Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.

Good morning and welcome to Washington Trust Bank Corp Inc's conference call. My name is Elliot and I'll be your operator today. If participants need assistance during the call at any time, please press star zero. Participants interested in asking a question at the end of the call should press star one to get in the queue. Today's call is being recorded. And now I'll turn the call over to Elizabeth B. Echol, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Corporate Communications Officer. Ms. Echol.

Good morning. Thank you, Elliot. Welcome to Washington Trust Bancorp's third quarter 2022 conference call. Joining us for today's call are members of Washington Trust Executive Team, Ned Handy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Gim, President, Chief Operating Officer, Ron Osberg, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and Bill Ray, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. Please note that today's presentation may contain forward-looking statements and that actual results could differ materially from what is discussed on today's call. Our complete safe harbor statement is contained in our earnings press release, which was issued yesterday, and other documents that are filed with the SEC. These materials and other public filings are available on our investor relations site at ir.washtrust.com. Washington Trust trades on NASDAQ under the symbol WASH. I'm now pleased to introduce today's host, Washington Trust Chairman and CEO, Ned Handy.

Thank you, Beth. Good morning, and thank you for joining our third quarter call. We value your time and your interest in Washington Trust. I'll provide some commentary on the quarter and our view of the current environment, and then Ron Osberg will review our financial performance. After our remarks, Mark Gim and Bill Ray will join us, and we will answer any questions you may have about the quarter. We're pleased to report that Washington Trust posted solid third quarter results with net income of $18.7 million, or $1.08 per diluted share. We saw very strong loan growth, which helped optimize our balance sheet in this rising rate environment. Commercial loans grew by 8%, with strong credit formation, strong construction funding, and a slowdown in payoffs. Margin expanded, and we delivered an all-time quarterly high in net interest income. Loan and in-market deposit growth have positioned the balance sheet to continue to offset pressure in our two main fee drivers, wealth management and mortgage banking. Our returns on average assets and average equity remain strong and asset quality did as well. The diversity of our revenue streams combined with credit discipline and strategic organic growth enabled a strong third quarter. Ron will provide details about our results in his comments. The markets we serve continue to provide us with quality growth opportunities. We opened our New Haven commercial lending office in July and now have five lenders in that market, supported by a new cash management hire and complemented by our strong wealth management and residential mortgage teams in Connecticut. We have operated in Connecticut successfully for years, but this commitment to the market will help establish our brand and leverage our diverse offerings. We announced our intention to add three new branch locations in Rhode Island in 2023. These branches, which are all in various stages of gaining federal, state, and local approvals, will position us well to better serve the full Rhode Island community and to continue our in-market deposit growth. Our latest branch additions in East Greenwich and Cumberland, Rhode Island have demonstrated the appeal of our high-touch service model in the marketplace. Our mortgage banking business has slowed as rates rise but continues to carry a relatively strong pipeline and weekly application levels and has added to strong portfolio loan growth over the past few quarters. The nature of the markets has changed the balance between portfolio growth and loan sales, so while gains on loan sales are down, quality assets have been added to the balance sheet. We are also finding opportunities to attract new loan officers in this environment, a testament to our long-term, consistent approach to the business. As we indicated in our press release, four wealth management advisors resigned recently. They were from our Wellesley, Massachusetts office of our registered investment advisor subsidiary, Washington Trust Advisors. As you know, this Wellesley office was formerly known as Weston Financial Group, a business we acquired back in 2005. In October, we have seen some AUM outflow and expect we will see more over the coming months. Ron will provide some guidance on the forward-looking financial impact. Washington Trust remains committed to growing this key business segment across the markets we serve and we have seen positive net organic growth in clients over recent quarters despite market volatility. As always, we will stay focused for opportunities to grow our wealth management business both organically and through M&As and plan to more than rebuild AUM levels over time. As we look forward and navigate the uncertainties in the local and global economies, we're even more committed to providing our customers, the communities we serve, and our employees with the highest quality experience available. As inflation continues to burden the entire economy, we expect further Fed action and have planned accordingly. We continue to invest in technology and process improvement to allow our employees to serve customers effectively and efficiently, in person or digitally, and to assure system resiliency. The landscape remains somewhat uncertain, but we are well capitalized and our balance sheet is in good shape to continue on our strategic path of quality growth. We are confident in the strength of our diversified business model, and in our dedicated and talented employees. I'll now turn the call over to Ron for comments on the third quarter financial results. Ron?