2020 MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. Annual Report

“We felt like this was a great way to extend our strategic focus. So despite the fact that the bank was also going through a period of looking at how to batten down the hatches in the face of the unknown, we were committed to launching this new venture in the Twin Cities.”

New Trust Team in Twin Cities

— THAIS WINKLEBLACK, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND TRUST DEPARTMENT MANAGER

O n the face of things, it might not seem as though 2020 was an ideal year for launching a significant new venture. But the creation of a trust services team in the Twin Cities was the culmination of a plan that had long been in the works. “We’ve been looking for three or four years to increase our wealthmanagement presence in the Twin Cities because that is such a large and fertilemarket for asset management,” says CEO Charlie Funk. “We just were not able to find the right people who fit our culture and who we thought would do a good job for us. But be- fore the pandemic started we began to get to know Sean Wenhamand Justin Parker. We were very impressed.” The Pandemic certainly slowed things down, but in the end MidWest One was able to hire Wenham and Parker during 2020’s fourth quarter. “One of our long time goals has been to increase non-interest income—in other words, fees—as a percentage of our total revenues,” Funk explains. “This is a key tactic in that strategy and I have every confidence that we will realize our goal.” Like Funk, Greg Turner, Executive Vice President for Wealth Management and Corporate Communications, was struck by the skills and commitment Wenham and Parker could bring to the MidWest One team. “We felt really good that we were able to attract a team as talented as Justin and Sean from a national financial firm. And the reason I think that happened was that they liked our culture,” Turner says. “Also, we are expanding on a very solid base of business in our two Iowa strongholds, Iowa City and Dubuque, and I think they were really excited about being a part of that.” Wenham confirms that idea, saying that when he thinks about what drew him and his longtime partner to MidWest One , two concepts come to mind: customer service and cultural integrity.

“As we learned about the operation of MidWest One Bank and particularly the trust group, we recognized that they have the customer squarely in focus in everything that they do. They don’t just talk about it. They do it,” Wenham explains. Wenham and Parker clearly saw that a shared culture and commitment permeates MidWest One ’s approach to business. “The culture makes all of the employees feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves,” says Wenham. It was this close alignment of philosophies that made an uncertain moment like 2020 into the right moment for MidWest One to make a move. “We all just clicked and felt like this was a great way to extend our strategic focus,” says Senior Vice President and Trust Department Manager Thais Winkleblack. “Sean and Justin are incredibly smart, hard-working, experienced professionals. We just felt like we would never find people that were this high quality. This was just a real opportunity. So despite the fact that the bank was also going through a period of time of looking at expense cutting and savings and how to batten down the hatches in the face of the unknown, we were committed to launching this new venture in the Twin Cities.”

Turner agrees wholeheartedly. “When you have a common value system and get excited about the opportunities that present themselves, I think that’s how the team came together. But what I’mmost proud of is that within all of that uncertainty, where a lot of financial institutions may be retrenching resources and don’t want to put resources toward a new team, our company saw the value in it and made a long term investment in a really challenging year. I’m really proud of MidWest One for doing that.” The new venture adds wealth management to the full range of other services MidWest One offers in the Twin Cities. In early 2021, Kong Her joined the Twin Cities team. This expansion of wealth manage- ment services has the potential to become a model for similar expansion in other MidWest One markets. That’s due in part to a winning combination of community bank values blended with the national financial firm expertise Wenham and Parker bring to the table. “Sean and Justin bring an understanding of what’s good about scale, and that passionate focus on client care means that they are lending a lot to our team as we develop resources to take better care of our customers and those who should be,” says Winkleblack. “So there’s a lot of energy that’s created between having a new venture launched and the skills and knowledge and experience that Sean and Justin can add. They both bring some leadership to this. They really are adding to the culture. We’re committed to retaining what we love about that small community banking feel while also moving in the direction of being able to serve clients who have sophisticated needs and wants.” For his part, Wenham is excited about a future that pays off years of planning by MidWest One leadership. “I think the vision that was established by the leadership is coming to fruition,” he says, “and we’re privileged to be part of that.”

David Schultes, Vice President, Private Banker Justin Parker, JD, CFP®, Vice President, Trust Officer Sean Wenham, First Vice President, Regional Trust Manager Kong Her, Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager

26 MidWest One Financial Group, Inc. 2020 Annual Report

MidWest One Financial Group, Inc. 2020 Annual Report 27