First Horizon Corporation

Good morning and welcome to the First Horizon National Corps Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ellen Taylor, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thanks so much. Good morning, everybody, and thanks so much for joining us. We know it's the end of what's been a really busy week. On our call today, our CEO, Brian Jordan, and CFO, BJ Loesch, will provide an overview of our results, and then we'll be happy to take questions. We're really pleased to have Susan Springfield, our Chief Credit Officer, with us to assist in that effort. Our remarks today will reference the earnings presentation, which is available at ir.fhnc.com. I should note that we will make forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and you should review the factors on page two of our presentation and on our SEC filings that may cause our results to differ from those expectations. Our statements reflect our views today, and we aren't obligated to update them. We will also address our adjusted results in our remarks, which are non-GAAP measures, and you should absolutely review the GAAP information in our supplement and on page three of our presentation. And with that, I'm going to hand it over to Brian.

Thank you, Ellen. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us all. In this most unusual environment, pandemic-related economic slowdown, we've had a very good quarter, and I'm very proud of the work that our team has accomplished. On July 1st, we closed our MOE or merger of equals with Iberia Bank. This merger creates a leading southern franchise with strong demographics and the ability to drive efficiency and create significant shareholder value. Given the disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Excuse me, pandemic. Our associates across the expanded platform have been working to tirelessly support clients and communities by originating PPP loans, providing loan deferral assistance, waiving fees, all while effectively managing risk. At the same time, they have continued to ensure that execution on the Iberia integration as well as the branch acquisition remain on track. Our expanded franchise strengthens our geographic reach and depth, provides improved ability to better serve our customers and community, provides enhanced growth opportunities, and gives us scale to compete more efficiently. This quarter we delivered solid results with strong P&R growth driven by strong fee income performance and good expense discipline as our countercyclical businesses helped mitigate environmental headwinds. Our fixed income business delivered strong results and NII remained relatively stable as we grew average loans led by loans to mortgage companies and the PPP portfolio. During the quarter, We built our loan loss reserve by $93 million, raising our allowance to loans coverage to ratio to 1.6% or 2% excluding lower risk loans to mortgage companies and the PPP portfolio. We are continuing heightened monitoring and review of the loan portfolios in order to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on our customer base. and ensure that we are prudently managing risk while helping support customers and the economy overall. Vijay will give you details about economic assumptions supporting our reserve level, but I believe we are taking an appropriately cautious view. In the quarter, we further bolstered our capital with debt and preferred share issuances. As expected, Our CET1 ratio increased over 70 basis points link quarter to 9.3%, which positions us well as we look toward the second half of 2020. While we acknowledge that the microeconomic backdrop and industry landscape remain very challenging, we believe our combined company remains well positioned to drive enhanced shareholder value over the medium term. With that, I'll turn it over to B.J. to take you through the details. B.J.?