How to Play Bank Reform: Q&A

So which banks are safe bets, given the myriad of reform proposals?

If you want just a very solid, straightforward lender, a company like a UMB Financial or Hudson City. These were banks that never fell prey to any of the gizmos of Wall Street [and] were basically very strong credit cultures. JPMorgan is a great asset play. On the other side, if you want to play the smartest guys in the room there is always Goldman Sachs. So there is really a number of different ways you can play the sector right now.

What's your top pick?

UMB Financial. I'm just not smart enough to figure out where this is all going to go so I want to play with the guys who are very safe, very smart and just don't make mistakes. So I will go with a UMB.

-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.

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