Meet Wes West, Chief Analytics Officer at Nomis
Nomis Solutions, the foremost provider of end-to-end pricing analytics and execution technology, is proud to kick off a new blog series authored by Wes West, Chief Analytics Officer. Drawing from his extensive experience and leadership roles in Retail, Strategy, Finance, and Treasury at prestigious institutions such as Huntington National Bank, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and First Manhattan Consulting Group, Wes offers invaluable insights into the world of financial analytics and strategic pricing.
In addition to working at leading financial institutions, Wes built the financial modeling practice and ran the deposit pricing practice at Novantas where he supported the largest financial institutions in the US, Canada, and abroad. His expertise has been instrumental in enhancing performance through advanced data management, robust analytics, and sophisticated statistical models.
Throughout his career, Wes has tackled numerous challenges, including managing CD maturity bulges, optimizing pricing strategies, and restructuring branch incentive plans for increased profitability. He has also spearheaded initiatives such as developing industry-leading CCAR PPNR forecast models, designing new FTP systems, and overseeing multi-billion-dollar interest rate hedge programs. He is a repeat-invite speaker at closed-session Fed events and was a member of the industry committee that developed Term SOFR. His active contributions to MRM boards and AI/ML sub-committees further underscore his leadership in the field.
In today’s fast-paced financial landscape, it might seem counterintuitive for a Chief Analytics Officer to suggest that most business decisions don’t require complex models. However, my extensive experience in the industry has taught me that this is often the case. In fact, at least 70% of actual business decision-making happens with support from quality reporting, 20% needs a few database queries, 9% requires a statistical model, less than 1% involves machine learning, and less than 0.1% needs AI.
THE REALITY OF BUSINESS DECISION-MAKING
Consider how your business operates today. Each month, a wealth of performance reports is generated, covering metrics such as customer retention quarter over quarter, conversion rates compared to the same month last year, and sales staff performance versus plan. Even qualitative concerns, like customer satisfaction and employee engagement, are included in these reports. This data helps identify areas of over-or under-performance and trends over time.
Under most conditions, a smart leader with access to the right reporting can set a strategy and delegate objectives, tactics, and tasks to their team without ever needing to consider complex regressions or advanced analytics.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Having access to reports is only part of the equation. The key to impactful decision-making lies in asking the right questions. In my previous role at a bank struggling with customer satisfaction, our team was tasked with improving our survey scores. There were many potential solutions: offering richer incentives, lowering lending rates, extending branch hours, or enhancing the mobile experience.
Instead of implementing broad changes, we analyzed and categorized customer complaint volumes. By identifying the issues generating the most complaints, we were able to prioritize and resolve them effectively. This approach taught us the importance of asking increasingly granular business questions. We moved from the broad “how do I improve customer satisfaction?” to specific queries like “how do I make the wire confirmation process easier?” This method of questioning allowed us to address the root causes of dissatisfaction and implement targeted improvements.
LEVERAGING THE NOMIS REPORTING SUITE
One of the aspects I appreciate most about the Nomis reporting suite is its design philosophy centered around asking the right questions. The platform allows business experts to start with a high-level overview and drill down into specific problem areas within the reporting software. This capability helps form and answer the business questions that drive meaningful change.
This article is the first part of our three-part series on essential (and sometimes provocative) insights for financial institutions aiming to leverage analytics for strategic advantage. In this article, we’ve explored the idea that most business decisions don’t require complex models and the importance of asking the right questions. In our next article, we will delve deeper into how models can answer specific types of questions and the importance of combining them with business insights for strategic value.
For more information and to access the full series, visit Nomis Solutions.
About the Author:
Wes West is the Chief Analytics Officer at Nomis Solutions, the foremost provider of end-to-end pricing analytics and execution technology. With a distinguished career at leading financial institutions, West brings unparalleled expertise and a track record of innovation to his role at Nomis. His extensive experience spans Retail, Strategy, Finance, and Treasury, offering unique insights into the world of financial analytics and strategic pricing. Connect with him on LinkedIn or reach out via email at wes.west@nomissolutions.com.
