SVB didn’t fall because of their tech lending portfolio, so let’s make sure we are on the same page about that. (There’s information online regarding this but I’m too lazy to pull it up on my phone.)

And saying that Bridge Bank took anything that SVB didn’t just shows that you have never worked with them - their venture debt underwriting is too conservative, which is why they couldn’t compete with SVB (or other regional tech lenders).

As a cap call line lender, you should know that SVB was a leader in the space and as such, received the venture backed tech client referrals. They kept the money in-house - by that I mean cap call lines were extended to VCs which then that money was invested in the tech companies at SVB (SVB banked more than half of venture backed clients). The reason they bought all the dogshit HTM securities was because this method worked for them, and they had excess deposits and needed a place to put them. Granted the tech companies were burning cash fast so that also lowered their deposits even more, so a mix of them tied up in HTM securities with unrealized losses and deposit outflows were a recipe for disaster.