Columbia Banking System, Inc.

Welcome to the Columbia Banking System fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentations, there will be a question and answer session. To enter a question at that time, please press star 11 on your telephone. Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to introduce Jackie Boland, investor relations director, to begin the call. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Valerie. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us as we review our fourth quarter 2023 results, which we released shortly after the market closed today. The earnings released in corresponding presentation, which we will refer to during our remarks this afternoon, are available on our website at ColumbiaBankingSystem.com. With me this afternoon are Clint Stein, President and CEO of Columbia Banking System, Chris Meriwell and Tori Nixon, the presidents of Umpel Bank, Ron Farnsworth, Chief Financial Officer, and Frank Namdar, Chief Credit Officer. After our prepared remarks, we will take your questions. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of federal securities law. For a list of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, please refer to slide two of our earnings presentation, as well as the disclosures contained within our SEC filings. We will also reference non-GAAP financial measures alongside our discussion of GAAP results. We encourage you to review the gap to non-gap reconciliations provided in our earnings release and throughout the earnings presentation. I will now turn the call over to Clint.

Thank you, Jackie. Good afternoon, everyone. 2023 was a tremendous year for Columbia. We closed and integrated our transformational merger with Umpqua Bank, expanding our footprint to encompass eight western states and creating one of the largest banks headquartered in the west. We achieved targeted net cost savings ahead of schedule and 6% above our original projection, even after taking franchise reinvestment into account. With the integration behind us, our priorities in 2024 and beyond have shifted to focus more fully on optimizing performance and driving shareholder value. The fourth quarter was noisy, and our results reflect that. The FDIC special assessment and other elevated expense items brought our quarterly expense run rate above prior guidance. Our cost of funds reflects the rate environment and the associated impacts of repricing CDs and higher-priced funding sources like public deposits and brokered funds. While these items mask the quality of our core deposit base, they do not dilute it. Relationship banking drives our franchise value, and it's the value proposition we bring to new and existing customers. Our fourth quarter results do not reflect this value, and we are focused on improving controllable variables offset macro-driven headwinds. Looking to the year ahead, the competitive environment for deposits and impact of higher rates is likely to persist, and the macro credit environment will likely normalize at minimum. We are well situated to benefit during times of stress should they emerge. Our talented associates, skilled franchise and offerings, and customer-focused business model provide us with the resources to win business and long-term drive consistent, repeatable performance. I'll now turn the call over to Ron.