FIRST WESTERN FINANCIAL, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)
NOTE 1 - ORGANIZATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Business and Basis of Presentation: The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of First Western Financial, Inc. ("FWFI"), incorporated in Colorado on July 18, 2002, and its direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries listed below (collectively referred to as the "Company", "we", "us", or "our").
FWFI is a bank holding company with financial holding company status registered with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. FWFI wholly owns the following subsidiaries: First Western Trust Bank (the "Bank") and Ryder, Stilwell Inc. ("RSI"). The Bank wholly owns the following subsidiaries, which are therefore indirectly wholly-owned by FWFI: First Western Merger Corporation ("Merger Corp"), and RRI, LLC ("RRI"). RSI and RRI are not active operating entities.
The Company provides a fully-integrated suite of wealth management services including, private banking, personal trust, investment management, mortgage loans, and institutional asset management services to individual and corporate clients principally in Colorado (metro Denver, Aspen, Boulder, Fort Collins and Vail Valley), Arizona (Phoenix and Scottsdale), California (Century City) and Wyoming (Jackson Hole and Laramie). The Company’s revenues are generated from its full range of product offerings as noted above, but principally from net interest income (the interest income earned on the Bank’s assets net of funding costs), fee-based wealth advisory, investment management, asset management and personal trust services, and net gains earned on mortgage loans.
The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") for interim financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. The December 31, 2020 condensed consolidated balance sheet has been derived from the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020.
In the opinion of management, all adjustments that were recurring in nature and considered necessary have been included for fair presentation of the Company’s financial position and results of operations. Operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the full year ending December 31, 2021. In preparing the condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could be significantly different from those estimates.
The condensed consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the SEC.
Consolidation: The Company’s policy is to consolidate all majority-owned subsidiaries in which it has a controlling financial interest and variable-interest entities where the Company is deemed to be the primary beneficiary. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Business Combinations and Divestitures: On May 15, 2020, the Company completed a branch purchase and assumption transaction ("Branch Acquisition") with Simmons Bank ("Simmons"). Management concluded that the acquisition represented a business combination, which is accounted for using the acquisition method, with the results of operations included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of the acquisition date.
On November 13, 2020, the Company completed the sale of its LA fixed income team and certain related advisory and sub-advisory arrangements to Lido Advisors, LLC and Oakhurst Advisors, LLC. As a result of this transaction, the Company recorded a contingent consideration asset with an initial fair value estimated at $3.1 million to be received in quarterly payments over three years and a portion will be received in perpetuity. The asset is carried at its net present value in our Other assets line item of the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Use of Estimates: To prepare financial statements in conformity with GAAP, management makes estimates and assumptions based on available information. These estimates and assumptions affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and the disclosures provided, and actual results could differ. Information available which could affect these judgments include, but are not limited to, changes in interest rates, changes in the performance of the economy, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in the financial condition of borrowers. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change include: the determination of the allowance for loan losses, the evaluation of goodwill impairment, and the fair value of financial instruments.