President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Commerce Bancshares
Search every verified John Kemper interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a March 2025 podcast appearance, John Kemper discussed the 2023 banking crisis, attributing several bank failures to the government's COVID-era stimulus and low interest rates, which he said led banks to make long-dated loans at low yields. When rates rose, funding costs exceeded loan yields, creating a mismatch that threatened bank net worth and triggered deposit runs. Kemper described banks as operating with high leverage, where small losses can wipe out equity, and emphasized the importance of managing risks that occur infrequently. Kemper also addressed the role of artificial intelligence in banking, stating it is already used for risk scoring, anti-money-laundering detection, and customer service, and predicted it will significantly change credit decisioning while human accountability remains essential. He offered investment advice, recommending index funds and early, consistent saving to benefit from compound interest. When discussing hiring, Kemper said he looks for curiosity, problem-solving, and leadership, and avoids "brilliant jerks" who are smart but toxic to culture.
“Last year there were a number of banks that actually failed, some among the biggest bank failures in American history, and it all kind of feeds back into what happened with COVID and the government response, where a lot of money was pumped into the economy and interest rates were driven down to stimulate borrowing.”
“Banks made a ton of long-dated fixed rate loans like mortgages yielding around 3%, but then funding costs rose to over 5%, so banks were borrowing at higher rates than they were lending, which is a good way to lose money.”
“The run on the bank last year was essentially depositors withdrawing money because the banks' net worth was threatened by the mismatch between low-yielding loans and high funding costs, leading to some of the largest bank failures in history.”
“AI is already helping banks with risk scoring, detecting money laundering, and customer service, and in the longer term, it will significantly change credit decisioning and other banking operations, though human accountability remains essential.”
“Banks operate with high leverage, typically around 10 to 1, meaning a small loss can wipe out shareholder equity, so managing risk carefully is critical to avoid catastrophic failure.”
“You want to make sure your bank is going to be around for a long time, so staying power and understanding risks that happen once every 10, 20, or 30 years is a big part of what we try to achieve.”
“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest, so starting to invest early and putting money aside to let it double repeatedly is the best way to build wealth over time.”
“A really good investment strategy is to buy an index fund, owning a broad array of companies, because the market is pretty smart and trying to beat it consistently is far-fetched.”
“Commerce Bankshares is a public company and is about the 40th biggest bank in the country by balance sheet size but ranks 20th by market capitalization, indicating a higher valuation relative to its size.”
“When hiring, I look for curiosity, problem-solving ability, leadership, and the ability to build consensus and bring people along, while avoiding 'brilliant jerks' who are smart but toxic to culture.”
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