NO. 1 FOR CUSTOMER ADVOCACY IN ALBERTA’S COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE MARKET Why do we measure Because we believe, outrageously, that banking can change people's lives for the better. And good things happiness? happen when happiness becomes your purpose. 56 ATB-WIDE CLIENT ADVOCACY SCORE 35,867 NEW CUSTOMERS 8484%% NO.13 TEAM MEMBER PERMISSION ENGAGEMEN T, Registered Investor Services in the United States, and created other U.S. products, including the “the emotional commitment TO LAUNCH BEST WORKPLACES In the past year, ATB accepted a number of U.S. PROPERTY LOAN an employee has to the IN CANADA new missions for the greater good of our * customers, including: organization and its goals.” Great Place to Work® TRACKIT an online tool that helps customers securely view their accounts from multiple institutions BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: and analyze their spending patterns BEST EMPLOYERS One of the ONE-OFF PAYMENTS a convenient, cost-effective, and secure way IN CANADA 50 50 MOST ENGAGED to manage certain corporate and commercial WE RECEIVED Aon Hewitt payments a Lipper Fund award for 2014 Best Mixed Asset WORKPLACES Fund Group for our Compass Portfolio Series (Reuters) in North America PHASE ONE OF A NEW Achievers CLIENT PORTAL ALBERTA’S to give Investor Services clients easy access to WE DIFFERENTIATED TOP EMPLOYERS electronic statements, reduce paper, and save ATB through the Agriculture Centre time for team members and clients of Expertise MediaCorp GROUP FINANCIAL SERVICES WE INTRODUCED “Engaged employees actually care about their which has helped 24 client companies offer a start-up package to make it easier for competitive banking packages to employees Albertans to start their own business TOP EMPLOYERS FOR work and their company. They don’t work just YOUNG PEOPLE for a paycheck, or just for the next promotion, MediaCorp but work on behalf of the organization’s goals.” * HAPPY TEAM MEMBERS + % $ $ HAPPY CUSTOMERS = 66.0 328.7M 43.1B HAPPY NUMBERS EFFICIENCY RATIO NET INCOME TOTAL ASSETS * Kruse, Kevin. Forbes, June 22, 2012, at http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/06/22/employee-engagement-what-and-why/. NO. 1 FOR CUSTOMER ADVOCACY IN ALBERTA’S COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE MARKET Why do we measure Because we believe, outrageously, that banking can change people's lives for the better. And good things happiness? happen when happiness becomes your purpose. 56 ATB-WIDE CLIENT ADVOCACY SCORE 35,867 NEW CUSTOMERS 8484%% NO.13 TEAM MEMBER PERMISSION ENGAGEMEN T, Registered Investor Services in the United States, and created other U.S. products, including the “the emotional commitment TO LAUNCH CANADA’S TOP 50 In the past year, ATB accepted a number of U.S. PROPERTY LOAN an employee has to the BEST WORKPLACES new missions for the greater good of our organization and its goals.”* Globe and Mail customers, including: TRACKIT an online tool that helps customers securely view their accounts from multiple institutions BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: and analyze their spending patterns BEST EMPLOYERS IN CANADA One of the ONE-OFF PAYMENTS a convenient, cost-effective, and secure way Aon Hewitt 50 50 MOST ENGAGED to manage certain corporate and commercial WE RECEIVED payments a Lipper Fund award for 2014 Best Mixed Asset WORKPLACES Fund Group for our Compass Portfolio Series BEST WORKPLACES (Reuters) IN CANADA in North America PHASE ONE OF A NEW Achievers CLIENT PORTAL Great Place to Work to give Investor Services clients easy access to WE DIFFERENTIATED electronic statements, reduce paper, and save ATB through the Agriculture Centre ALBERTA’S time for team members and clients of Expertise TOP EMPLOYERS GROUP FINANCIAL SERVICES WE INTRODUCED MediaCorp “Engaged employees actually care about their which has helped 24 client companies offer a start-up package to make it easier for competitive banking packages to employees Albertans to start their own business work and their company. They don’t work just TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE for a paycheck, or just for the next promotion, MediaCorp but work on behalf of the organization’s goals.” * HAPPY TEAM MEMBERS + % $ $ HAPPY CUSTOMERS = 66.0 328.7M 43.1B HAPPY NUMBERS EFFICIENCY RATIO NET INCOME TOTAL ASSETS * Kruse, Kevin. Forbes, June 22, 2012, at http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/06/22/employee-engagement-what-and-why/. BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR 2015 Annual Report Copyright © 2015 by ATB Financial. All rights reserved. We did a lot of things right in 2014–15. I am proudest of three things we did simultaneously: We put strong leaders in place and our team members told us they were more engaged in their work and more productive. Secondly, with those engaged team members serving them, our customers said they liked dealing with ATB and would recommend us—and they did! Lastly, we increased our profitability. All three of those factors— engagement, loyalty, and profitability—are at the highest levels ever attained by ATB. It’s easy to excel at any one of these factors at the expense of the others. But to get all three of them right—at the same time— is exactly what we set out to achieve. Still, we can do better. By this time next year, ATB will be even more intentional and consistent in inspiring our team members and delivering top-notch customer service. We believe we can transform banking by making it work for people. When we do that, we will truly be more than a bank to Alberta. DAVE MOWAT President and CEO, and Alberta Venture’s 2014 Businessperson of the Year CONTENTS By this time next year... CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER FOUR 2014–15 Operational Highlights 5 The Story Behind the Story 61 2014–15 Financial Highlights 8 The Story 62 Message From Our Board Chair 11 Message From Our President and CEO 13 CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER FIVE Customer Stories 18 Management’s Discussion and Analysis 63 CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER SIX Corporate Governance 41 Consolidated Financial Statements 142 Directors 44 Senior Executives and Officers 49 Disclosure 51 Corporate Social Responsibility 53 CHAPTER SEVEN Branches and Agencies 58 Glossary 206 3 FOREWORD rom our roots as a single branch in Rocky Mountain financial services to over 710,000 Albertans and Alberta- F House back in 1938, ATB Financial has grown into a based businesses. quintessential Alberta success story. We are a cornerstone in rural Alberta, as the only financial ATB is the largest Alberta-based deposit-taking financial institution in more than 120 rural communities. With 172 institution, with $43.1 billion in assets, $1.5 billion in branches and 135 agencies throughout the province, plus operating revenues, and $328.7 million in net income. our own Customer Care Centre based in Calgary, we are We are also a significant employer across Alberta, with there when you need us. Our Internet, mobile, and telephone almost 5,300 team members in 244 communities providing banking applications allow customers to bank at their personal, business, agriculture, corporate, and investor convenience, no matter when or where. CHAPTER ONE OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS 2014–15 Happy Customers • Obtained an ATB-wide customer advocacy score1 of 56, • Extended ATB’s knowledge leadership in supporting our highest ever small and medium-sized businesses through the Business Centre of Expertise • Welcomed 35,867 new customers • Differentiated ATB through the Agriculture Centre • Opened one new branch (Chestermere) and two new of Expertise, making ATB the place to go for farmers agencies (Edmonton and Calgary) and ranchers • Strengthened connections among all our areas of • Introduced a start-up package to make it easier for expertise in order to connect customers with the right Albertans to start their own business team members and solutions • Launched One-Off Payments, a convenient, cost- • Launched TrackIt, an online tool that helps customers effective, secure way to manage certain payments securely view their accounts from multiple institutions and analyze their spending patterns • Hosted the third-annual investor conference with AltaCorp Capital, and achieved record attendance • Expanded the convenience and speed of our mobile banking applications like Interac email money transfer • Launched phase one of our new Investor Services and made them available for Apple, Android, and client portal to give clients easy access to electronic BlackBerry mobile devices statements, reduce paper, and save time for team members and clients • Launched Group Financial Services, which has helped 24 client companies offer competitive banking packages • Registered nationally in the United States to seamlessly to employees serve Canadian clients who live in the U.S. part time • Introduced the U.S. property loan and other U.S. products • Improved the Online Advice tool and reconnected goal- planning advisors with partners throughout ATB • Received a Lipper Fund award for 2014 Best Mixed Asset Fund Group for Investor Services’ Compass Portfolio Series2 (Reuters) 1 Customer advocacy index (CAI) is ATB’s standard metric, based on surveys conducted by TNS Canadian Facts and NRG Research Group on ATB’s behalf, for measuring a customer’s willingness to continue to bank with ATB and to recommend ATB to others, allowing us to benchmark ourselves against other financial institutions in Alberta. Possible scores range from –20 to 90. 2 www.compassportfolios.com/NewsRoom/Pages/Compass-Portfolios-Rated-in-the-Top-10-Percent-of-Peers,-Awarded-Lipper-and-FundGrade-A+-.aspx 5 CHAPTER ONE REVENUE EARNED BY AREA OF EXPERTISE • 35% Retail Financial Services • 23% Corporate Financial Services • 22% Business and Agriculture • 11%