Insights / White Paper / 2027 Planning

White Paper · 2027 Portfolio Planning

Many projects.
Not enough capacity.

Before your 2027 portfolio is final, answer one question: “If we approve this project, what are we willing to stop, defer, or resource differently?” For most banks, the honest answer is “nothing.” That’s the problem.

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Start a Stop List.

Most portfolios rank initiatives without removing any. A plan without a Stop List isn't a plan. It's a wish list.

Pay the Capacity Tax first.

Regulatory, risk, and resilience work uses capacity before any new project is approved. Plan around what’s left.

AI adds load before it saves it.

Every AI pilot draws on the same data, risk, and IT people as everything else in the portfolio.

Reprioritize before you hire.

If your people could do the work once something stops, you don’t need more staff. You need a decision.

White paper · 2027 Portfolio Planning

The issue usually isn’t project management. It’s portfolio capacity.

Banks your size carry big-bank ambitions with a fraction of the bench. A handful of competing initiatives can absorb the leadership attention, specialized talent, and dollars the strategy depends on.

Projects miss milestones because the same people are supporting several initiatives at once.

Leaders can’t say which initiatives would stop if resources were cut.

Strategic projects stay open for months or years without clear evidence of business value.

Portfolio capacity checklist

Is your 2027 portfolio overcommitted?

Ten questions, about five minutes. Answer for your bank as it operates today, not as the plan says it should. Your answers stay in your browser.

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Answer all 10 to see your results.
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Your result

Where to look first

Inside the paper

From a project list to a portfolio you can deliver

  • Eight questions: every initiative should answer before it’s approved.
  • The Stop List: how one division stopped or deferred 16 of 74 initiatives and freed about 15% of its delivery capacity.
  • Run, Improve, Grow, and the Capacity Tax: how to balance mandatory and discretionary work.
  • Internal, Consulting, Staff Aug, or Hybrid: a simple test for choosing.
  • The C-Suite Test: how one leadership team decided what to stop.
  • What to measure: so portfolio discipline shows up in results.

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Jim Kaminski
About the author

Jim Kaminski

 

Jim has spent more than 30 years leading and advising banks through transformation, in a career that spans BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC, Huntington, Bank One, and Accenture. His work covers operations, retail and commercial banking, mortgage, digital, and risk, and it rests on a conviction that strategy without execution is worthless. At Newbold, he helps community, regional, and large institutions turn strategic plans into portfolios their people can deliver.

Before your 2027 portfolio is final.

Schedule a 30-minute portfolio capacity review. Jim Kaminski will walk your team through the questions that reveal whether your portfolio is overcommitted, and where a deeper look could free up capacity.

Jim Kaminski, Practice Lead, Banking & Operational Excellence
Typical response within 1 business day. 100% Confidential.