial relationships. (At the same time, we declined or passed on a lot of deals that we got to see.)

All of this brought us solid loan growth, as we ended the year up almost 18% at $9.9 billion. Our loan growth expanded beyond commercial lending to involve complete commercial relationships, usually including treasury management depository relationships. As a result, we grew total deposits approximately 9% to $10.8 billion and non-interest bearing deposits by 39%.

This is how we approach all relationships. Not just one account, one transaction — the entire relationship. This means:

• Loans and treasury management for commercial customers.

• Small business loans and small business checking for local businesses.

• Personal checking, mortgage (or home equity line of credit) and the appropriate savings vehicle (CDs, savings, money market accounts) for our retail customers.

• Wealth management services for all (investment, trust, 401(k) administration, succession planning, and asset management).

2010Annual Report 9

In addition to the new commercial relationships we saw in 2010, we also grew retail households by more than 8%, continuing our trend to be a leading bank in our local markets.

Increase Core Earnings

Our efforts are designed to result in an increase in our core earnings. Growing both sides of the balance sheet, increasing our margin and protecting our shareholders are all tied to our core earnings. The “Annual Core Pre-Tax Earnings” Chart illustrates the results of the plan thus far. As you can see, our core earnings remained flat leading up to and during the early stages of the recent cycle. However, in 2009 and 2010, the slope increased dramatically, a result of our growth and pricing discipline.

One of the hardest things to do in a low interest rate environment, when rates are considerably compressed, is to raise your net interest margin. With extreme diligence, we raised ours by 36 basis points in 2010, to 3.37%.

The improvement in the net interest margin mostly came from continued pricing discipline within our retail deposit base, assisted further by a slight improvement in our wholesale funding costs. At the same time, we were able to increase the yields on our loan portfolio which were aided by prepayments on life insurance premium finance loans acquired at a discount. Offsetting the positive impact of our loan and deposit pricing was the negative impact of maintaining a higher level of short term liquid assets. Yields on short term liquid assets are less than the cost of our interest bearing liabilities thereby causing compression to the margin. The Company’s plan is to reinvest a portion of these short term liquid assets into higher paying loans if the market provides the opportunity to make high quality loans and grow the loan portfolio.

We continued a trend started years ago — the replacement of high interest rate single service CD households with deeper relationships and more diversified products. We replaced many of those deposits with an increase in our non-interest bearing checking balances, which now make up 11% of our total deposit mix (up from 9% at the end of 2009).

Clear out Problems

Even with recent economic improvements, our market area is still experiencing the lingering effects of economic stress. This takes its toll on all financial institutions, including ours, especially when we try to handle non-accruing loans and other non-performing assets.

With that said, our tactical approach of identifying, working through and aggressively clearing out problem loans allowed us to remain virtually flat in the amount of non-performing loans, ending 2010 at $142.1 million (1.48% of total loans), compared to $131.8 million (1.57% of total loans) at the end of 2009.

Seek Out Dislocations

In 2009, we were conspicuously absent from the flurry of bank purchases within the industry as we focused on improving our credit quality. In 2010, we began to evaluate acquisition transactions.

Starting with two FDIC-assisted transactions in April, Lincoln Park Savings Bank and Wheatland Bank, we added five locations and two new markets to our family, on Chicago’s “North Side” and in Naperville, Illinois.

We followed up with the purchase of Ravenswood Bank in August. This FDIC-assisted transaction added an additional Chicago location and a location in Mt. Prospect, another new market for us.

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The bidding on FDIC-assisted transactions became very competitive in 2010, which is why we only purchased three of the 18 failed banks in our area. (Please see the sidebar: “Another Look at FDIC-Assisted Transactions.”)

Our final purchase in 2010 was an existing branch from another bank, giving Naperville Bank & Trust (a branch of Wheaton Bank & Trust) a permanent home and a base for us to expand into that market.

Of course, the dislocations were found not only in banks, but also in personnel. We continued to hire commercial lenders from across the area, bringing our total to more than 50 new lenders hired in the last two years. Some joined our commercial loan office downtown. Many joined our community banks. The ability to be a lender at a strong bank close to home is a huge draw for many new team members.

Protect Our Shareholders

To fuel our growth plans and end our participation in the TARP Capital Purchase Program, we needed to raise capital. However, it was important to us that we do so in a way that mitigated the dilution to our shareholders as much as possible. We are very proud of the fact that we’ve continuously increased our tangible book value per share. That is a genuine gauge of the value of your investment in Wintrust and it has increased every year.

Another Look at FDIC-Assisted Transactions

Since late 2007, the FDIC has closed more than 300 banks across the country. As the FDIC seizes and closes these banks, they look for partners to take over responsibility for the assets and deposits of the failed banks.

As we discussed in last year’s letter, there are benefits to purchasing a failed bank from the FDIC:

• The acquiring bank usually just assumes the deposits, loans and some other assets and liabilities without paying cash.

• The transactions are often immediately accretive to the acquirer’s net income.

There are also drawbacks:

• Usually, the acquirer willing to take on the most risk wins.

• The acquiring bank has to work hard to attempt to collect on the acquired non-performing loan portfolio requiring substantial resources.

• Based on the structure of the individual purchase, additional payments may be required to the FDIC up to 10 years after the transaction.

In 2010 and early 2011, the Company purchased four banks from the FDIC:

• Lincoln Park Savings Bank (now Lincoln Park Community Bank).

• Wheatland Bank (now Naperville Bank & Trust)

• Ravenswood Bank (now Ravenswood Community Bank)

• Community First Bank-Chicago (to be renamed Rogers Park Community Bank)

We bid on several others that we did not win. The bidding has become extremely competitive. As shareholders, you should know that your company examines each opportunity carefully and is only willing to purchase banks (through the FDIC or otherwise) that are advantageous for the Company.

Put simply, we want to make purchases on our terms. Any purchase should:

• Provide us with locations in markets we currently do not serve or in-market locations that can effectively supplement our existing franchises.

• Come with strong customer household and deposit franchises or provide the financial benefits which more than compensate for the lack of a true retail banking franchise.

• Be immediately accretive to Wintrust s earnings.

When we do have the opportunity to take over a failed bank, we follow a detailed plan that helps ensure that we get the most out of our purchase.

2011 will bring even more opportunities for FDIC-assisted and non-assisted transactions. Know that we continue to examine each carefully-putting the continued growth and financial security of your company first.

2010Annual Report 11

A Final Note on TARP & CPP

The U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) has been a controversial program since its inception in the fall of 2008. Regardless of your views of TARP and its Capital Purchase Program (CPP), we want you, as our shareholders, friends, neighbors and customers, to understand our past participation in it.

The Treasury started CPP to help stabilize and add capital into the financial system, by making investments in healthy banks. After all, it is capital that makes it possible for banks to make loans, issue lines of credit, and, when necessary, write off bad loans.

Wintrust received an investment of $250 million from CPP on December 19,2008.

Here’s what we did with it -

• Made more than $19 billion in new and renewed loans in 2009 and 2010. Banks are in the business to lend money and we never stopped lending.

• Added more than 200 new employees.

• Purchased three banks from the FDIC, allowing true community and neighborhood banks to remain and grow in Naperville, Illinois and Chicago’s north side.

• Paid $25 million in dividends (a 5% annual return) to the U.S. Treasury and the American Taxpayers.

Two years and three days after we accepted the investment, we paid it all back. Additionally, in February 2011, the U.S. Treasury sold the warrants to purchase our common stock that it held, netting the U.S. Treasury an additional $25.6 million. The U.S. Treasury made a more than 20% return on the two year investment it made in Wintrust.

As of the writing of this letter, according to the U.S. Treasury, $243 billion of the originally dispersed $245 billion TARP funds has been repaid. As of February 2011, the U.S. Treasury estimates that the TARP bank programs will result in a profit of nearly $20 billion for American taxpayers.

Not bad for a heavily maligned program that is credited with helping to “break the back of the financial crisis, avert a second Great Depression, and restart economic growth.”

—Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability,
   U.S. Treasury February 2, 2011.

Our capital raises in 2010 netted Wintrust more than $537 million in new capital. The first common stock offering in March brought $210.3 million, with December’s offerings of common stock and tangible equity units netting $327.5 million.

We used about half of the net proceeds of the capital offerings to redeem the preferred shares we originally issued to the U.S. Treasury, exiting from the TARP Capital Purchase Program. (Please see the sidebar: “A Final Note on TARP & CPP”) The remaining capital will allow us to make more loans, purchase additional banks and grow the business.

Since we continued to be profitable, we paid dividends to our shareholders of nine cents per common share in each of February and August. We believe it is important to pay a dividend but also to retain the vast majority of net earnings to support additional growth and work to increase shareholder value over time.

Scene 7 — 2011: The Fight Continues.

We expect 2011 to bring continued growth and improvements in our core earnings. We’ll do this with the understanding that we will always protect our shareholders and take care of our customers, after all we would not be successful without both. We also understand that we have to continue to get the word out, spreading the Wintrust story across our market area.

Get the Word Out

In 2007, we started promoting Wintrust as a business and commercial banking brand. Realizing that middle-market businesses would question if a community bank could meet their complex needs, we spoke to Wintrust’s size, financial strength and robust treasury management solutions.

We also started migrating some of our larger retail brands to Wintrust. MaxSafe is marketed as being offered by Wintrust Community Banks. Our mortgage company became Wintrust Mortgage Corporation in late 2008. In 2010, our wealth management companies became collectively marketed as Wintrust Wealth Management, comprised of Wayne Hummer Investments, The Chicago Trust Company and Wintrust Capital Management.

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Last year, our commercial banking efforts rebranded as Wintrust Commercial Banking. Available through every Wintrust bank, Wintrust Commercial Banking is quickly becoming the solution for middle-market businesses throughout the Chicago area and Southeastern Wisconsin.

The Wintrust name will become more prominent in 2011. To coincide with our roll-out of full affiliate banking later in the year, we will start sub-branding our banks as Wintrust Community Banks. This allows us to leverage the Wintrust name across the entire organization, while never sacrificing the local brands and community bank positioning we’ve spent the last two decades building.

With continued aggressive sales and marketing efforts across the banks, commercial lending teams and niches, we expect to continue to build our brands, market share and business.

To Be Continued . . .

We believe this movie is reaching a turning point. There are more storyboards to create to achieve our goal of beingthecommunity banks of choice to serve the Chicago area and Southeastern Wisconsin.

Taking Care of Our Customers

From the beginning, we’ve always had a simple philosophy:

• Offer the same or better products as the big banks.

• Provide the same or better technology and access.

• Provide unmatched personal service.

For us, this has always meant doing more than just “being a bank,” focusing less on what is seen as traditional banking and more on customer engagement and loyalty.

Our Junior Savers and Platinum Adventures Clubs continue to be shining examples of this. Designed to teach children the importance of saving, Junior Saver Club families at all of our banks were invited to games, cookouts, Santa (with reindeer) and other family events throughout the course of the year.

Both clubs should see further expansion in 2011, as we introduce them to new markets, enhance the products and activities available to current members and expand the customers we target with both programs.

We further expanded our relationships with our customers by hosting a number of seminars by our bankers, financial advisors and loan officers to assist families in our communities get a handle on their financial lives. From seminars on Basic Investing to Saving for College to Teaching Your Teens About Money, our customers and neighbors flocked to our banks.

We also expanded a number of initiatives to help those customers and neighbors who may need a little more help with their finances. Our banks introduced the FDIC’s Money Smart program to their markets in 2010. This series of financial literacy classes has already drawn a sizable following and will be expanded across the network in 2011. This combined with one-time classes (ranging from “Understanding Your Credit Score” to “How to Buy Your First Home”) and specialized product offerings specifically for low and moderate income households has dramatically increased our ability to reach out to these segments.

Taking care of our customers includes improving access to their finances, the bank and to information. We added personal financial management software to our on-line banking system in 2010, giving customers the ability to budget, aggregate all their financial behavior in one place and manage their finances. We also added Mobile Alerts for our customers. In 2011, we plan to enhance our customers’ mobile access with the addition of full mobile banking and giving retail customers the ability to take a picture or scan a check and electronically deposit it.

We are also upgrading and expanding our ATM network and enhancing our systems to allow all our customers to bank at all of our locations. Being able to bank across our network of affiliated banks will allow our customers to take full advantage of the entire network, while knowing the community bank experience they expect will follow them throughout the area.

2010Annual Report 13

In previous shareholder letters, we’ve discussed our belief that the banking business and our mission had come full circle. We started at a time when the big banks were consolidating and seeing just how far they could push their customers. We are now in a time where the big banks are once again pushing their customers around and away with increased fees and reduced service.

We have a genuine opportunity to further differentiate ourselves. 2011 should be an opportunistic year for us.

Thank you for being a shareholder. We hope to see you at our Annual Meeting on May 26, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at the Deer Path Inn, located in downtown Lake Forest.

Sincerely,


Peter D. Crist
Chairman  


Edward J. Wehmer
President &
Chief Executive Officer  


David A. Dykstra
Senior Executive Vice President &
Chief Operating Officer

14 Wintrust Financial Corporation

Our Banking, Mortgage, and Wealth Management Locations

2010Annual Report 15

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16 Wintrust Financial Corporation

Banking & Wealth Management Locations

Corporate Headquarters

Wintrust Financial Corporation

727 North Bank Lane

Lake Forest, IL 60045

847-615-4096

Illinois Banking & Wealth Management

Locations

ALGONQUIN

Algonquin Bank & Trust

Wintrust Wealth Management

4049 W. Algonquin Rd.

Algonquin, IL 60102

847-669-7500

ANTIOCH

State Bank of The Lakes

Wintrust Wealth Management

440 Lake St.

Antioch, IL 60002

847-395-2700

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS

Village Bank & Trust

234 W. Northwest Hwy.

Arlington Heights, IL 60004

847-670-1000

Village Bank & Trust

150 E. Rand Rd.

Arlington Heights, IL 60004

847-870-5000

Village Bank & Trust

Wintrust Wealth Management

311 S. Arlington Heights Rd.

Arlington Heights, IL 60005

847-483-6000

BARRINGTON

Barrington Bank & Trust Company

Wintrust Wealth Management

201 S. Hough St.

Barrington, IL 60010

847-842-4500

Barrington Bank & Trust Company

233 W. Northwest Hwy.

Barrington, IL 60010

847-381-1715

Barrington Bank & Trust Company

217 S. Hough St.

Barrington, IL 60010

847-842-4500

BLOOMINGDALE

Old Town Bank & Trust of Bloomingdale

Wintrust Wealth Management

165 W. Lake St.

Bloomingdale, IL 60108

630-295-9111

BUFFALO GROVE

Buffalo Grove Bank & Trust

200 N. Buffalo Grove Rd.

Buffalo Grove, IL 60089

847-634-8400

CARY

Cary Bank & Trust

60 E. Main St.

Cary, IL 60013

847-462-8881

CHICAGO

Wintrust Commercial Banking —

Chicago Loan Office

190 South LaSalle Street

22th Floor

Chicago, IL 60603

312-291-2900

Wintrust Wealth Management —

HEADQUARTERS

222 South Riverside Plaza

28th Floor

Chicago, IL 60606

312-431-1700

Beverly Bank & Trust Company

Wintrust Wealth Management

10258 S. Western Ave.

Chicago, IL 60643

773-239-2265

Beverly Bank & Trust Company

1908 W. 103rd St.

Chicago, IL 60643

773-239-2265

Lincoln Park Community Bank

Wintrust Wealth Management

1946 W. Irving Park Rd.

Chicago, IL 60613

773-525-2023

Lincoln Park Community Bank

2139 W. Irving Park Rd.

Chicago, IL 60618

773-267-3990

Lincoln Park Community Bank

3234 N. Damen Ave.

Chicago, IL 60618

773-871-1986

Lincoln Park Community Bank

3050 N. Harlem Ave.

Chicago, IL 60634

773-622-5301

Lincoln Park Community Bank

2107 W. Irving Park Rd.

Chicago, IL 60618

773-539-1704

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

Wintrust Wealth Management

4343 W. Peterson Ave.

Chicago, IL 60646

773-545-5700

Ravenswood Bank

2300 W. Lawrence Ave.

Chicago, IL 60625

773-907-8100

CLARENDON HILLS

Clarendon Hills Bank

200 W. Burlington Ave.

Clarendon Hills, IL 60514

630-323-1240

CRYSTAL LAKE

Crystal Lake Bank & Trust Company

70 N. Williams St.

Crystal Lake, IL 60014

815-479-5200

Crystal Lake Bank & Trust Company

27 N. Main St.

Crystal Lake, IL 60014

Crystal Lake Bank & Trust Company

1000 McHenry Ave.

Crystal Lake, IL 60014

815-479-5715

DEERFIELD

Deerfield Bank & Trust

660 Deerfield Rd.

Deerfield, IL 60015

847-945-8660

DOWNERS GROVE

Community Bank of Downers Grove

Wintrust Wealth Management

1111 Warren Ave.

Downers Grove, IL 60515

630-968-4700

Community Bank of Downers Grove

718 Ogden Ave.

Downers Grove, IL 60515

630-435-3600

ELK GROVE VILLAGE

Elk Grove Village Bank & Trust

75 E. Turner Ave.

Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

847-364-0100

2010Annual Report

FRANKFORT

Old Plank Trail Community Bank

20901 S. LaGrange Rd.

Frankfort, IL 60423

815-464-6888

GENEVA

St. Charles Bank & Trust Company

2401 Kaneville Rd.

Geneva, IL 60134

630-845-4800

GLEN ELLYN

Glen Ellyn Bank & Trust

Wintrust Wealth Management

500 Roosevelt Rd.

Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

630-469-3000

GLENCOE

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

362 Park Ave.

Glencoe, IL 60022

847-835-1700

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

633 Vernon Ave.

Glencoe, IL 60022

GRAYSLAKE

State Bank of The Lakes

Wintrust Wealth Management

50 Commerce Dr.

Grayslake, IL 60030

847-548-2700

GURNEE

Gurnee Community Bank

Wintrust Wealth Management

675 N. O’Plaine Rd.

Gurnee, IL 60031

847-625-3800

HIGHLAND PARK

Highland Park Bank & Trust

1949 St. Johns Ave.

Highland Park, IL 60035

847-432-9988

Highland Park Bank & Trust

643 Roger Williams Ave.

Highland Park, IL 60035

847-266-0300

HIGHWOOD

Bank of Highwood — Fort Sheridan

507 Sheridan Rd.

Highwood, IL 60040

847-266-7600

HINSDALE

Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company

Wintrust Wealth Management

25 E. First St.

Hinsdale, IL 60521

630-323-4404

Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company

130 W. Chestnut St.

Hinsdale, IL 60521

630-655-8025

HOFFMAN ESTATES

Hoffman Estates Community Bank

1375 Palatine Rd.

Hoffman Estates, IL 60192

847-963-9500

Hoffman Estates Community Bank

2497 W. Golf Rd.

Hoffman Estates, IL 60169

847-884-0500

ISLAND LAKE

Wauconda Community Bank

229 E. State Rd.

Island Lake, IL 60042

847-487-3777

LAKE BLUFF

Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company

103 E. Scranton Ave.

Lake Bluff, IL 60044

847-615-4060

LAKE FOREST

Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company

Wintrust Wealth Management

727 N. Bank Ln.

Lake Forest, IL 60045

847-234-2882

Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company

780 N. Bank Ln.

Lake Forest, IL 60045

847-615-4022

Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company

911 S. Telegraph Rd.

Lake Forest, IL 60045

847-615-4098

Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company

Wintrust Wealth Management

810 S. Waukegan Rd.

Lake Forest, IL 60045

847-615-4080

LAKE VILLA

State Bank of The Lakes

345 S. Milwaukee Ave.

Lake Villa, IL 60046

847-265-0300

LIBERTYVILLE

Libertyville Bank & Trust Company

507 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Libertyville, IL 60048

847-367-6800

Libertyville Bank & Trust Company

201 E. Hurlburt Ct.

Libertyville, IL 60048

847-247-4045

Libertyville Bank & Trust Company

Wintrust Wealth Management

1200 S. Milwaukee Ave.

Libertyville, IL 60048

847-367-6800

LINDENHURST

State Bank of The Lakes

2031 Grand Ave.

Lindenhurst, IL 60046

847-356-5700

McHENRY

McHenry Bank & Trust

2205 N. Richmond Rd.

McHenry, IL 60050

815-344-6600

McHenry Bank & Trust

2730 W. Route 120

McHenry, IL 60051

815-344-5100

MOKENA

Old Plank Trail Community Bank

Wintrust Wealth Management

20012 Wolf Rd.

Mokena, IL 60448

708-478-4447

MOUNT PROSPECT

Ravenswood Bank

320 E. Northwest Highway

Mundelein, IL 60056

847-398-6100

MUNDELEIN

Mundelein Community Bank

1110 W. Maple Ave.

Mundelein, IL 60060

847-837-1110

NAPERVILLE

Naperville Bank & Trust

555 Fort Hill Dr.

Naperville, IL 60540

630-369-3555

Wintrust Financial Corporation

NEW LENOX

Old Plank Trail Community Bank

Wintrust Wealth Management

280 Veterans Pkwy.

New Lenox, IL 60451

815-485-0001

NORTH CHICAGO

North Chicago Community Bank

1801 Sheridan Rd.

North Chicago, IL 60064

847-473-3006

NORTHBROOK

Northbrook Bank & Trust Company

1100 Waukegan Rd.

Northbrook, IL 60062

847-418-2800

Northbrook Bank & Trust Company

875 Sanders Rd.

Northbrook, IL 60062

847-418-2850

NORTHFIELD

Northview Bank & Trust

Wintrust Wealth Management

245 Waukegan Rd.

Northfield, IL 60093

847-446-0245

Northview Bank & Trust

1751 Orchard Ln.

Northfield, IL 60093

847-441-1751

PALATINE

Palatine Bank & Trust

Wintrust Wealth Management

110 W. Palatine Rd.

Palatine, IL 60067

847-963-0047

PROSPECT HEIGHTS

Village Bank & Trust

1845 E. Rand Rd.

Prospect Heights, IL 60004

847-483-6000

RIVERSIDE

Riverside Bank

17 E. Burlington

Riverside, IL 60546

708-447-3222

ROSELLE

Roselle Bank & Trust

1350 W. Lake St.

Roselle, IL 60172

630-529-0100

SKOKIE

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

7800 Lincoln Ave.

Skokie, IL 60077

847-933-1900

SPRING GROVE

State Bank of The Lakes

1906 Holian Dr.

Spring Grove, IL 60081

815-675-3700

ST. CHARLES

St. Charles Bank & Trust Company

411 West Main St.

St. Charles, IL 60174

630-377-9500

VERNON HILLS

Vernon Hills Bank & Trust

Wintrust Wealth Management

1101 Lakeview Parkway

Vernon Hills, IL 60061

847-247-1300

WAUCONDA

Wauconda Community Bank

495 W. Liberty St.

Wauconda, IL 60084

847-487-2500

WESTERN SPRINGS

The Community Bank of Western Springs

Wintrust Wealth Management

1000 Hillgrove Ave.

Western Springs, IL 60558

708-246-7100

WHEATON

Wheaton Bank & Trust Company

211 S. Wheaton Ave.

Wheaton, IL 60187

630-690-1800

WILLOWBROOK

Community Bank of Willowbrook

6262 S. Route 83

Willowbrook, IL 60527

630-920-2700

WILMETTE

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

Wintrust Wealth Management

1145 Wilmette Ave.

Wilmette, IL 60091

847-853-1145

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

Wintrust Wealth Management

720 12th St.

Wilmette, IL 60091

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

351 Linden Ave.

Wilmette, IL 60091

WINNETKA

North Shore Community Bank & Trust Co.

576 Lincoln Ave.

Winnetka, IL 60093

847-441-2265

Wisconsin Banking & Wealth
Management Locations

APPLETON

Wintrust Wealth Management

200 East Washington Street

Appleton, WI 54911

920-734-1474

DELAFIELD

Town Bank of Delafield

400 Genesee St.

Delafield, WI 53018

262-646-6888

ELM GROVE

Town Bank of Elm Grove

13150 Watertown Plank Rd.

Elm Grove, WI 53122

262-789-8696

HARTLAND

Town Bank of Hartland

Wintrust Wealth Management

850 W. North Shore Dr.

Hartland, WI 53029

262-367-1900

MADISON

Town Bank of Madison

10 W. Mifflin St.

Madison, WI 53703

608-282-4840

MILWAUKEE

Town Bank Loan Processing Office

111 E. Kilbourn Ave.

Milwaukee, WI 53202

414-273-1799

WALES

Town Bank of Wales

511 N. Wales Rd.

Wales, WI 53183

262-968-1740

2010Annual Report

Other Locations

FIRST Insurance

Funding Corp.

450 Skokie Blvd., Suite 1000

Northbrook, IL 60062

847-374-3000

FIRST Life Funding

101 Hudson Street, 35th Floor

Jersey City, NJ 07302

201-332-7349

Broadway Premium Funding Corporation

1747 Veterans Memorial Highway

Suite 22

Islandia, NY 11749

212-791-7099

Tricom, Inc. of Milwaukee

N48 W16866 Lisbon Road

Menomonee Falls, WI 53051

262-509-6200

Wintrust Mortgage Corporation

Headquarters

1 South 660 Midwest Rd., Suite 100

Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois 60181

630-916-9299

Branch Offices

Phoenix, AZ	Highland Park, IL	Schaumburg, IL
Denver, CO	Highwood, IL	St. Charles, IL
Madison, GA	Hinsdale, IL	Tinley Park, IL
Algonquin, IL	Hoffman Estates, IL	Vernon Hills, IL
Arlington Heights, IL	Island Lake, IL	Wauconda, IL
Barrington, IL	Lake Bluff, IL	Western Springs, IL
Bloomington, IL	Lake Forest, IL	Wheaton, IL
Buffalo Grove, IL	Libertyville, IL	Willowbrook, IL
Cary, IL	McHenry, IL	Crown Point, IN
Champaign, IL	Mokena, IL	Greenwood, IN
Chicago, IL	Mundelein, IL	Indianapolis, IN
Clarendon Hills, IL	Naperville, IL	Overland Park, KS
Crystal Lake, IL	New Lenox, IL	Louisville, KY
Deerfield, IL	North Chicago, IL	Hanover, MD
Downers Grove, IL	Northbrook, IL	Pataskala, OH
Elk Grove Village, IL	Northfield, IL	Delafield, WI
Elmhurst, IL	Oakbrook Terrace, IL	Elm Grove, WI
Frankfort, IL	Palatine, IL	Hartland, WI
Geneva, IL	Prospect Heights, IL	Madison, WI
Glen Ellyn, IL	Riverside, IL	Wales, WI
Gurnee, IL	Roselle, IL

Corporate Information

Directors

Peter D. Crist (Chairman)

Bruce K. Crowther

Joseph F. Damico

Bert A. Getz, Jr.

H. Patrick Hackett, Jr.

Scott K. Heitmann

Charles H. James, III

Albin F. Moschner

Thomas J. Neis

Christopher J. Perry

Hollis W. Rademacher

Ingrid S. Stafford

Edward J. Wehmer

Public Listing and Market Symbol

The Company’s Common Stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market^® under the symbol WTFC. The Company’s warrants to purchase common stock are traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market^® under the symbol WTFCW.

Annual Meeting of Shareholders

May 26, 2011
10:00 a.m.
Deer Path Inn
255 E. Illinois Road
Lake Forest, Illinois 60045

Website Location

The Company maintains a financial relations internet website at the following location: www.wintrust.com

Form 10-K

The Annual Report on Form 10-K to the Securities and Exchange Commission is available on the Internet at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website. The address for the web site is: http: //www.sec.gov.

Transfer Agent

IST Shareholder Services
209 West Jackson Boulevard
Suite 903
Chicago, Illinois 60606
Telephone:      800-757-5755
Facsimile:       312-427-2879

Wintrust Financial Corporation