As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12, 2019

Registration No. 333-________

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.

Pioneer Bank 401(k) Plan

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

652 Albany-Shaker Rd.

Albany, NY 12211

(518) 730-3999

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

Thomas L. Amell

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.

652 Albany-Shaker Rd.

Albany, NY 12211

(518) 730-3999

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

Copies to:

Benjamin M. Azoff, Esq.

Jeffrey M. Cardone, Esq.

Eric Luse, Esq.

Luse Gorman, PC

5335 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 780

Washington, D.C. 20015

(202) 274-2000

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this registration statement becomes effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box: x

If this Form is filed to register additional shares for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering: ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering: ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering: ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ¨

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

Prospectus Supplement

Interests in

PIONEER BANK

401(k) SAVINGS PLAN

Offering of Participation Interests of up to 1,527,370 Shares of

PIONEER BANCORP, INC.

Common Stock

In connection with the reorganization of Pioneer Savings Bank (“Pioneer Bank”), a New York-chartered savings bank, into the mutual holding company structure (the “Reorganization”), Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., a newly-formed Maryland corporation (“Pioneer Bancorp), is offering shares of its common stock for sale at $10.00 per share. Following the Reorganization, it is expected that shares of Pioneer Bancorp common stock (“Common Stock”) will be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Markets under the symbol “PBFS.”

In connection with the stock offering, Pioneer Bancorp is allowing participants in the Pioneer Bank 401(k) Savings Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) to make a one-time election to purchase participation interests in shares of Common Stock through the 401(k) Plan. Based upon the value of the 401(k) Plan assets at December 31, 2018, the trustee of the 401(k) Plan could purchase up to 1,527,370 shares of Common Stock, assuming a purchase price of $10.00 per share. As a participant in the 401(k) Plan, you may direct the trustee of the 401(k) Plan to invest up to 100% of your 401(k) Plan account in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock at the time of the stock offering. This prospectus supplement relates to the one-time election of 401(k) Plan participants to direct the trustee of the 401(k) Plan to invest their 401(k) Plan accounts in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock at the time of the stock offering.

Before you consider investing, you should read the prospectus of Pioneer Bancorp dated [DATE], which is provided with this prospectus supplement. It contains detailed information regarding the Reorganization and related stock offering of Pioneer Bancorp and the financial condition, results of operations and business of Pioneer Bank. This prospectus supplement provides information regarding the 401(k) Plan. You should read this prospectus supplement together with the prospectus and keep both for future reference.

________________________________

For a discussion of risks that you should consider, see “Risk Factors” beginning on page 18 of the prospectus.

The interests in the 401(k) Plan and the offering of the shares of Common Stock have not been approved or disapproved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the New York State Department of Financial Services, the Securities and Exchange Commission or any other federal or state agency. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The securities offered in this prospectus supplement are not deposits or accounts and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

This prospectus supplement may be used only in connection with offers and sales by Pioneer Bancorp in the stock offering, of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock acquired by the 401(k) Plan. No one may use this prospectus supplement to reoffer or resell interests in shares of Common Stock acquired through the 401(k) Plan.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus supplement and the prospectus. Pioneer Bancorp, Pioneer Bank and the 401(k) Plan have not authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different.

This prospectus supplement does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make an offer or solicitation in that jurisdiction. Neither the delivery of this prospectus supplement and the prospectus nor any sale of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock shall under any circumstances imply that there has been no change in the affairs of Pioneer Bancorp, Pioneer Bank, or the 401(k) Plan since the date of this prospectus supplement, or that the information contained in this prospectus supplement or incorporated by reference is correct as of any time after the date of this prospectus supplement.

The date of this prospectus supplement is [DATE].

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE OFFERING

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN

Introduction

Pioneer Bank originally adopted the Pioneer Bank 401(k) Savings Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) effective as of January 1, 1990. The 401(k) Plan is a tax-qualified plan with a cash or deferred compensation feature established in accordance with the requirements under Section 401(a) and Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

Pioneer Bank intends that the 401(k) Plan, in operation, will comply with the requirements under Section 401(a) and Section 401(k) of the Code. Pioneer Bank will adopt any amendments to the 401(k) Plan that may be necessary to ensure the continuing qualified status of the 401(k) Plan under the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations.

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). The Plan is an “individual account plan” other than a “money purchase pension plan” within the meaning of ERISA. As such, the 401(k) Plan is subject to all of the provisions of Title I (Protection of Employee Benefit Rights) and Title II (Amendments to the Code Relating to Retirement Plans) of ERISA, except for the funding requirements contained in Part 3 of Title I of ERISA which by their terms do not apply to an individual account plan (other than a money purchase plan). The Plan is not subject to Title IV (Plan Termination Insurance) of ERISA. The funding requirements contained in Title IV of ERISA are not applicable to participants or beneficiaries under the 401(k) Plan.

Reference to Full Text of Plan. The following portions of this prospectus supplement summarize certain provisions of the 401(k) Plan. They are not complete and are qualified in their entirety by the full text of the 401(k) Plan. Copies of the 401(k) Plan are available to all employees by filing a request with the 401(k) Plan administrator c/o Pioneer Bank, Attn: Susan Hollister. You are urged to read carefully the full text of the 401(k) Plan.

Eligibility and Participation

Employees who are at least age 21 and have worked for Pioneer Bank for at least three months are eligible to enter the 401(k) Plan on the first day of the next month following the date on which the employee meets the eligibility requirements. All employees except for union employees, leased employees, and employees who are not classified as salaried or commission-paid employees are eligible to participate in the 401(k) Plan upon meeting the eligibility requirements. The Plan Year is January 1 to December 31.

As of December 31, 2018, there were approximately 239 employees and former employees eligible to participate in the 401(k) Plan.

Contributions Under the Plan

Salary Deferrals. Eligible employees will automatically have 6% of their salary deferred as a pre-tax contribution; however, you may elect to change or stop this automatic deferral at any time. You are permitted to defer, on a pre-tax basis, up to 100% of your compensation, subject to certain restrictions imposed by the Code, and to have that amount contributed to the 401(k) Plan on your behalf. You may further elect to designate your salary deferrals as pre-tax contributions or after-tax Roth contributions. For purposes of the 401(k) Plan, “compensation” means your total wages received from Pioneer Bank, with all pre-tax contributions added. “Compensation” includes your total taxable wages or salary, including any salary deferrals under the 401(k) Plan or any other pre-tax salary reduction contributions you may make to any other plans maintained by Pioneer Bank. In 2019, the annual compensation of each participant taken into account under the 401(k) Plan is limited to $280,000. (Limits established by the Internal Revenue Service are subject to increase pursuant to an annual cost-of-living adjustment, as permitted by the Code). You may elect to modify the amount contributed to the 401(k) Plan by filing a new elective deferral agreement with the 401(k) Plan administrator at the beginning of the next payroll period.

Employer Matching Contributions. Pioneer Bank will make matching contributions to the 401(k) Plan, equal to 100% of the amount contributed for the first 1% of the participant’s plan compensation, plus 50% of the amount contributed between 1% and 6% of the participant’s plan compensation.

Discretionary Employer Contributions. Pioneer Bank may make discretionary employer contributions to the 401(k) Plan.

Qualified Non-Elective Contributions. Pioneer Bank may also make discretionary qualified non-elective contributions (“QNEC”) to the 401(k) Plan. You will be automatically 100% vested in any QNECs.

Rollover Contributions. You are permitted to make rollover contributions to the 401(k) Plan.

Limitations on Contributions

Limitations on Employee Salary Deferrals. For the Plan Year beginning January 1, 2019, the amount of your before-tax contributions may not exceed $19,000 per calendar year. In addition, if you are at least 50 years old in 2019, you will be able to make a “catch-up” contribution of up to $6,000 in addition to the $19,000 limit. The “catch-up” contribution limit may be adjusted periodically by law, based on changes in the cost of living. Contributions in excess of these limits, as applicable to you, are known as excess deferrals. If you defer amounts in excess of these limitations, as applicable to you, your gross income for federal income tax purposes will include the excess in the year of the deferral. In addition, unless the excess deferral is distributed before April 15 of the following year, it will be taxed again in the year distributed. Income on the excess deferral distributed by April 15 of the immediately succeeding year will be treated, for federal income tax purposes, as earned and received by you in the tax year in which the contribution is made.

Contribution Limit. Generally, the law imposes a maximum limit on the amount of contributions you may receive under the 401(k) Plan. This limit applies to all contributions to the 401(k) Plan, including your salary deferrals and all other employer contributions made on your behalf during the year, excluding earnings and any transfers/rollovers. For the Plan Year beginning January 1, 2019, this total cannot exceed the lesser of $56,000 or 100% of your annual base compensation.

Benefits Under the Plan

Vesting. At all times, you have a fully vested, nonforfeitable interest in the salary deferrals you have made to the 401(k) Plan and in any employer safe harbor contributions made to your 401(k) Account by Pioneer Bank. Employer contributions (except for QNECs and safe harbor contributions) are subject to a six-year vesting schedule such that the first 20% of your account attributable to employer matching and employer discretionary contributions after two years of service and an additional 20% each year thereafter until fully vested after six years. In the event of your death, disability or attainment of the early retirement age (the earlier of (1) attainment of age 60 and the completion of 20 years of service; or (2) the completion of 30 years of service), your employer contributions would immediately become 100% vested.

Withdrawals and Distributions from the Plan

Applicable federal law requires the 401(k) Plan to impose substantial restrictions on the right of a Plan participant to withdraw amounts held for his or her benefit under the 401(k) Plan prior to the participant’s termination of employment with the employer.

Withdrawals upon Termination. You may request a distribution from your account following your termination of employment. Following your termination, you may elect to leave your account balance in the 401(k) Plan and defer commencement of receipt of your vested balance until no later than April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which you attain age 70½. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the value of your vested account balance does not exceed $1,000, your vested account balance will be distributed from the 401(k) Plan, whether or not you consent.

Withdrawal upon Disability. If you are disabled in accordance with the definition of disability under the 401(k) Plan, you will be entitled to the same withdrawal rights as if you had terminated your employment.

Withdrawal upon Death. If you die while you are a participant in the 401(k) Plan, the value of your entire account will be payable to your beneficiary in accordance with the 401(k) Plan.

In-Service Distribution. While employed, you are eligible to receive an in-service distribution from your account after your attainment of age 59½. However, you will be eligible to request a distribution of your rollover contributions at any time.

Hardship. In the event you incur a financial hardship, you may request an in-service withdrawal of a portion of your Plan account attributable to your salary deferrals.

Participant Loans. Participant loans are allowed in accordance with the 401(k) Plan’s participant loan procedures.

Form of Distribution. You may elect to have your benefits under the 401(k) Plan distributed to you or your beneficiary in a single lump-sum payment or in equal annual installments over a set number of years.

Investment of Contributions and Account Balances

All amounts credited to your accounts under the 401(k) Plan are held in the 401(k) Plan trust, which is administered by the trustee of the 401(k) Plan. Prior to the effective date of the stock offering, you are currently provided the opportunity to direct the investment of your account into one of the following investment options:

[List of Funds]

In connection with the stock offering, the 401(k) Plan now provides that in addition to the investment options specified above, you may direct the trustee, or its representative, to invest a portion of your account in shares of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock.

Performance History and Description of Funds

The following provides performance data with respect to the investment options available under the 401(k) Plan:

The following is a description of each of the 401(k) Plan’s investment funds and other investments:

[Descriptions of Funds]

Investors should carefully consider a mutual fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses prior to investing. A prospectus, or summary prospectus if available, containing this and other information can be obtained by contacting the 401(k) Plan administrator. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Before directing retirement funds to a separate account, investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the separate account as well as their individual risk tolerance, time horizon and goals. For additional information, contact the 401(k) Plan administrator.

Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock. In connection with the stock offering, you may, in the manner described earlier, direct the trustee to invest all or a portion of your 401(k) Plan account in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock. The trustee will use all amounts elected by participants to acquire shares of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock in the reorganization and common stock offering. Your purchased shares will be held within the 401(k) Plan by the Pioneer Bancorp Stock Fund. The Pioneer Bancorp Stock Fund is neither a mutual fund nor a diversified or managed investment option. Rather, it is merely a recordkeeping mechanism established by the 401(k) Plan custodian to track the shares purchased by the participants in the stock offering through the 401(k) Plan. The Pioneer Bancorp Stock Fund will consist solely of shares of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock purchased by participants in the 401(k) Plan, which will be initially valued at $10.00 per share (i.e., the purchase price). Your interest in the Pioneer Bancorp Stock Fund will be denominated in shares of Common Stock.

As of the date of this prospectus supplement, there is no established market for Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock. Accordingly, there is no record of the historical performance of the Pioneer Bancorp Stock Fund. Performance of the Pioneer Bancorp Stock Fund depends on a number of factors, including the financial condition and profitability of Pioneer Bancorp and Pioneer Bank and market conditions for shares of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock generally.

Investment in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock involves risks common to investments in the shares of stock. For a discussion of material risks you should consider, see “Risk Factors” section of the accompanying prospectus and the section of the prospectus supplement called “Notice of Your Rights Concerning Employer Securities” (see below).

You may elect to have both past contributions and earnings, as well as future contributions to your account invested among the options listed above, including the Pioneer Bancorp Stock Fund. Transfers of past contributions and the earnings thereon do not affect the investment mix of future contributions. You may change your investment directions at any time.

An investment in any of the investment options listed above is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. As with any investment option, there is always a risk that you may lose money on your investment in any of the investment options listed above.

Administration of the Plan

The Trustee and Custodian. Pentegra Trust Company serves as trustee of, and Reliance Trust Company as custodian for all the investment funds under, the 401(k) Plan.

Plan Administrator. Pursuant to the terms of the 401(k) Plan, the 401(k) Plan is administered by the Benefits Committee of Pioneer Bank. The address of the 401(k) Plan administrator is Pioneer Bank, 652 Albany-Shaker Road, Albany, New York, 12211, telephone number is (518) 730-3000. The 401(k) Plan administrator is responsible for the administration of the 401(k) Plan, interpretation of the provisions of the 401(k) Plan, prescribing procedures for filing applications for benefits, preparation and distribution of information explaining the 401(k) Plan, maintenance of Plan records, books of account and all other data necessary for the proper administration of the 401(k) Plan, preparation and filing of all returns and reports relating to the 401(k) Plan which are required to be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service, and for all disclosures required to be made to participants, beneficiaries and others under Sections 104 and 105 of ERISA.

Reports to Plan Participants. The 401(k) Plan administrator will furnish you a statement at least quarterly showing the balance in your account as of the end of that period, the amount of contributions allocated to your account for that period, and any adjustments to your account to reflect earnings or losses (if any).

Amendment and Termination

It is the intention of Pioneer Bank to continue the 401(k) Plan indefinitely. Nevertheless, Pioneer Bank may terminate the 401(k) Plan at any time. If the 401(k) Plan is terminated in whole or in part, then regardless of other provisions in the 401(k) Plan, you will have a fully vested interest in your accounts. Pioneer Bank reserves the right to make any amendment or amendments to the 401(k) Plan which do not cause any part of the trust to be used for, or diverted to, any purpose other than the exclusive benefit of participants or their beneficiaries; provided, however, that Pioneer Bank may make any amendment it determines necessary or desirable, with or without retroactive effect, to comply with ERISA.

Merger, Consolidation or Transfer

In the event of the merger or consolidation of the 401(k) Plan with another plan, or the transfer of the trust assets to another plan, the 401(k) Plan requires that you would, if either the 401(k) Plan or the other plan terminates, receive a benefit immediately after the merger, consolidation or transfer which is equal to or greater than the benefit you would have been entitled to receive immediately before the merger, consolidation or transfer, if the 401(k) Plan had then terminated.

Federal Income Tax Consequences

The following is a brief summary of the material federal income tax aspects of the 401(k) Plan. You should not rely on this summary as a complete or definitive description of the material federal income tax consequences relating to the 401(k) Plan. Statutory provisions change, as do their interpretations, and their application may vary in individual circumstances. Finally, the consequences under applicable state and local income tax laws may not be the same as under the federal income tax laws. Please consult your tax advisor with respect to any distribution from the 401(k) Plan and transactions involving the 401(k) Plan.

As a “tax-qualified retirement plan,” the Code affords the 401(k) Plan special tax treatment, including:

Pioneer Bank will administer the 401(k) Plan to comply with the requirements of the Code as of the applicable effective date of any change in the law.

Lump-Sum Distribution. A distribution from the 401(k) Plan to a participant or the beneficiary of a participant will qualify as a lump-sum distribution if it is made within one taxable year, on account of the participant’s death, disability or separation from service, or after the participant attains age 59½, and consists of the balance credited to participants under the 401(k) Plan and all other profit sharing plans, if any, maintained by Pioneer Bank. The portion of any lump-sum distribution required to be included in your taxable income for federal income tax purposes consists of the entire amount of the lump-sum distribution, less the amount of after-tax contributions, if any, you have made to this Plan and any other profit sharing plans maintained by Pioneer Bank, which is included in the distribution.

Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock Included in Lump-Sum Distribution. If a lump-sum distribution includes Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock, the distribution generally will be taxed in the manner described above, except that the total taxable amount may be reduced by the amount of any net unrealized appreciation with respect to Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock; that is, the excess of the value of Pioneer Bancorp at the time of the distribution over its cost or other basis of the securities to the trust. The tax basis of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock, for purposes of computing gain or loss on its subsequent sale, equals the value of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock at the time of distribution, less the amount of net unrealized appreciation. Any gain on a subsequent sale or other taxable disposition of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock, to the extent of the amount of net unrealized appreciation at the time of distribution, will constitute long-term capital gain, regardless of the holding period of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock. Any gain on a subsequent sale or other taxable disposition of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock, in excess of the amount of net unrealized appreciation at the time of distribution, will be considered long-term capital gain. The recipient of a distribution may elect to include the amount of any net unrealized appreciation in the total taxable amount of the distribution, to the extent allowed by regulations to be issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

Distributions: Rollovers and Direct Transfers to Another Qualified Plan or to an IRA. You may roll over virtually all distributions from the 401(k) Plan to another qualified plan or to an individual retirement account in accordance with the terms of the other plan or account.

Notice of Your Rights Concerning Employer Securities.

Federal law provides specific rights concerning investments in employer securities. Because you may in the future have investments in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock under the 401(k) Plan, you should take the time to read the following information carefully.

Your Rights Concerning Employer Securities. The Plan must allow you to elect to move any portion of your account that is invested in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock from that investment into other investment alternatives under the 401(k) Plan. You may contact the 401(k) Plan administrator shown above for specific information regarding this right, including how to make this election. In deciding whether to exercise this right, you will want to give careful consideration to the information below that describes the importance of diversification. All of the investment options under the 401(k) Plan are available to you if you decide to diversify out of your investment in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock.

The Importance of Diversifying Your Retirement Savings. To help achieve long-term retirement security, you should give careful consideration to the benefits of a well-balanced and diversified investment portfolio. Spreading your assets among different types of investments can help you achieve a favorable rate of return, while minimizing your overall risk of losing money. This is because market or other economic conditions that cause one category of assets, or one particular security, to perform very well often cause another asset category, or another particular security, to perform poorly. If you invest more than 20% of your retirement savings in any one company or industry, your savings may not be properly diversified. Although diversification is not a guarantee against loss, it is an effective strategy to help you manage investment risk.

In deciding how to invest your retirement savings, you should take into account all of your assets, including any retirement savings outside of the 401(k) Plan. No single approach is right for everyone because, among other factors, individuals have different financial goals, different time horizons for meeting their goals, and different tolerance for risk. Therefore, you should carefully consider the rights described here and how these rights affect the amount of money that you invest in employer common stock through the 401(k) Plan.

It is also important to periodically review your investment portfolio, your investment objectives, and the investment options under the 401(k) Plan to help ensure that your retirement savings will meet your retirement goals.

Additional Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) Considerations

As noted above, the 401(k) Plan is subject to certain provisions of ERISA, including special provisions relating to control over the 401(k) Plan’s assets by participants and beneficiaries. The Plan’s feature that allows you to direct the investment of your account balances is intended to satisfy the requirements of Section 404(c) of ERISA relating to control over plan assets by a participant or beneficiary. The effect of this is two-fold. First, you will not be deemed a “fiduciary” because of your exercise of investment discretion. Second, no person who otherwise is a fiduciary, such as Pioneer Bank, the 401(k) Plan administrator, or the 401(k) Plan’s trustee is liable under the fiduciary responsibility provision of ERISA for any loss which results from your exercise of control over the assets in your Plan account.

Because you will be entitled to invest all or a portion of your account balance in the 401(k) Plan in Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock, the regulations under Section 404(c) of the ERISA require that the 401(k) Plan establish procedures that ensure the confidentiality of your decision to purchase, hold, or sell employer securities, except to the extent that disclosure of such information is necessary to comply with federal or state laws not preempted by ERISA. These regulations also require that your exercise of voting and similar rights with respect to Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock be conducted in a way that ensures the confidentiality of your exercise of these rights.

Securities and Exchange Commission Reporting and Short-Swing Profit Liability

Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 imposes reporting and liability requirements on officers, directors, and persons beneficially owning more than 10% of public companies such as Pioneer Bancorp. Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires the filing of reports of beneficial ownership. Within 10 days of becoming an officer, director or person beneficially owning more than 10% of the shares of Pioneer Bancorp, a Form 3 reporting initial beneficial ownership must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Changes in beneficial ownership, such as purchases, sales and gifts generally must be reported periodically, either on a Form 4 within two business days after the change occurs, or annually on a Form 5 within 45 days after the close of Pioneer Bancorp’s fiscal year. Discretionary transactions in and beneficial ownership of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock by officers, directors and persons beneficially owning more than 10% of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock generally must be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission by such individuals.

In addition to the reporting requirements described above, Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, provides for the recovery by Pioneer Bancorp of profits realized by an officer, director or any person beneficially owning more than 10% of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock resulting from non-exempt purchases and sales of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock within any six-month period.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted rules that provide exemptions from the profit recovery provisions of Section 16(b) for all transactions in employer securities within an employee benefit plan, provided certain requirements are met. These requirements generally involve restrictions upon the timing of elections to acquire or dispose of employer securities for the accounts of Section 16(b) persons.

Except for distributions of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock due to death, disability, retirement, termination of employment or under a qualified domestic relations order, persons affected by Section 16(b) are required to hold shares of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock distributed from the 401(k) Plan for six months following such distribution and are prohibited from directing additional purchases of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock for six months after receiving such a distribution.

Financial Information Regarding Plan Assets

Financial information representing the net assets available for Plan benefits and the change in net assets available for Plan benefits at December 31, 2018, is available upon written request to the 401(k) Plan administrator at the address shown above.

LEGAL OPINION

The validity of the issuance of Pioneer Bancorp Common Stock has been passed upon by Luse Gorman, PC, Washington, D.C., which firm acted as special counsel to Pioneer Bank in connection with Pioneer Bancorp’s stock offering.

PROSPECTUS

PIONEER BANCORP, INC.

(Proposed Holding Company for Pioneer Bank)

Up to 9,713,393 Shares of Common Stock

(Subject to increase to up to 11,170,402 Shares)

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., a Maryland corporation, is offering up to 9,713,393 shares of its common stock for sale at $10.00 per share on a best efforts basis as part of the reorganization of Pioneer Savings Bank (“Pioneer Bank”), a New York-chartered savings bank, from a mutual savings bank (meaning no stockholders) into the “two-tier” mutual holding company structure. In connection with the sale of our common stock, we intend to contribute 2% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and $250,000 in cash to our charitable foundation. Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. has never offered common stock for sale to the public and, as a result, currently there is no trading market for our common stock. We expect to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “PBFS.” We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012.

The shares of common stock being offered, including shares issued to the charitable foundation, represent 45% of our shares of common stock that will be outstanding upon completion of the stock offering. After the stock offering, 55% of our outstanding shares of common stock will be owned by our new mutual holding company parent, Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, a New York-chartered mutual holding company. These percentages will not be affected by the number of shares we sell in the stock offering. We must sell a minimum of 7,179,465 shares to complete the stock offering, and we will terminate the stock offering if we do not sell the minimum number of shares. We may sell up to 11,170,402 shares because of changes in market conditions without resoliciting subscribers.

The shares of common stock are first being offered in a subscription offering to eligible depositors of Pioneer Bank and to Pioneer Bank’s tax-qualified employee benefit plans. Shares not purchased in the subscription offering may be offered for sale to the general public in a community offering, with a preference given to residents of the communities served by Pioneer Bank. Any shares of common stock not purchased in the subscription or community offerings may be offered for sale to the public in a syndicated offering through a syndicate of broker-dealers. The syndicated offering may begin before the subscription and community offerings (including any extensions) have ended. However, shares purchased in the subscription offering or the community offering will not be issued until the completion of any syndicated community offering. The subscription, community, and syndicated community offerings are collectively referred to as the “offering.”

The minimum order is 25 shares of common stock. Generally, no individual may purchase more than 15,000 shares of common stock, and no individual or other person, along with their associates and those with whom they are acting in concert, may purchase more than 30,000 shares of common stock. The subscription and community offerings are expected to expire at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on [expiration date]. We may extend this expiration time and date, without notice to you, until [extension date #1]. Once submitted, stock orders are irrevocable unless the subscription and community offerings are terminated or extended, with regulatory approval, beyond [extension date #1], or the number of shares of common stock offered for sale is increased to more than 11,170,402 shares or decreased to less than 7,179,465 shares. If the subscription and community offerings are extended beyond [extension date #1], we will notify all subscribers and give them an opportunity to confirm, change or cancel their orders. If you do not respond to this notice, we will promptly return your funds with interest or cancel your deposit account withdrawal authorization. If the number of shares to be sold in the offering is increased to more than 11,170,402 shares or decreased to less than 7,179,465 shares, we will resolicit subscribers, and all funds delivered to us to purchase shares of common stock in the subscription and community offerings will be returned promptly with interest. Funds received in the subscription and the community offerings will be held in a segregated account at Pioneer Bank and will earn interest at [interest rate]% per annum until completion or termination of the offering.

Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. is assisting us in selling the shares on a best efforts basis in the subscription and community offerings, and will serve as sole manager for any syndicated community offering. Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. is not required to purchase any shares of common stock that are sold in the subscription offering, community offering or syndicated community offering.

OFFERING SUMMARY

Price: $10.00 per Share

This investment involves a degree of risk, including the possible loss of principal.

See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 18.

Shares of our common stock are not deposits or accounts and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any other government agency. Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York State Department of Financial Services, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, nor any state securities regulator has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is accurate or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P.

For assistance, please contact the Stock Information Center at [sic number].

The date of this prospectus is [prospectus date].

[MAP TO BE INSERTED ON INSIDE FRONT COVER]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY

The following summary provides material information about the contents of this prospectus, but it may not contain all of the information that is important to you. Before making an investment decision, you should read carefully this entire document, including the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto that appear starting on page F-1 of this prospectus and the section entitled “Risk Factors.” The terms “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and Pioneer Bank, unless the context indicates another meaning.

Pioneer Bancorp, MHC

Pioneer Bancorp, MHC will be formed as a New York-chartered mutual holding company in connection with the reorganization of Pioneer Bank into the “two-tier” mutual holding company form of organization. As a mutual holding company, Pioneer Bancorp, MHC will be a non-stock company. Pioneer Bancorp, MHC’s principal assets will be the common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. it receives in the reorganization and offering and $100,000 in cash for its initial capitalization. It is expected that the only business activity of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC will be to own a majority of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s common stock. Pioneer Bancorp, MHC will be authorized, however, to engage in any other business activities that are permissible for mutual holding companies under New York law, including investing in loans and securities. Pioneer Bancorp, MHC will be regulated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve Board”) and the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “NYSDFS”).

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., a Maryland corporation, was incorporated in March 2019. The offering of common stock by means of this prospectus is being made by Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. in connection with the reorganization of Pioneer Bank into the “two-tier” mutual holding company form of organization. Upon completion of the reorganization, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. will become the bank holding company for Pioneer Bank by owning all the outstanding shares of capital stock of Pioneer Bank and will be regulated by the Federal Reserve Board and the NYSDFS. To date, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. has engaged in organizational activities only. Following the reorganization and offering, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s primary business activity will be to own all the outstanding shares of capital stock of Pioneer Bank.

Pioneer Bank

Founded in 1889, Pioneer Bank is a New York-chartered savings bank that operates 22 retail banking offices in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Greene, Schenectady and Warren Counties in New York. We consider these six counties, Schoharie County and the surrounding areas, as our primary market area for our business operations. We attract deposits from the general public and municipalities and use those funds along with advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and funds generated from operations to originate commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, commercial construction loans and home equity loans and lines of credit and, to a lesser extent, consumer loans. We purchase certain one- to four-family residential real estate loans through our relationship with a mortgage banking company. We also invest in securities, which have historically consisted primarily of U.S. Government and agency obligations, municipal obligations and Federal Home Loan Bank of New York stock. We offer a variety of deposit accounts, including demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificate of deposit accounts. Municipal deposit banking services are provided through a limited purpose commercial bank subsidiary, Pioneer Commercial Bank. Pioneer Bank also sells commercial and consumer insurance products and employee benefit products and services through Anchor Agency, Inc., its insurance agency subsidiary, and provides wealth management services through its subsidiary, Pioneer Financial Services, Inc.

At December 31, 2018, we had consolidated total assets of $1.3 billion, total deposits of $1.1 billion and net worth of $126.4 million. We are subject to regulation and examination by the NYSDFS and by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Our executive offices are located at 652 Albany-Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12211. Our website address is www.pioneerbanking.com. Information on our website is not and should not be considered a part of this prospectus.

Our Reorganization into a Mutual Holding Company and the Stock Offering

We do not have stockholders in our current mutual form of ownership. Our depositors have the right to vote on certain specific matters pertaining to Pioneer Bank, such as the proposed reorganization of Pioneer Bank into the mutual holding company form of ownership or the establishment and formation of a charitable foundation. The mutual holding company reorganization is a series of transactions by which we will reorganize from a mutual savings bank to the mutual holding company form of ownership by establishing Pioneer Bancorp, MHC and Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and converting our mutual savings bank organization certificate to a stock savings bank organization certificate. The reorganization will be conducted pursuant to a plan of reorganization and minority stock issuance, which we refer to as the “plan of reorganization.” Following the reorganization, Pioneer Bank will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., and Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. will be a majority-owned subsidiary of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC. After the reorganization, our depositors will continue to have the same limited voting rights in Pioneer Bancorp, MHC as they had in Pioneer Bank before the reorganization.

In connection with the reorganization, we are offering for sale shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. at a price of $10.00 per share. All investors will pay the same price per share in the offering. The $10.00 per share price was selected primarily because it is the price most commonly used in mutual holding company reorganizations and stock offerings. See “—Terms of the Offering.”

The primary reason for our decision to reorganize into the mutual holding company form of organization and offer our shares of common stock for sale in the offering is to establish an organizational structure that will enable us to:

The reorganization and the capital raised in the offering are expected to provide us with additional capital to support new loans and higher lending limits, support the growth of our banking franchise, provide an additional cushion against unforeseen risks and allows us to expand our asset and deposit base. The reorganization and offering also will allow us to establish stock-based benefit plans for management and other employees that we believe will permit us to attract and retain qualified personnel.

Unlike a standard mutual-to-stock conversion transaction in which all the common stock of the holding company of the converting savings bank is sold to the public, only a minority interest in the stock of a mutual holding company subsidiary is sold to the public in a mutual holding company minority stock offering. Federal and New York laws and regulations require that a majority of the outstanding common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. be held by our mutual holding company. Consequently, the shares that we are permitted to sell in the offering represent a minority of the shares of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. that will be outstanding when the offering is completed. As a result, a mutual holding company offering raises less than half the capital that would be raised in a standard conversion offering. Based on these restrictions and an evaluation of our capital needs, our board of trustees has decided that 43% of our outstanding shares of common stock will be offered for sale in the offering, 2% of our outstanding shares will be issued to the charitable foundation, and 55% of our shares will be retained by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC. Our board of trustees has determined that offering 43% of our outstanding shares of common stock for sale in the offering will enable management to effectively invest the capital raised in the offering. See “—Possible Conversion of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC to Stock Form.”

The following diagram illustrates our current pre-reorganization organizational structure:

The following diagram illustrates our proposed post-reorganization organizational structure:

Business Strategy

Our business strategy is to operate as a well-capitalized and profitable community bank dedicated to providing personal service to our individual and business customers. We believe that we have a competitive advantage in the markets we serve because of our 130-year history in the community, our knowledge of the local marketplace and our long-standing reputation for providing superior, relationship-based customer service. We believe we can distinguish ourselves by maintaining the culture of a local community bank, but offering the products of a comprehensive financial services provider by promoting and continuing to expand our insurance, consulting and wealth management businesses. The following are the key elements of our business strategy:

Continue our emphasis on commercial lending. Over the last five and a half years, we have increased our commercial loan portfolio, which consists of commercial real estate, commercial and industrial and commercial construction loans, consistent with safe and sound underwriting practices. This has had the benefit of increasing the yield on our loan portfolio and reducing the average term to repricing of our loans. At December 31, 2018, our commercial loan portfolio totaled $658.5 million, or 63.3% of total loans, compared with $389.1 million, or 61.0% of total loans, at June 30, 2014. We view the growth of commercial lending as a means of increasing our interest income and establishing relationships with local businesses, which offer a recurring and potentially broader source of fee income through commercial deposits, commercial insurance, and our employee benefits products and consulting. We also generally require that commercial and industrial loan borrowers establish a commercial deposit account with us, which assists our efforts to grow core deposits and cross-sell our other products and services. The additional capital raised in the offering will enable us to increase our originations of commercial real estate, commercial and industrial and commercial construction loans in our primary market area, and originate loans with larger balances that we intend to retain in our portfolio.

Diversify our products and services in order to increase non-interest income. We continue to seek ways of increasing our non-interest income by growing our financial services businesses. We initially entered into the wealth management services business by establishing Pioneer Financial Services, Inc. as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pioneer Bank (which operates under the name Pioneer Wealth Management). We substantially grew this business with the acquisition of substantially all of the operating assets of Ward Financial Management, LTD in 2018. At December 31, 2018, Pioneer Financial Services, Inc. had $481.5 million of assets under management. We also sell commercial and personal insurance products and provide employee benefits products and services through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Anchor Agency, Inc., which we acquired in 2016. We expanded our employee benefits products and services business through our acquisition in 2017 of substantially all of the operating assets of Capital Region Strategic Employee Benefits Services, LLC, an employee benefits and consulting firm. The growth of our financial services businesses has contributed to the increase in non-interest income to $3.3 million for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to $2.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2017 and to $5.1 million for fiscal 2018 compared to $3.7 million for fiscal 2017. We believe that there will be opportunities to cross-sell these products to our deposit and borrower customers which may further increase our non-interest income, and also to cross-sell our banking services and products to customers and clients of Pioneer Financial Services, Inc. and Anchor Agency, Inc. We intend to consider future acquisition opportunities to expand our wealth management activities, including the amount of the assets that we have under management, insurance or other complementary financial services businesses, although we do not currently have any agreements regarding any specific acquisition.

Increase our Share of Lower-Cost Core Deposits. We continue to emphasize offering core deposits (demand deposit accounts, savings accounts and money market accounts) to businesses, municipalities and individuals located in our market area. Core deposits represent our best opportunity to develop customer relationships that enable us to cross-sell the products and services of our complementary subsidiaries. We attract and retain transaction accounts by offering competitive products and rates and providing quality customer service. Our core deposits increased $403.7 million to $990.9 million at December 31, 2018 from $587.1 million at June 30, 2014. At December 31, 2018, core deposits comprised 88.9% of our total deposits. Core deposits are our least costly source of funds which improves our interest rate spread and also contributes non-interest income from account related services.

Strategically Grow our Balance Sheet. We believe there is a large customer base in our market that prefers doing business with local institutions and may be dissatisfied with the service they receive from the larger regional banks. By offering personalized customer service, along with our extensive knowledge of our local markets and employees who have strong relationships with our customers which leads to referrals and repeat business, we believe we can leverage these strengths to attract and retain customers. We have recently undergone a significant rebranding effort and updated our branch layout, website and other technology infrastructure that prioritizes the customer experience and moves away from the traditional single branch channel. We also believe we can capitalize on commercial deposit and personal banking relationships derived from an increase in commercial real estate and commercial business lending. Based on the foregoing, our attractive market area and strategic investment in technology to enhance the customer experience, we believe we are well-positioned to increase our balance sheet, particularly loans and deposits.

Continue to Emphasize Operating Efficiencies and Cost Controls. Despite significant growth of our loan portfolio, product offerings and financial services businesses in recent years, we have remained focused on expense control while increasing our net income. We remain disciplined in our approach to non-interest expenses by identifying cost savings opportunities such as renegotiating key third-party contracts and reducing other operating expenses. Our efficiency ratio was 60.0% (annualized) during the six months ended December 31, 2018, compared to 79.4% during the year ended June 30, 2014. While we expect that our non-interest expenses will increase when we become a public company, we intend to continue to diligently monitor and control expenses as we focus our efforts on continued growth. In order to support our growth in a cost-effective way, we plan to continue to invest prudently in technology to help improve our operational infrastructure.

Maintain Disciplined Underwriting. We emphasize a disciplined credit culture based on intimate knowledge of the market, close ties to our customers, sound underwriting standards and experienced loan officers. We are committed to actively monitoring and managing all segments of our loan portfolio in an effort to proactively identify and mitigate credit risks within the portfolio. At December 31, 2018, non-performing assets totaled $11.8 million, which represented 0.92% of total assets. At December 31, 2018, there were $5.5 million of non-performing commercial real estate loans and $137,000 of non-performing commercial and industrial loans.

Terms of the Offering

We are offering between 7,179,465 and 9,713,393 shares of common stock in a subscription offering to eligible depositors of Pioneer Bank and to our tax-qualified employee benefit plans, and, to the extent shares remain available, to the general public in a community offering. If necessary, we will also offer shares to the general public in a syndicated community offering. The number of shares of common stock to be sold may be increased up to 11,170,402 shares as a result of demand for the shares of common stock in the offering or changes in market conditions. Unless the number of shares of common stock to be offered is increased to more than 11,170,402 shares or decreased to fewer than 7,179,465 shares, or the subscription and community offerings are extended beyond [extension date #1], subscribers will not have the opportunity to change or cancel their stock orders once submitted. If the subscription and community offerings are extended past [extension date #1], all subscribers will be notified and given an opportunity to confirm, change or cancel their orders. If you do not respond to this notice, your order will be canceled and we will promptly return your funds with interest at [interest rate]% per annum or cancel your deposit account withdrawal authorization. If the number of shares to be sold is increased to more than 11,170,402 shares or decreased to less than 7,179,465 shares, all subscribers’ stock orders will be canceled, all withdrawal authorizations will be canceled and funds delivered to us to purchase shares of common stock in the subscription and community offerings will be returned promptly with interest at the same rate. We will then resolicit subscribers, giving them an opportunity to place new orders for a period of time. No shares purchased in the subscription offering and community offering will be issued until the completion of any syndicated community offering.

The purchase price of each share of common stock offered for sale in the offering is $10.00. All investors will pay the same purchase price per share, regardless of whether the shares are purchased in the subscription offering, the community offering, or the syndicated community offering. Investors will not be charged a commission to purchase shares of common stock in the offering. Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P., our marketing agent in the subscription and community offerings, will use its best efforts to assist us in selling shares of our common stock in the subscription and community offerings but is not obligated to purchase any shares of common stock in the subscription and community offerings or the syndicated community offering.

How We Determined the Offering Range and the $10.00 per Share Offering Price

The amount of common stock we are offering for sale is based on an independent appraisal of the estimated market value of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., assuming the offering has been completed, the charitable foundation has been established and shares of common stock and cash have been contributed to the charitable foundation. RP Financial, LC. (“RP Financial”), our independent appraiser, has estimated that, as of February 8, 2019, assuming we were undertaking the offering, this market value, including the shares to be issued to the charitable foundation and Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, was $196.4 million. Based on applicable regulations, this market value forms the midpoint of a valuation range with a minimum of $167.0 million and a maximum of $225.9 million.

Based on this valuation range and assuming 43% of the shares of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. common stock is being offered for sale in the offering at $10.00 per share, 2% of our outstanding shares is issued to the charitable foundation, and 55% of the shares is retained by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. is offering for sale 7,179,465 shares at the minimum of the offering range, 8,446,429 shares at the midpoint of the offering range, and 9,713,393 shares at the maximum of the offering range. The $10.00 per share price was selected primarily because it is the price most commonly used in mutual holding company and standard stock conversion offerings by savings banks. If demand for shares or market conditions warrant, the appraisal can be increased by up to 15%, which would result in an appraised value of $259.8 million, and we may sell up to 11,170,402 shares of common stock in the offering.

RP Financial advised the board of trustees that the appraisal was prepared in conformance with the regulatory appraisal methodology, which requires a valuation based on an analysis of the trading prices of comparable public companies whose stock has traded for at least one year prior to the valuation date. RP Financial selected a group of ten comparable public companies for this analysis.

RP Financial considered adjustments to the pro forma market value based on a comparison of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. with the peer group set forth below. RP Financial advised the board of trustees that the valuation analysis took into consideration that relative to the peer group slight upward adjustments were applied for: (1) profitability, growth and viability of earnings; and (2) asset growth. RP Financial applied a slight downward adjustment for (1) dividends and made no adjustments for: (1) financial condition; (2) marketing of the issue; (3) management; (4) effect of government regulations and regulatory reform; and (5) liquidity of the shares of common stock.

The appraisal is based in part on Pioneer Bank’s financial condition and results of operations, the pro forma effect of the additional capital raised by the sale of shares of common stock in the offering, and an analysis of a peer group of ten publicly-traded bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies that RP Financial considers comparable to Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. The appraisal peer group consists of the following companies, all of which are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The characteristics of publicly-traded shares of a mutual holding company differ from those of publicly-traded shares of fully converted stock holding companies (those in which all shares are held by public stockholders) in several ways, including that: (1) publicly-traded shares of a mutual holding company subsidiary tend to have less liquidity because they represent less than 50% of the outstanding shares of the company; (2) the holders of publicly-traded shares of a mutual holding company subsidiary cannot exercise voting control; (3) publicly-traded shares of a mutual holding company subsidiary are affected by the possibility of a “second-step” conversion transaction; and (4) the publicly-traded shares of a mutual holding company subsidiary are adversely affected by regulatory restrictions on the ability of the mutual holding company to waive the receipt of dividends declared by its subsidiary, thereby precluding or limiting the subsidiary’s ability to pay dividends to public stockholders. To account for the unique characteristics of publicly-traded shares of a mutual holding company, RP Financial included in its appraisal the pricing ratios of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. on both a non-fully converted basis and a fully converted basis and compared each to the pricing ratios of the peer group. The decision to also provide Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s pricing ratios on a fully converted basis is meant to: (1) facilitate the comparison of the peer group, which consists of fully converted companies, to Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.; and (2) establish the pro forma market value range of 100% of the shares of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., which forms the basis for determining the offering range. Tables presenting select pricing ratios of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. on both a non-fully converted basis and a fully converted basis and comparing such ratios to similar ratios for the peer group follow.

The following table presents a summary of selected pricing ratios for the peer group companies on a fully converted basis and for Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. on a non-fully converted basis (i.e., the table assumes that 43% of our outstanding shares of common stock is sold in the offering, as opposed to 100% of our outstanding shares of common stock). These figures are from the RP Financial appraisal report. Compared to the average pricing ratios of the peer group, and based upon the information in the following table, our pro forma pricing ratios at the midpoint of the offering range indicated a discount of 20.2% on a non-fully converted price-to-earnings basis, a discount of 19.4% on a non-fully converted price-to-book value basis, and a discount of 19.1% on a non-fully converted price-to-tangible book value basis.

The following table presents a summary of selected pricing ratios for the peer group companies, and the resulting pricing ratios for Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. on a fully converted equivalent basis. Compared to the average fully converted pricing ratios of the peer group, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s pro forma fully converted pricing ratios at the midpoint of the offering range indicated a discount of 21.67% on a fully converted price-to-earnings basis, a discount of 45.54% on a fully converted price-to-book value basis and a discount of 46.27% on a fully converted price-to-tangible book value basis.

The fully converted pro forma calculations for Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. are based on the following assumptions:

The independent appraisal does not indicate trading market value. Do not assume or expect that our valuation as indicated in the appraisal means that after the offering the shares of our common stock will trade at or above the $10.00 per share price. Furthermore, RP Financial used the pricing ratios presented in the appraisal to estimate our pro forma appraised value for regulatory purposes and not to compare the relative value of shares of our common stock with the value of the capital stock of the peer group. The value of the capital stock of a particular company may be affected by a number of factors such as financial performance, asset size and market location.

For a more complete discussion of the amount of common stock we are offering for sale and the independent appraisal, see “The Reorganization and Offering—Stock Pricing and Number of Shares to be Issued.”

How We Intend to Use the Proceeds from the Offering

We intend to invest at least 50% of the net proceeds from the offering in Pioneer Bank, fund the loan to our employee stock ownership plan to finance its purchase of shares of common stock in the offering, contribute $250,000 to the charitable foundation and retain the remainder of the net proceeds at Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.

Assuming we sell 8,446,429 shares of common stock in the offering at the midpoint of the offering range, resulting in estimated net proceeds of $82.3 million, we intend to invest $41.1 million in Pioneer Bank, lend $7.7 million to our employee stock ownership plan to fund its purchase of shares of common stock, use $250,000 of the net proceeds to fund the cash contribution to the charitable foundation, and retain the remaining $33.2 million of the net proceeds at Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. Assuming we sell 11,170,402 shares of common stock in the offering at the adjusted maximum of the offering range, resulting in estimated net proceeds of $109.2 million, we intend to invest $54.6 million in Pioneer Bank, lend $10.2 million to our employee stock ownership plan to fund its purchase of shares of common stock, use $250,000 of the net proceeds to fund the cash contribution to the charitable foundation and retain the remaining $44.2 million of the net proceeds at Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. may use the funds it retains for investment, to invest in securities, to repurchase shares of common stock when permitted under applicable laws and regulations, to acquire other financial institutions or financial services companies, or for other general corporate purposes. Pioneer Bank may use the proceeds it receives to support increased lending and investment, to expand its retail banking franchise by establishing or acquiring new branches or to acquire other financial institutions or financial services companies or for other corporate purposes. We do not currently have any agreement regarding any acquisition transaction.

See “How We Intend to Use the Proceeds from the Offering” for more information on the proposed use of the proceeds from the offering.

Persons Who May Order Shares of Common Stock in the Offering

We are offering the shares of common stock in a subscription offering in the following descending order of priority:

Shares of common stock not purchased in the subscription offering may be offered for sale to the general public in a community offering, with a preference given first to natural persons residing in Albany, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Warren Counties in New York. The community offering may begin concurrently with, during or promptly after the subscription offering. We also may offer for sale shares of common stock not purchased in the subscription offering and the community offering through a syndicated community offering. Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. will act as sole manager for the syndicated community offering. We have the right to accept or reject, in our sole discretion, orders received in the community offering or syndicated community offering, and our interpretation of the terms and conditions of the plan of reorganization will be final. Any determination to accept or reject stock orders in the community offering or syndicated community offering will be based on the facts and circumstances then available to us.

If we receive orders for more shares than we are offering, we may not be able to fully or partially fill your order. See “The Reorganization and Offering” for a detailed description of the subscription offering, the community offering and the syndicated community offering, as well as a discussion regarding allocation procedures.

Limits on How Much Common Stock You May Purchase

The minimum number of shares of common stock that may be purchased is 25 shares.

Generally, no individual may purchase more than 15,000 shares ($150,000) of common stock. If any of the following persons purchase shares of common stock, their purchases, in all categories of the offering, when combined with your purchases, cannot exceed 30,000 shares ($300,000) of common stock:

Unless we determine otherwise, persons having the same address and persons exercising subscription rights through qualifying deposit accounts registered to the same address will be subject to the overall purchase limitation of 30,000 shares ($300,000).

Subject to regulatory approval, we may increase or decrease the purchase limitations at any time. See “The Reorganization and Offering—Additional Limitations on Common Stock Purchases.”

How You May Purchase Shares of Common Stock in the Subscription Offering and the Community Offering

In the subscription offering and community offering, you may pay for your shares only by:

Pioneer Bank is prohibited from lending funds to anyone to purchase shares of common stock in the offering. Additionally, you may not use a line of credit check from Pioneer Bank or any type of third-party check (such as a check payable to you and endorsed over to Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.) to pay for shares of common stock. Do not submit cash. No wire transfer will be accepted without our prior approval. You may not authorize direct withdrawal from an individual retirement account (“IRA”) at Pioneer Bank. See “—Using Individual Retirement Account Funds to Purchase Shares of Common Stock.”

You may subscribe for shares of common stock in the subscription and community offerings by delivering a signed and completed original stock order form, together with full payment payable to Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. or authorization to withdraw funds from one or more of your deposit accounts at Pioneer Bank, provided that we receive your stock order form before 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on [expiration date], which is the end of the subscription offering period. You may submit your stock order form and payment by mail using the stock order reply envelope provided or by overnight delivery to our Stock Information Center, which is located at 652 Albany-Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12211. You may also hand-deliver stock order forms to the Stock Information Center. We will accept hand-delivered stock order forms only at this location. We will not accept stock order forms at our banking offices. Do not mail stock order forms to any of Pioneer Bank’s banking offices.

See “The Reorganization and Offering—Procedure for Purchasing Shares in Subscription and Community Offerings—Payment for Shares” for a complete description of how to purchase shares in the subscription and community offerings.

Using IRA Funds to Purchase Shares of Common Stock

You may be able to subscribe for shares of common stock using funds in your IRA. If you wish to use some or all of the funds in an IRA at Pioneer Bank, the applicable funds must be transferred to a self-directed account maintained by an independent trustee, such as a brokerage firm, and the purchase must be made through that account. If you do not have such an account, you will need to establish one before placing your stock order. A one-time and/or annual administrative fee may be payable to the independent trustee. Because individual circumstances differ and the processing of retirement fund orders takes additional time, we recommend that you contact our Stock Information Center promptly, preferably at least two weeks before the [expiration date] offering deadline, for assistance with purchases using your IRA or other retirement account you may have at Pioneer Bank or elsewhere. Whether you may use such funds to purchase shares in the offering may depend on timing constraints and, possibly, limitations imposed by the institution holding the funds.

See “The Reorganization and Offering—Procedure for Purchasing Shares in Subscription and Community Offerings—Payment for Shares” and “—Using Individual Retirement Account Funds.”

Market for Common Stock

We expect that our common stock will be traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “PBFS.” Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. has advised us that it intends to make a market in our common stock following the completion of the offering, but is not obligated to do so.

Our Dividend Policy

Following completion of the stock offering, our board of directors will have the authority to declare dividends on our common stock, subject to statutory and regulatory requirements. However, we currently intend to retain all future earnings, if any, for use in our business and do not expect to pay any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay cash dividends on our common stock will be made by our board of directors and will depend upon our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, regulatory restrictions, including the Federal Reserve’s Board’s current policy of prohibiting mutual holding companies from waiving the receipt of dividends, our business strategy and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant. See “Our Policy Regarding Dividends” for additional information regarding our dividend policy.

Stock Purchases by Trustees and Executive Officers

We expect our trustees and executive officers, together with their associates, to subscribe for 215,000 shares of common stock in the offering, representing 3.0% of the shares sold in the offering and 1.3% of to be “outstanding shares” at the minimum of the offering range. “Outstanding shares” of common stock are all shares issued by Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. as of the completion of the offering, including shares sold in the offering, shares purchased by tax-qualified employee benefit plans, shares issued to Pioneer Bancorp, MHC and shares contributed to the charitable foundation. Trustees and executive officers will pay the same $10.00 per share price that will be paid by all other persons who purchase shares of common stock in the offering. See “Subscriptions by Directors and Executive Officers.”

Deadline for Orders of Shares of Common Stock in the Subscription and Community Offerings

The deadline for ordering shares of common stock in the subscription and community offerings is 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on [expiration date], unless we extend this deadline. If you wish to order shares of common stock, a properly completed and signed original stock order form, together with full payment, must be received (not postmarked) by this time.

Although we will make reasonable attempts to provide this prospectus and offering materials to holders of subscription rights, the subscription offering and all subscription rights will expire at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on [expiration date], whether or not we have been able to locate each person entitled to subscription rights.

See “The Reorganization and Offering— Procedure for Purchasing Shares in Subscription and Community Offerings—Expiration Date” for a complete description of the deadline for ordering shares in the offering.

You May Not Sell or Transfer Your Subscription Rights

Applicable regulations prohibit you from transferring your subscription rights. If you order shares of common stock in the subscription offering, you must sign a written certification that you are purchasing the common stock for yourself and that you have no agreement or understanding to sell or transfer your subscription rights or the shares that you are purchasing. We intend to take legal action, including reporting persons to federal or state agencies, against anyone who we believe has sold or transferred his or her subscription rights. We will not accept your order if we have reason to believe that you have sold or transferred your subscription rights. On the order form, you cannot add the names of other individuals for joint stock registration unless they are also named on the qualifying deposit account. Doing so may jeopardize your subscription rights. In addition, the stock order form requires that you list all deposit accounts, giving all names on each account and the account number at the applicable eligibility date. Failure to provide this information, or providing incomplete or incorrect information, may result in a loss of part or all of your share allocation if there is an oversubscription.

Delivery of Shares of Common Stock

All shares of common stock sold will be issued in book entry form. Stock certificates will not be issued. A statement reflecting ownership of shares of common stock issued in the subscription and community offerings will be mailed by our transfer agent to the persons entitled thereto at the registration address noted by them on their stock order forms as soon as practicable following consummation of the offering. We expect trading in the stock to begin on the day of completion of the offering or the next business day. The offering is expected to be completed as soon as practicable following satisfaction of the conditions described below in “—Conditions to Completion of the Reorganization.” Until a statement reflecting ownership of shares of common stock is available and delivered to purchasers, purchasers might not be able to sell the shares of common stock that they purchased, even though the common stock will have begun trading. Your ability to sell your shares of common stock before receiving your statement will depend on arrangements you may make with a brokerage firm.

Conditions to Completion of the Reorganization

We cannot complete the reorganization and offering unless:

Steps We May Take if We Do Not Receive Orders for the Minimum Number of Shares

If we do not receive orders for at least 7,179,465 shares of common stock, we may take several steps to sell the minimum number of shares of common stock in the offering range. Specifically, we may:

If we extend the offering past [extension date #1], all subscribers will be notified and given an opportunity to confirm, change or cancel their orders. If you do not respond to this notice, we will cancel your stock order and promptly return your funds with interest at [interest rate]% per annum for funds received in the subscription and community offering or cancel your deposit account withdrawal authorization. If one or more purchase limitations are increased, subscribers in the subscription offering who ordered the maximum amount will be given the opportunity to increase their subscriptions up to the then-applicable limit.

Possible Change in the Offering Range

RP Financial will update its appraisal before we complete the offering. If, as a result of demand for the shares or changes in market conditions, RP Financial determines that our pro forma market value has increased, we may sell up to 11,170,402 shares in the offering without further notice to you. If, however, the updated appraisal indicates our pro forma market value is either below $167.0 million or above $259.8 million, then, after consulting with the NYSDFS, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve Board, we may:

If we set a new offering range, we will promptly return funds, with interest at [interest rate]% per annum for funds received for purchases in the subscription and community offerings, and cancel any authorization to withdraw funds from deposit accounts for the purchase of shares of common stock. We will then resolicit subscribers, allowing them to place new stock orders for a period of time.

Possible Termination of the Offering

We may terminate the offering at any time with regulatory approval. If we terminate the offering, we will promptly return your funds with interest at [interest rate]% per annum, and we will cancel deposit account withdrawal authorizations.

Our Contribution of Shares of Common Stock to the Charitable Foundation

To further our commitment to our local community, we intend to fund our charitable foundation as part of the reorganization and offering. Assuming we receive regulatory and depositor approvals, we intend to contribute to the charitable foundation a number of shares of our common stock equal to 2.0% of our outstanding shares of common stock as of the completion of the offering (including shares issued to Pioneer Bancorp, MHC), and up to $250,000 in cash. At the minimum, midpoint, maximum and adjusted maximum of the offering range, we would contribute to the charitable foundation 333,928, 392,857, 451,786 and 519,554 shares of common stock, respectively. As a result of the contribution, we expect to record an after-tax expense of approximately $3.1 million during the quarter in which the reorganization and offering is completed, assuming the offering closes at the midpoint of the offering range.

The charitable foundation will be dedicated exclusively to supporting charitable causes and community development activities in the communities in which we operate. The contribution of common stock and cash to the charitable foundation will:

The amount of common stock that we would offer for sale in the offering would be greater if the offering were completed without funding the charitable foundation. For a further discussion of the financial impact of the charitable foundation, including its effect on those who purchase shares in the offering, see “Risk Factors—The contribution to the charitable foundation will dilute your ownership interest and adversely affect net income in 2019,” “Risk Factors—Our contribution to the charitable foundation may not be tax deductible, which could reduce our profits,” “Comparison of Valuation and Pro Forma Information With and Without the Charitable Foundation” and “Pioneer Bank Charitable Foundation.”

Our Officers, Directors and Employees Will Receive Additional Benefits and Compensation after the Offering

In connection with the offering, we are establishing an employee stock ownership plan, and, subject to receipt of stockholder approval, we intend to implement one or more stock-based benefit plans that will provide for grants of stock options and restricted stock.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Pioneer Bank intends to adopt an employee stock ownership plan, which will grant shares of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. common stock to eligible employees primarily based on their compensation. The board of directors of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. will, at the completion of the offering, ratify the loan to the employee stock ownership plan and the sale of common stock to the employee stock ownership plan. It is expected that our employee stock ownership plan will purchase in the offering 3.92% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. at the conclusion of the offering.

Stock-Based Benefit Plans. Following the completion of the offering, we intend to implement one or more stock-based benefit plans that will provide for grants of stock options and awards of shares of restricted common stock. In accordance with applicable regulations, we anticipate the plans will authorize a number of stock options and a number of shares of restricted common stock, not to exceed 4.90% and 1.96%, respectively, of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. as of the conclusion of the offering. These limitations will not apply if the plans are implemented more than one year after the completion of the reorganization and offering.

The stock-based benefit plans will not be established sooner than six months after the offering and, if implemented within one year after the stock offering, the plans must be approved by a majority of the votes eligible to be cast by our stockholders, as well as a majority of the votes eligible to be cast by our stockholders other than Pioneer Bancorp, MHC. If stock-based benefit plans are established more than one year after the offering is completed, they must be approved by a majority of votes cast by our stockholders, as well as a majority of votes cast by our stockholders other than Pioneer Bancorp, MHC.

Certain additional restrictions would apply to our stock-based benefit plans if implemented within one year after completion of the offering, including:

We have not yet determined whether we will present stock-based benefit plans for stockholder approval within one year or more than one year following the completion of the offering. If applicable regulations or policies regarding stock-based benefit plans change, including any regulations or policies restricting the size of awards and vesting of benefits as described above, the restrictions described above may not be applicable.

We may obtain the shares needed for our stock-based benefit plans by issuing additional shares of common stock from authorized but unissued shares or by repurchasing our common stock.

Equity Plan Expenses. The implementation of an employee stock ownership plan and one or more stock-based benefit plans will increase our future compensation costs, thereby reducing our earnings. For example, under our employee stock ownership plan we will be required to expense each year the fair market value of the shares committed to be released for that year to the participating employees. Similarly, if we issue restricted stock awards under a stock-based benefit plan, we would be required to expense as the shares vest, the fair market value of such shares as of the grant date. Finally, if we issue stock options, we would be required to expense as the options vest, the estimated fair value of such options as of the grant date. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Offering—Our stock-based benefit plans will increase our expenses and reduce our income” and “Management—Benefits to be Considered Following Completion of the Stock Offering.”

Benefits to Management. The following table summarizes the stock benefits that our officers, directors and employees may receive following the reorganization and offering, at the adjusted maximum of the offering range and assuming our employee stock ownership plan purchases 3.92% of our outstanding shares as of the completion of the offering, and we implement one or more stock-based benefit plans that would authorize (1) granting options to purchase up to 4.90% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. at the completion of the offering and (2) awarding shares of restricted common stock equal to 1.96% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. at the completion of the offering.

The actual value of the shares of restricted common stock awarded under stock-based benefit plans will be based on the price of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s common stock at the time the shares are awarded. The following table presents the total value of all shares of restricted common stock to be available for award and issuance under the stock-based benefit plans, assuming receipt of stockholder approval and the shares are awarded when market prices range from $8.00 per share to $14.00 per share.

The grant-date fair value of the options granted under the stock-based benefit plans would be based in part on the trading price of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. common stock at the time the options are granted. The value will also depend on the various assumptions used in the option pricing model ultimately adopted. The following table presents the total estimated value of the options to be available for grant under the stock-based benefit plans, assuming receipt of stockholder approval, using a Black-Scholes option pricing model, and assuming the market price and exercise price for the stock options are equal and the range of market prices for the shares is $8.00 per share to $14.00 per share. The Black-Scholes option pricing model provides an estimate only of the fair value of the options, and the actual value of the options may differ significantly from the value set forth in this table.

Restrictions on the Acquisition of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and Pioneer Bank

Federal and state regulations, as well as provisions contained in the governing documents or Pioneer Bank and Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., restrict the ability of any person, firm or entity to acquire Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., Pioneer Bank, or their respective capital stock. These restrictions include the requirement that a potential acquirer of common stock obtain prior regulatory approval before acquiring in excess of 10% of the voting stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. or Pioneer Bank, as well as a provision in Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s articles of incorporation that generally provides that, no person, other than Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, may directly or indirectly offer to acquire or acquire the beneficial ownership of more than 10% of any class of equity security of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and that any shares acquired in excess of this limit would not be entitled to be voted and would not be counted as voting stock in connection with any matters submitted to the stockholders for a vote.

Because a majority of the shares of outstanding common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. must be owned by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, any acquisition of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. must be approved by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC. Furthermore, Pioneer Bancorp, MHC would not be required to pursue or approve a sale of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. even if such sale were favored by a majority of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s public stockholders. Finally, although a mutual holding company with a subsidiary stock holding company with public stockholders may be acquired by a mutual institution or another mutual holding company in what is known as a “remutualization” transaction, current regulatory policy may make such transactions unlikely because of the heightened regulatory scrutiny given to the structure and pricing of such transactions. Specifically, current regulatory policy views remutualization transactions as raising significant issues concerning disparate treatment of minority stockholders and mutual members of the target entity, and raising issues concerning the effect on the mutual members of the acquiring entity. As a result, a remutualization transaction for Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. would be unlikely unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that the regulatory concerns are not warranted in the particular case.

Possible Conversion of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC to Stock Form

In the future, Pioneer Bancorp, MHC may convert from the mutual to capital stock form of ownership, in a transaction commonly referred to as a “second-step conversion.” In a second-step conversion, depositors of Pioneer Bank would have subscription rights to purchase common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and the public stockholders of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. would be entitled to exchange their shares of common stock for an equal percentage of shares of the fully-converted Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. This percentage may be adjusted to reflect any assets owned by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC.

Our board of trustees has no current plans to undertake a second-step conversion transaction. Any second-step conversion transaction would require the approval of holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. common stock (excluding shares held by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC) and the approval of depositors of Pioneer Bank. Stockholders who purchase our common stock in the offering will not be able to force a second-step conversion without the consent of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC since a second-step conversion also requires the approval of a majority of all of the outstanding common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., which can only be achieved if Pioneer Bancorp, MHC votes to approve the second-step conversion.

Tax Consequences

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and Pioneer Bank have received an opinion of counsel, Luse Gorman, PC, regarding the material federal income tax consequences, and have received the opinion of Bonadio & Co., LLP regarding the material New York State income tax consequences, of the reorganization and offering. As a general matter, the reorganization and offering will not be a taxable transaction for purposes of federal or state income taxes to Pioneer Bancorp, Inc., Pioneer Bank or persons eligible to subscribe for shares of stock in the subscription offering.

Emerging Growth Company Status

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012. For as long as we so qualify we are exempt from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to emerging growth companies. See “Risk Factors—We are an emerging growth company, and any decision on our part to comply only with certain reduced reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors” and “Supervision and Regulation—Federal Securities Laws—Emerging Growth Company Status.”

An emerging growth company may elect to use the extended transition period to delay adoption of new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to public companies until such pronouncements are made applicable to private companies, but must make such election when the company is first required to file a registration statement. Such an election is irrevocable during the period a company is an emerging growth company. We have elected to use the extended transition period to delay adoption of new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to public companies until such pronouncements are made applicable to private companies. Accordingly, our financial statements may not be comparable to the financial statements of public companies that comply with such new or revised accounting standards.

How You Can Obtain Additional Information—Stock Information Center

Our banking personnel may not, by law, assist with investment-related questions about the offering. If you have any questions regarding the reorganization and offering, call our Stock Information Center at [sic number]. The Stock Information Center is open Monday through Friday between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. The Stock Information Center will be closed on weekends and bank holidays.

Delivery of Prospectus

To ensure that each purchaser in the offering receives a prospectus at least 48 hours prior to the expiration of the offering, in accordance with federal laws and regulations, we may not mail a prospectus later than five days prior to the expiration date or hand deliver a prospectus any later than two days prior to that date.

RISK FACTORS

You should consider carefully the following risk factors in evaluating an investment in the shares of our common stock.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our loan portfolio consists of a high percentage of loans secured by commercial real estate. These loans carry a greater credit risk than loans secured by one- to four-family properties.

Our loan portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, primarily loans secured by office buildings, industrial facilities, retail facilities, multi-family properties and other commercial properties. At December 31, 2018, our commercial real estate loans totaled $379.5 million, or 36.5%, of our total loan portfolio. Our commercial real estate loans expose us to greater risk of nonpayment and loss than one- to four-family residential mortgage loans because repayment of the loans often depends on the successful operation and income stream of the borrowers. If we foreclose on these loans, our holding period for the collateral typically is longer than for a one- to four-family residential property because there are fewer potential purchasers of the collateral. In addition, commercial real estate loans typically involve larger loan balances to single borrowers or groups of related borrowers compared to one- to four-family residential loans. Accordingly, charge-offs on commercial real estate loans may be larger on a per loan basis than those incurred with our residential or consumer loan portfolios. An unexpected adverse development on one or more of these types of loans can expose us to a significantly greater risk of loss compared to an adverse development with respect to a one- to four-family residential mortgage loan. In addition, the physical condition of non-owner occupied properties may be below that of owner-occupied properties due to lax property maintenance standards, which have a negative impact on the value of the collateral properties. As our commercial real estate loans increase, the corresponding risks and potential for losses from these loans may also increase.

A large portion of our loan portfolio is comprised of commercial and industrial loans secured by accounts receivable, inventory, equipment or other business assets, the deterioration in value of which could increase the potential for future losses.

At December 31, 2018, $183.3 million, or 17.6% of our total loan portfolio, was comprised of commercial and industrial loans and variable lines of credit to a variety of small and medium-sized businesses in our market area collateralized by general business assets including, among other things, accounts receivable and inventory, and we may augment this collateral with additional liens on real property. These commercial and industrial loans are typically larger in amount than loans to individuals and, therefore, have the potential for larger losses on a per loan basis. Additionally, the repayment of commercial and industrial loans is subject to the ongoing business operations of the borrower. The collateral securing such loans generally includes moveable property such as inventory, which may decline in value more rapidly than we anticipate, or may be difficult to market and sell, exposing us to increased credit risk. Significant adverse changes in the economy or local market conditions in which our commercial lending customers operate could cause rapid declines in loan collectability and the values associated with general business assets, resulting in inadequate collateral coverage that may expose us to credit losses and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We make and hold in our portfolio commercial construction loans, which are considered to have greater credit risk than residential loans made by financial institutions.

We originate and purchase commercial construction loans primarily to local developers to finance the construction of commercial and multi-family properties or to acquire land for development of commercial and multi-family properties and to finance infrastructure improvements. We also provide commercial construction loans to local developers for the construction of one- to four-family residential developments, and originate rehabilitation loans, enabling the borrower to partially or totally refurbish an existing structure. At December 31, 2018, commercial construction loans were $95.8 million, or 9.2% of our total loan portfolio. We also had undrawn amounts on the commercial construction loans totaling $84.0 million at December 31, 2018. Commercial construction loans are considered more risky than residential mortgage loans. The primary credit risks associated with construction lending are underwriting risks, project risks and market risks. Project risks include cost overruns, borrower credit risk, project completion risk, general contractor credit risk, and environmental and other hazard risks. Market risks are risks associated with the sale of the completed project. They include affordability risk, which means the risk of affordability of financing by borrowers, product design risk, and risks posed by competing projects.

We have a significant number of loans secured by real estate, and a downturn in the local real estate market could negatively impact our profitability.

At December 31, 2018, approximately $834.7 million, or 80.2%, of our total loan portfolio was secured by real estate, most of which is located in our primary lending market. Future declines in the real estate values in the Capital Region of New York and surrounding markets could significantly impair the value of the particular collateral securing our loans and our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure for an amount necessary to satisfy the borrower’s obligations to us. This could require increasing our allowance for loan losses to address the decrease in the value of the real estate securing our loans, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Unlike larger financial institutions that are more geographically diversified, our profitability depends primarily on the general economic conditions in our primary market area. Local economic conditions have a significant impact on our residential real estate, commercial real estate, construction, commercial and industrial and consumer lending, including, the ability of borrowers to repay these loans and the value of the collateral securing these loans.

While economic conditions in our primary market remain strong, deterioration in economic conditions could result in the following consequences, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations:

Moreover, a significant decline in general economic conditions, caused by inflation, recession, acts of terrorism, an outbreak of hostilities or other international or domestic calamities, unemployment or other factors beyond our control could further impact these local economic conditions and could further negatively affect our financial performance. In addition, deflationary pressures, while possibly lowering our operating costs, could have a significant negative effect on our borrowers, especially our business borrowers, and the values of underlying collateral securing loans, which could negatively affect our financial performance.

Our allowance for loan losses may not be sufficient to cover actual loan losses.

We maintain an allowance for loan losses, which is established through a provision for loan losses that represents management’s best estimate of probable incurred losses within the existing portfolio of loans. We make various assumptions and judgments about the collectability of loans in our portfolio, including the creditworthiness of borrowers and the value of the real estate and other assets serving as collateral for the repayment of loans. In determining the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses, we rely on our experience and our evaluation of economic conditions. If our assumptions prove to be incorrect, our allowance for loan losses may not be sufficient to cover losses inherent in our loan portfolio, and adjustments may be necessary to address different economic conditions or adverse developments in the loan portfolio. Consequently, a problem with one or more loans could require us to significantly increase our provision for loan losses. In addition, federal and state regulators periodically review our allowance for loan losses and may require us to increase our provision for loan losses or recognize additional loan charge-offs. Material additions to the allowance would materially decrease our net income.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has adopted a new accounting standard that will be effective for Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and Pioneer Bank for our first fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2021. This standard, referred to as Current Expected Credit Loss, or CECL, will require financial institutions to determine periodic estimates of lifetime expected credit losses on loans, and recognize the expected credit losses as allowances for loan losses. This will change the current method of establishing allowances for loan losses that are probable, which may require us to increase our allowance for loan losses, and increase the data we would need to collect and review to determine the appropriate level of our allowance for loan losses.

Changes in interest rates may reduce our profits.

Our profitability, like that of most financial institutions, depends to a large extent upon our net interest income, which is the difference between our interest income on interest-earning assets, such as loans and securities, and our interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowed funds. Accordingly, our results of operations depend largely on movements in market interest rates and our ability to manage our interest-rate-sensitive assets and liabilities in response to these movements. Factors such as inflation, recession and instability in financial markets, among other factors beyond our control, may affect interest rates.

If interest rates rise, and the interest rates on our deposits increase faster than the interest rates we receive on our loans and investments, our interest rate spread would decrease, which would have a negative effect on our net interest income and profitability. Furthermore, increases in interest rates may adversely affect the ability of borrowers to make loan repayments on adjustable-rate loans, as the interest owed on such loans would increase as interest rates increase. Conversely, decreases in interest rates can result in increased prepayments of loans and mortgage-related securities, as borrowers refinance to reduce their borrowing costs. Under these circumstances, we are subject to reinvestment risk as we may have to reinvest such loan or securities prepayments into lower-yielding assets, which may also negatively impact our income.

If interest rates rise, we expect that our net portfolio value of equity would decrease. Net portfolio value of equity represents the present value of the expected cash flows from our assets less the present value of the expected cash flows arising from our liabilities, adjusted for the value of off-balance sheet contracts. At December 31, 2018, and assuming a 200 basis points increase in market interest rates, we estimate that our net portfolio value would decrease by $12.8 million, or 6.8%. Conversely, at December 31, 2018 and assuming a 200 basis points decrease in market interest rates, we estimate that our net portfolio value would increase by $9.6 million, or 5.0%. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Management of Market Risk—Net Portfolio Value Simulation.”

Any substantial, unexpected or prolonged change in market interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. While we pursue an asset/liability strategy designed to mitigate our risk from changes in interest rates, changes in interest rates can still have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Changes in interest rates also may negatively affect our ability to originate real estate loans, the value of our assets and our ability to realize gains from the sale of our assets, all of which ultimately affect our earnings. Also, our interest rate risk modeling techniques and assumptions cannot fully predict or capture the impact of actual interest rate changes on our balance sheet or projected operating results. For further discussion of how changes in interest rates could impact us, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Management of Market Risk.”

Municipal deposits are price sensitive and could result in an increase in interest expense or funding fluctuations.

Municipal deposits are a significant source of funds for our lending and investment activities. At December 31, 2018, $216.5 million, or 19.4% of our total deposits, consisted of municipal deposits from local government entities such as towns, cities, school districts and other municipalities, which are collateralized by letters of credit from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and investment securities. Given our dependence on high-average balance municipal funds deposits as a source of funds, our inability to retain such funds could significantly and adversely affect our liquidity. Further, our municipal deposits are primarily demand deposit accounts and are therefore more sensitive to interest rate risks. If we are forced to pay higher rates on our municipal accounts to retain those funds, or if we are unable to retain such funds and we are forced to resort to other sources of funds for our lending and investment activities, such as borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, the interest expense associated with these other funding sources may be higher than the rates we are currently paying on our municipal deposits, which would adversely affect our net income.

The level of our commercial real estate loan portfolio subjects us to additional regulatory scrutiny.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the other federal bank regulatory agencies have promulgated joint guidance on sound risk management practices for financial institutions with concentrations in commercial real estate lending. Under the guidance, a financial institution that, like us, is actively involved in commercial real estate lending should perform a risk assessment to identify concentrations. A financial institution may have a concentration in commercial real estate lending if, among other factors, (i) total reported loans for construction, land acquisition and development, and other land represent 100% or more of total capital, or (ii) total reported loans secured by multi-family and non-owner occupied, non-farm, non-residential properties, loans for construction, land acquisition and development and other land, and loans otherwise sensitive to the general commercial real estate market, including loans to commercial real estate related entities, represent 300% or more of total capital. Based on these factors, we have a concentration in loans of the type described in (ii), above, or 276.1% of our total capital at December 31, 2018. The purpose of the guidance is to assist banks in developing risk management practices and capital levels commensurate with the level and nature of real estate concentrations. The guidance states that management should employ heightened risk management practices including board and management oversight and strategic planning, development of underwriting standards, risk assessment and monitoring through market analysis and stress testing. Our bank regulators could require us to implement additional policies and procedures consistent with their interpretation of the guidance that may result in additional costs to us or that may result in a curtailment of our commercial real estate and multi-family lending and/or the requirement that we maintain higher levels of regulatory capital, either of which would adversely affect our loan originations and profitability.

We use a third party to originate one- to four-family residential mortgage loans.

We have used a third-party mortgage banking company to underwrite, process and close our residential mortgage loans since January 2016. We use this company in order to offer our customers this loan product without the expense of an in-house residential mortgage loan department. Should we discontinue this relationship or otherwise be unable to use this company in the future, our ability to purchase residential mortgage loans may be disrupted unless we are able to find a suitable replacement or have or re-develop the capability to originate residential mortgage loans through our lending staff. Should we add more staff in such an event, our compensation expense would increase. Our income may be negatively affected if our residential mortgage lending program is disrupted.

Our business strategy involves moderate growth, and our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected if we fail to grow or fail to manage our growth effectively.

Our assets increased $462.3 million, or 56.1%, from $824.6 million at June 30, 2014 to $1.3 billion at December 31, 2018, primarily due to increases in loans receivable.  Over the next several years, we expect to experience moderate growth in our total assets and deposits, and the scale of our operations.  Achieving our growth targets requires us to attract customers that currently bank at other financial institutions in our market.  Our ability to grow successfully will depend on a variety of factors, including our ability to attract and retain experienced bankers, the availability of attractive business opportunities, competition from other financial institutions in our market area and our ability to manage our growth.  While we believe we have the management resources and internal systems in place to successfully manage our future growth, there can be no assurance growth opportunities will be available or that we will successfully manage our growth.  If we do not manage our growth effectively, we may not be able to achieve our business plan, which would have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in the valuation of our securities portfolio may reduce our profits and our capital levels.

Our securities portfolio may be affected by fluctuations in market value, potentially reducing accumulated other comprehensive income or earnings. Fluctuations in market value may be caused by changes in market interest rates, lower market prices for securities and limited investor demand. Management evaluates securities for other-than-temporary impairment on a quarterly basis, with more frequent evaluation for selected issues. In analyzing a debt issuer’s financial condition, management considers whether the securities are issued by the federal government or its agencies, whether downgrades by bond rating agencies have occurred, industry analysts’ reports and spread differentials between the effective rates on instruments in the portfolio compared to risk-free rates. If this evaluation shows impairment to the actual or projected cash flows associated with one or more securities, we may take a charge to earnings to reflect such impairment. Changes in interest rates may also have an adverse effect on our financial condition, as our available-for-sale securities are reported at their estimated fair value, and therefore are affected by fluctuations in interest rates. We increase or decrease our stockholders’ equity by the amount of change in the estimated fair value of the available-for-sale securities, net of taxes. Declines in market value may result in other-than-temporary impairments of these assets, which may lead to accounting charges that could have a material adverse effect on our net income and stockholders’ equity.

A portion of our loan portfolio consists of loan participations secured by properties outside our market area. Loan participations may have a higher risk of loss than loans we originate because we are not the lead lender and we have limited control over credit monitoring.

We occasionally purchase commercial real estate, commercial and industrial and commercial construction loan participations secured by properties outside our market area in which we are not the lead lender. We have purchased loan participations secured by various types of collateral such as real estate, equipment and other business assets located in New York, Connecticut and Vermont. Loan participations may have a higher risk of loss than loans we originate because we rely on the lead lender to monitor the performance of the loan. Moreover, our decision regarding the classification of a loan participation and loan loss provisions associated with a loan participation are made in part based upon information provided by the lead lender. A lead lender also may not monitor a participation loan in the same manner as we would for loans that we originate. At December 31, 2018, our loan participations where we are not the lead lender totaled $64.7 million, or 6.2% of our loan portfolio. At December 31, 2018, commercial and industrial loan participations outside our market area totaled $18.0 million, or 9.8% of the commercial and industrial loan portfolio, commercial construction loan participations outside our market area totaled $8.6 million, or 8.9% of the commercial construction loan portfolio and commercial real estate loan participations outside our market area totaled $2.0 million, or 0.5% of the commercial real estate loan portfolio. At December 31, 2018, no loan participations were delinquent 60 days or more. If our underwriting of these participation loans is not sufficient, our non-performing loans may increase and our earnings may decrease.

We may, in the future, participate in structured financing transactions involving businesses inside and outside our market area that require alternative financing arrangements. While these types of arrangements may generate more income than our traditional commercial loans that we originate and hold in portfolio, they generally have greater credit risk because they involve lending to borrowers with higher risk profiles, the issuance of more complex financial instruments and the valuation of more complex underlying collateral.

We may be adversely affected by recent changes in U.S. tax laws.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted in December 2017, is likely to have both positive and negative effects on our financial performance. Although the legislation’s reduction in our federal corporate tax rate has had a favorable impact on our earnings and capital generation abilities, the legislation also enacted limitations on certain deductions that will have an impact on the banking industry, borrowers and the market for single-family residential real estate. These limitations include (i) a lower limit on the deductibility of mortgage interest on single-family residential mortgage and home equity loans, (ii) a limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense and (iii) a limitation on the deductibility of property taxes and state and local income taxes.

The recent changes in the tax laws may have an adverse effect on the market for, and valuation of, residential properties, and on the demand for such loans in the future and could make it harder for borrowers to make their loan payments. In addition, these recent changes may also have a disproportionate effect on taxpayers in states with high residential home prices and high state and local taxes, like New York. If home ownership becomes less attractive, demand for mortgage loans could decrease. The value of the properties securing loans in our loan portfolio may be adversely impacted as a result of the changing economics of home ownership, which could require an increase in our provision for loan losses, which would reduce our profitability and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Conditions in insurance markets could adversely affect our earnings.

As we have diversified our sources of income, we have become increasingly reliant on non-interest income, particularly insurance fees and commissions. Revenue from these sources could be negatively affected by fluctuating premiums in the insurance markets or other factors beyond our control. Other factors that affect our insurance revenue are the profitability and growth of our clients, continued development of new products and services, as well as our access to new markets. Our insurance revenues and profitability may also be adversely affected by regulatory developments impacting healthcare and insurance markets, possibly including recent legislative proposals and discussions relating to national health insurance and the elimination of the private health insurance market.

Involvement in wealth management creates risks associated with the industry.

Our wealth management operations with Pioneer Financial Services, Inc. present special risks not borne by institutions that focus exclusively on other traditional retail and commercial banking products. For example, the investment advisory industry is subject to fluctuations in the stock market that may have a significant adverse effect on transaction fees, client activity and client investment portfolio gains and losses. Also, additional or modified regulations may adversely affect our wealth management operations. In addition, our wealth management operations, are dependent on a small number of established financial advisors, whose departure could result in the loss of a significant number of client accounts. A significant decline in fees and commissions or trading losses suffered in the investment portfolio could adversely affect our income and potentially require the contribution of additional capital to support our operations.

Changes in market conditions, changes in discount rates, changes in mortality assumptions or lower returns on assets may increase required contributions to, and costs associated with, our tax-qualified defined benefit plan in future periods.

The funded status and benefit obligations of our tax-qualified defined benefit plan (“pension plan”) is dependent upon may factors, including returns on invested assets, certain market interest rates, the discount rates and mortality assumptions used to determine pension obligations. The pension plan liability is calculated based on various actuarial assumptions, including mortality expectations, discount rates and expected long-term rates of return on plan assets. Unfavorable returns on plan assets could materially change the amount of required plan funding, which would reduce the cash available for our operations. In addition, a decrease in the discount rate and/or changes in the mortality assumptions used to determine pension obligations could increase the estimated value of our pension obligations, which would require us to increase the amounts of future contributions to the plan, thereby reducing our equity and our costs associated with the plan may substantially increase in future periods.

Changes in laws and regulations and the cost of regulatory compliance with new laws and regulations may adversely affect our operations and/or increase our costs of operations.

We are subject to extensive regulation, supervision and examination by our banking regulators. Such regulation and supervision govern the activities in which a financial institution and its holding company may engage and are intended primarily for the protection of insurance funds and the depositors and borrowers of Pioneer Bank rather than for the protection of our stockholders. Regulatory authorities have extensive discretion in their supervisory and enforcement activities, including the ability to impose restrictions on our operations, classify our assets and determine the level of our allowance for loan losses. These regulations, along with the currently existing tax, accounting, securities, deposit insurance and monetary laws, rules, standards, policies, and interpretations, control the ways financial institutions conduct business, implement strategic initiatives, and prepare financial reporting and disclosures. Any change in such regulation and oversight, whether in the form of regulatory policy, new regulations, legislation or supervisory action, may have a material impact on our operations. Further, changes in accounting standards can be both difficult to predict and may involve judgment and discretion in their interpretation by us and our independent accounting firms. These changes could materially impact, potentially retroactively, how we report our financial condition and results of operations.

Strong competition within our market area may reduce our profits and slow growth.

We face strong competition in making loans and attracting deposits. Price competition for loans and deposits sometimes requires us to charge lower interest rates on our loans and pay higher interest rates on our deposits, and may reduce our net interest income. Competition also makes it more difficult and costly to attract and retain qualified employees. Many of the institutions with which we compete have substantially greater resources and lending limits than we have and may offer services that we do not provide. Our competitors often aggressively price loan and deposit products when they enter into new lines of business or new market areas. If we are unable to effectively compete in our market area, our profitability would be negatively affected. The greater resources and broader offering of deposit and loan products of some of our competitors may also limit our ability to increase our interest-earning assets. For more information about our market area and the competition we face, see “Business of Pioneer Bank—Market Area” and “—Competition.”

We are subject to stringent capital requirements, which may adversely impact our return on equity, require us to raise additional capital, or restrict us from paying dividends or repurchasing shares.

Federal regulations establish minimum capital requirements for insured depository institutions, including minimum risk-based capital and leverage ratios, which were effective for us on January 1, 2015, and define what constitutes “capital” for calculating these ratios. The new minimum capital requirements are: (1) a new common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 4.5%; (2) a Tier 1 to risk-based assets capital ratio of 6%; (3) a total capital ratio of 8%; and (4) a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 4%. The regulations also require unrealized gains and losses on certain “available-for-sale” securities holdings to be included for calculating regulatory capital requirements unless a one-time opt-out is exercised. We elected to exercise our one-time option to opt-out of the requirement under the final rule to include certain “available-for-sale” securities holdings for calculating our regulatory capital requirements. The regulations also establish a “capital conservation buffer” of 2.5%, resulting in the following minimum ratios: (1) a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 7.0%, (2) a Tier 1 to risk-based assets capital ratio of 8.5%, and (3) a total capital ratio of 10.5%. The capital conservation buffer requirement began being phased in January 2016 at 0.625% of risk-weighted assets and increased each year until it was fully implemented in January 2019. An institution will be subject to limitations on paying dividends, engaging in share repurchases, and paying discretionary bonuses if its capital level falls below the buffer amount. These limitations will establish a maximum percentage of eligible retained income that can be utilized for such actions.

The recently enacted Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “Regulatory Relief Act”) simplifies capital calculations by requiring the federal regulators to establish for institutions under $10 billion in assets a community bank leverage ratio (tangible equity to average consolidated assets) at a percentage not less than 8% and not greater than 10% that eligible institutions may choose to elect to replace the risk-based capital requirements under the Basel III capital rules for such institutions. Institutions that meet the community bank leverage ratio will automatically be deemed to be well-capitalized under the federal regulator’s prompt corrective action framework, although the regulators retain the flexibility to determine that an institution may not qualify for the community bank leverage ratio test based on the institution’s risk profile. The federal regulators jointly issued a proposed rule on November 21, 2018, whereby a qualifying community bank organization may elect to use the community bank leverage ratio capital framework, in which case it will be considered well-capitalized so long as its community bank leverage ratio is greater than 9%.

Until the federal regulators issue their final rule, the Basel III risk-based and leverage ratios apply. The effective date of the final rule and the specific community bank leverage ratio have not been determined at this time.

The application of more stringent Basel III capital requirements could, among other things, result in lower returns on equity, require the raising of additional capital, and result in regulatory actions if we were to be unable to comply with such requirements. Implementation of changes to asset risk weightings for risk-based capital calculations, items included or deducted in calculating Basel III regulatory capital and/or additional Basel III capital conservation buffers could result in management modifying its business strategy, and could limit our ability to make distributions, including paying dividends or buying back shares.

Non-compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act, Bank Secrecy Act, or other laws and regulations could result in fines or sanctions.

The USA PATRIOT and Bank Secrecy Acts require financial institutions to develop programs to prevent financial institutions from being used for money laundering and terrorist activities. If such activities are detected, financial institutions are obligated to file suspicious activity reports with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. These rules require financial institutions to establish procedures for identifying and verifying the identity of customers that open new financial accounts. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in fines or sanctions, including restrictions on conducting acquisitions or establishing new branches. Several banking institutions have received large fines for non-compliance with these laws and regulations. While we have developed policies and procedures designed to assist in compliance with these laws and regulations, these policies and procedures may not be effective in preventing violations of these laws and regulations.

Our success depends on retaining certain key personnel.

Our performance largely depends on the talents and efforts of highly skilled individuals who comprise our senior management team. We rely on key personnel to manage and operate our business, including major revenue generating functions such as loan and deposit generation, wealth management and insurance businesses. The loss of key staff may adversely affect our ability to maintain and manage these functions effectively, which could negatively affect our income. In addition, loss of key personnel could result in increased recruiting and hiring expenses, which would reduce our net income. Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate our existing employees.

Systems failures or breaches of our network security could subject us to increased operating costs as well as litigation and other liabilities.

Our operations depend upon our ability to protect our computer systems and network infrastructure against damage from physical theft, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure or a similar catastrophic event, as well as from security breaches, denial of service attacks, viruses, worms and other disruptive problems caused by hackers. Any damage or failure that causes an interruption in our operations could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Computer break-ins, phishing and other disruptions could also jeopardize the security of information stored in and transmitted through our computer systems and network infrastructure, which may result in significant liability to us and may cause existing and potential customers to refrain from doing business with us. Although we, with the help of third-party service providers, intend to continue to implement security technology and establish operational procedures designed to prevent such damage, our security measures may not be successful. In addition, advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other developments could result in a compromise or breach of the algorithms we and our third-party service providers use to encrypt and protect customer transaction data. A failure of such security measures could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

It is possible that we could incur significant costs associated with a breach of our computer systems. While we have cyber liability insurance, there are limitations on coverage. Furthermore, cyber incidents carry a greater risk of injury to our reputation. Finally, depending on the type of incident, banking regulators can impose restrictions on our business and consumer laws may require reimbursement of customer losses.

Changes in accounting standards could affect reported earnings.

The bodies responsible for establishing accounting standards, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission and bank regulators, periodically change the financial accounting and reporting guidance that governs the preparation of our financial statements. These changes can be hard to predict and can materially impact how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, we could be required to apply new or revised guidance retroactively.

Changes in management’s estimates and assumptions may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and our financial condition or operating results.

In preparing this prospectus as well as periodic reports we will be required to file under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including our consolidated financial statements, our management is and will be required under applicable rules and regulations to make estimates and assumptions as of specified dates. These estimates and assumptions are based on management’s best estimates and experience at such times and are subject to substantial risk and uncertainty. Materially different results may occur as circumstances change and additional information becomes known. Areas requiring significant estimates and assumptions by management include our evaluation of the adequacy of our allowance for loan losses, the determination of our deferred income taxes, our fair value measurements, our determination of goodwill impairment, and our evaluation of our defined benefit pension plan obligations.

The cost of additional finance and accounting systems, procedures and controls in order to satisfy our new public company reporting requirements will increase our expenses.

As a result of the completion of this offering, we will become a public reporting company. We expect that the obligations of being a public company, including the substantial public reporting obligations, will require significant expenditures and place additional demands on our management team. We have made, and will continue to make, changes to our internal controls and procedures for financial reporting and accounting systems to meet our reporting obligations as a stand-alone public company. However, the measures we take may not be sufficient to satisfy our obligations as a public company. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes Oxley Act”) requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, starting with the second annual report that we would expect to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any failure to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price. In addition, we may need to hire additional compliance, accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical knowledge, and we may not be able to do so in a timely fashion. As a result, we may need to rely on outside consultants to provide these services for us until qualified personnel are hired. These obligations will increase our operating expenses and could divert our management’s attention from our operations.

Our risk management framework may not be effective in mitigating risk and reducing the potential for significant losses.

Our risk management framework is designed to minimize risk and loss to us. We try to identify, measure, monitor, report and control our exposure to risk, including strategic, market, liquidity, compliance and operational risks. While we use broad and diversified risk monitoring and mitigation techniques, these techniques are inherently limited because they cannot anticipate the existence or future development of currently unanticipated or unknown risks. Recent economic conditions and heightened legislative and regulatory scrutiny of the financial services industry, among other developments, have increased our level of risk. Accordingly, we could suffer losses if we fail to properly anticipate and manage these risks.

We are subject to environmental liability risk associated with lending activities.

A significant portion of our loan portfolio is secured by real estate, and we could become subject to environmental liabilities with respect to one or more of these properties. During the ordinary course of business, we may foreclose on and take title to properties securing defaulted loans. In doing so, there is a risk that hazardous or toxic substances could be found on these properties. If hazardous conditions or toxic substances are found on these properties, we may be liable for remediation costs, as well as for personal injury and property damage, civil fines and criminal penalties regardless of when the hazardous conditions or toxic substances first affected any particular property. Environmental laws may require us to incur substantial expenses to address unknown liabilities and may materially reduce the affected property’s value or limit our ability to use or sell the affected property. In addition, future laws or more stringent interpretations or enforcement policies with respect to existing laws may increase our exposure to environmental liability. Although we have policies and procedures to perform an environmental review before initiating any foreclosure on nonresidential real property, these reviews may not be sufficient to detect all potential environmental hazards. The remediation costs and any other financial liabilities associated with an environmental hazard could have a material adverse effect on us.

We are a community bank and our ability to maintain our reputation is critical to the success of our business and the failure to do so may materially adversely affect our performance.

We are a community bank, and our reputation is one of the most valuable components of our business. A key component of our business strategy is to rely on our reputation for customer service and knowledge of local markets to expand our presence by capturing new business opportunities from existing and prospective customers in our market area and contiguous areas. As such, we strive to conduct our business in a manner that enhances our reputation. This is done, in part, by recruiting, hiring and retaining employees who share our core values of being an integral part of the communities we serve, delivering superior service to our customers and caring about our customers and associates. If our reputation is negatively affected by the actions of our employees, by our inability to conduct our operations in a manner that is appealing to current or prospective customers, or otherwise, our business and, therefore, our operating results may be materially adversely affected.

Risks Related to the Offering

The future price of our shares of common stock may be less than the $10.00 offering price per share.

If you purchase shares of common stock in the offering, you may not be able to sell them later at or above the $10.00 offering price. In many cases, shares of common stock issued by newly converted savings institutions have traded below the initial offering price. The aggregate purchase price of the shares of common stock sold in the offering will be based on an independent appraisal. The independent appraisal is not intended, and should not be construed, as a recommendation of any kind as to the advisability of purchasing shares of common stock. The independent appraisal is based on certain estimates, assumptions and projections, all of which are subject to change from time to time. After the shares begin trading, the trading price of our common stock will be determined by the marketplace, and may be influenced by many factors, including our performance, prevailing interest rates, the overall performance of the economy, changes in federal tax laws, new regulations, investor perceptions of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and the outlook for the financial services industry in general. Price fluctuations in our common stock may be unrelated to our operating performance.

Pioneer Bancorp, MHC’s majority control of our common stock will enable it to exercise voting control over most matters put to a vote of stockholders and will prevent stockholders from forcing a sale or a second-step conversion transaction you may find advantageous.

Pioneer Bancorp, MHC will own a majority of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s common stock after the offering and, through its board of trustees, will be able to exercise voting control over most matters put to a vote of stockholders. Most of the directors and officers who will manage Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and Pioneer Bank will also manage Pioneer Bancorp, MHC. As a New York-chartered mutual holding company, the board of trustees of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC must ensure that the interests of depositors of Pioneer Bank are represented and considered in matters put to a vote of stockholders of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. Therefore, the votes cast by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC may not be in your personal best interests as a stockholder. For example, Pioneer Bancorp, MHC may exercise its voting control to defeat a stockholder nominee for election to the board of directors of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. and will be able to elect all of the directors of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. Some stockholders may desire a sale or merger transaction, since stockholders typically receive a premium for their shares, or a second-step conversion transaction, since, on a fully converted basis most fully stock institutions tend to trade at higher multiples of book value than mutual holding companies. However, stockholders will not be able to force a merger or a second-step conversion transaction without the consent of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC since such transactions also require, under New York and federal law, the approval of a majority of all of the outstanding voting stock, which can only be achieved if Pioneer Bancorp, MHC votes to approve such transactions.

Our failure to effectively deploy the net proceeds may have an adverse effect on our financial performance.

We intend to invest between $34.8 million and $47.4 million of the net proceeds of the offering (or $54.6 million at the adjusted maximum of the offering range) in Pioneer Bank. We may use the remaining net proceeds to invest in securities and for general corporate purposes, including, subject to regulatory limitations, repurchasing shares of common stock. We also expect to use a portion of the net proceeds we retain to fund a loan to Pioneer Bank’s employee stock ownership plan to purchase shares of common stock in the offering and to fund the charitable foundation. Pioneer Bank may use the net proceeds it receives to fund new loans, expand its retail banking franchise by establishing or acquiring new branches or by acquiring other financial institutions or other financial services companies, or for other general corporate purposes. However, except for funding the loan to the employee stock ownership plan and funding the charitable foundation, we have not allocated specific amounts of the net proceeds for any of these purposes. Therefore, we will have significant flexibility in determining the amount of the net proceeds we apply to different uses and when we apply or reinvest such proceeds. Also, certain of these uses, such as opening new branches or acquiring other financial institutions, may require prior regulatory approval. We have not established a timetable for reinvesting the net proceeds, and we cannot predict how long it will take to reinvest the net proceeds. Our failure to utilize these funds effectively and timely would reduce our profitability and may adversely affect the value of our common stock.

Our return on equity may be low following the offering and this could negatively affect the trading price of our shares of common stock.

Net income divided by average stockholders’ equity, known as “return on equity,” is a ratio many investors use to compare the performance of financial institutions. Our return on equity may be low until we are able to leverage the additional capital we receive from the offering. Our return on equity will be negatively affected by added expenses associated with our employee stock ownership plan and the stock-based benefit plans we intend to implement. Until we can increase our net interest income and non-interest income and deploy the capital raised in the offering, we expect our return on equity to be lower, which may reduce the market price of our shares of common stock. At the midpoint of the offering range, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s pro forma consolidated return on equity for the six months ended December 31, 2018 would have equaled 9.31% (annualized), compared to Pioneer Bank’s return on equity for the six months ended December 31, 2018 of 15.48% (annualized).

We are an emerging growth company, and if we elect to comply only with the reduced reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors.

We are an emerging growth company, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to “emerging growth companies,” including, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Investors may find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions.

As an emerging growth company, we also will not be subject to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which would require that our independent auditors review and attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years following the completion of this offering. We will cease to be an emerging growth company upon the earliest of: (1) the end of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of this offering; (2) the first fiscal year after our annual gross revenues are $1.07 billion or more; (3) the date on which we have, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; or (4) the end of any fiscal year in which the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700 million at the end of the second quarter of that fiscal year.

Our stock-based benefit plans, if implemented, will increase our expenses and reduce our income.

We intend to implement one or more stock-based benefit plans after the offering, subject to stockholder approval, which would increase our annual compensation and benefit expenses related to stock options and stock awards granted to participants under the stock-based benefit plans. The amount of these stock-related compensation and benefit expenses would depend on the number of options and stock awards granted, the fair value of the options and our stock on the date of grant, the vesting period, and other factors that we cannot predict at this time. If we implement stock-based benefit plans within 12 months following the offering, the total shares of common stock reserved for issuance pursuant to awards of restricted stock and grants of options under such plans would be limited to 1.96% and 4.90%, respectively, of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. at the completion of the offering. If we award restricted shares of common stock or grant options in excess of these amounts under stock-based benefit plans implemented more than 12 months after the completion of the offering, our costs would increase further.

We anticipate that our employee stock ownership plan will purchase 3.92% of our outstanding shares. The cost of acquiring the shares of common stock for the employee stock ownership plan is estimated to be between $6.5 million at the minimum of the offering range and $10.2 million at the adjusted maximum of the offering range (assuming we are able to purchase all of such shares in the offering). We will record annual employee stock ownership plan expenses in an amount equal to the fair value of shares of common stock committed to be released to employees. If shares of common stock appreciate in value over time, compensation expense relating to the employee stock ownership plan will increase.

The estimated expense in the first year following the offering for shares purchased in the offering (or in the after-market if the offering is oversubscribed by the eligible account holders) by our employee stock ownership plan and for stock-based benefit plans implemented within one year after the offering, subject to receipt of stockholder approval, is approximately $2.3 million ($1.8 million after tax) at the adjusted maximum of the offering range as set forth in the pro forma financial information under “Pro Forma Data,” assuming the $10.00 per share offering price as fair market value. Actual expense may be higher if the price of our common stock at the time the shares are allocated or awarded is greater than $10.00 per share. For further discussion of our proposed stock-based plans, see “Management—Benefits to be Considered Following Completion of the Offering.”

Implementing stock-based benefit plans may dilute your ownership interest. Historically, stockholders have approved these stock-based benefit plans.

We intend to adopt one or more new stock-based benefit plans following the offering, subject to stockholder approval. These plans may be funded either through open market purchases or by issuing additional authorized but unissued shares of common stock. Our ability to repurchase shares of common stock to fund these plans will be subject to many factors, including applicable regulatory restrictions on common stock repurchases, the availability of stock in the market, the trading price of our stock, our capital levels, alternative uses for our capital and our financial performance. While we intend to fund the new stock-based benefit plans through open market purchases, stockholders would experience a 6.4% dilution in ownership interest if newly issued shares of our common stock are used to fund stock options and shares of restricted common stock in amounts equal to 4.90% and 1.96%, respectively, of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. at the completion of offering. If we implement the plans more than 12 months following the offering, new stock-based benefit plans would not be subject to these limitations and stockholders could experience greater dilution.

Although our stockholders must approve the implementation of any stock-based benefit plans follow the offering, the overwhelming majority of stock-based benefit plans implemented by converting institutions and their holding companies have been approved by stockholders.

Federal Reserve Board regulations and policy effectively prohibit Pioneer Bancorp, MHC from waiving the receipt of dividends, which will likely preclude us from paying any dividends on our common stock.

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.’s board of directors will have the authority to declare dividends on our common stock subject to statutory and regulatory requirements. We currently intend to retain all our future earnings, if any, for use in our business and do not expect to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be made by our board of directors and will depend upon our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions under Federal Reserve Board regulations and policy, our business strategy and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant.

Under Federal Reserve Board regulations and policy, if Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. pays dividends to its public stockholders, it also would be required to pay dividends to Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, unless Pioneer Bancorp, MHC waives the receipt of such dividends. Current Federal Reserve Board policy has been to prohibit mutual holding companies that are regulated as bank holding companies, such as Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, from waiving the receipt of dividends and the Federal Reserve Board ’s regulations implemented after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act effectively prohibit federally-chartered mutual holding companies from waiving dividends declared by their subsidiaries. See “Subscription and Regulation—Holding Company Regulation—Waivers of Dividends by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC” for a further discussion of the applicable requirements related to the potential waiver of dividends by a mutual holding company. Moreover, since Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. will sell only a minority of its shares to the public and will contribute the remaining shares to Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. will raise significantly less capital than would have been the case if it sold all its shares to the public. As a result, paying dividends to Pioneer Bancorp, MHC — an entity that will not be paying for the shares of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. common stock it receives in connection with the offering, may be inequitable to public stockholders and not in their best financial interests. Therefore, unless Federal Reserve Board regulations and policy change by allowing Pioneer Bancorp, MHC to waive the receipt of dividends declared by Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. without diluting minority stockholders, it is unlikely that Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. will pay any dividends.

Various factors may make takeover attempts more difficult to achieve.

Stock banks and savings banks or holding companies, as well as individuals, may not acquire control of a mutual holding company, such as Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. As result, the only persons that may acquire control of a mutual holding company are other mutual savings institutions or mutual holding companies. Accordingly, it is very unlikely, that Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. would be subject to any takeover attempt by activist stockholders or other financial institutions. In addition, certain provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws and state and federal banking laws, including regulatory approval requirements, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. without our board of directors’ prior approval.

Under Federal Reserve Board regulations, for a period of three years following completion of the offering, no person may directly or indirectly acquire or offer to acquire beneficial ownership of more than 10% of our common stock without prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board. Under federal law, subject to certain exemptions, a person, entity or group must notify the Federal Reserve Board before acquiring control of a bank holding company. Acquisition of 10% or more of any class of voting stock of a bank holding company creates a rebuttable presumption that the acquirer “controls” the bank holding company. Also, a bank holding company must obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board and the NYSDFS before, among other things, acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of more than 5% of any class of voting shares of any bank, including Pioneer Bank.

There also are provisions in our articles of organization that may be used to delay or block a takeover attempt, including a provision that prohibits any person, other than Pioneer Bancorp, MHC, from voting more than 10% of the shares of common stock outstanding. Taken as a whole, these statutory provisions and provisions in our articles of incorporation could result in our being less attractive to a potential acquirer and thus could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

For additional information, see “Restrictions on Acquisition of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.,” “Management—Employment Agreements” and “—Benefits to be Considered Following Completion of the Offering.”

Our stock value may be negatively affected by applicable regulations that restrict stock repurchases.

Applicable regulations restrict us from repurchasing any of our shares of common stock during the first year following the offering and limit us from repurchasing our shares of common stock during each of the second and third years following the offering to 5% of our outstanding shares, unless we obtain prior approval from the NYSDFS. Stock repurchases are a capital management tool that can enhance the value of a company’s stock, and our inability to repurchase any of our shares of common stock during the first year following the offering and limitations on our ability to repurchase our shares of common stock during the second and third years following the offering may negatively affect our stock price.

We have never issued common stock to the public, and there is no guarantee that a liquid market will develop.

We have never issued common stock to the public and there is no established market for our common stock. We expect that our common stock will be listed for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “PBFS,” subject to completion of the offering and compliance with certain conditions, including the presence of at least three registered and active market makers. Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. has advised us that it intends to make a market in shares of our common stock following the offering, but it is not obligated to do so or to continue to do so once it begins. While we will attempt before completion of the offering to obtain commitments from at least two other broker-dealers to make a market in shares of our common stock, we may not be able to obtain such commitments. This would result in our common stock not being listed for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market, which could reduce the liquidity of our common stock. The development of an active trading market depends on the existence of willing buyers and sellers, the presence of which is not within our control, or that of any market maker. The number of active buyers and sellers of the shares of common stock at any particular time may be limited. Under such circumstances, you could have difficulty selling your shares of common stock on short notice, and, therefore, you should not view the shares of common stock as a short-term investment. In addition, our public “float,” which is the total number of our outstanding shares less the shares held by Pioneer Bancorp, MHC and our directors and executive officers, is likely to be limited. As a result, an active trading market for the common stock may not develop or, if it does develop, it may not continue. Additionally, if you purchase shares of common stock, you may not be able to sell them at or above $10.00 per share. Purchasers of common stock in this offering should have long-term investment intent and should recognize that there will be a limited trading market in the common stock. This may make it difficult to sell the common stock after the completion of the offering and may have an adverse impact on the price at which the common stock can be sold.

You may not revoke your order to purchase common stock in the subscription or community offerings after you send us your order form.

Funds submitted or automatic withdrawals authorized in connection with the purchase of shares of common stock in the subscription and community offerings will be held by us until the completion or termination of the offering, including any extension of the expiration date and consummation of a syndicated community offering. Because completion of the offering will be subject to regulatory approvals and an update of the independent appraisal prepared by RP Financial, among other factors, there may be one or more delays in completing the offering. Orders submitted in the subscription and community offerings are irrevocable, and purchasers will have no access to their funds unless the offering is terminated, or extended beyond [extension date #1], or the number of shares to be sold in the offering is increased to more than 11,170,402 shares or decreased to fewer than 7,179,465 shares.

You may not be able to sell your shares of common stock until you have received a statement reflecting ownership of shares, which will affect your ability to take advantage of changes in the stock price immediately following the offering.

A statement reflecting ownership of shares of common stock purchased in the offering may not be delivered for several days after the completion of the offering and the commencement of trading in the common stock. Your ability to sell the shares of common stock before receiving your ownership statement will depend on arrangements you may make with a brokerage firm, and you may not be able to sell your shares of common stock until you have received your ownership statement. As a result, you may not be able to take advantage of fluctuations in the price of the common stock immediately following the offering.

The distribution of subscription rights could have adverse income tax consequences.

If the subscription rights granted to eligible current or former depositors of Pioneer Bank are deemed to have an ascertainable value, receipt of the rights may be taxable in an amount equal to the ascertained value. Whether subscription rights are considered to have ascertainable value is an inherently factual determination. We have received an opinion of counsel, Luse Gorman, PC, that it is more likely than not that subscription rights have no ascertainable value; however, the opinion is not binding on the Internal Revenue Service.

Risks Related to the Charitable Foundation

The contribution to the charitable foundation will dilute your ownership interest and adversely affect net income in 2019.

We intend to fund our charitable foundation in connection with the offering. We intend to contribute shares of our common stock equal to 2.0% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. at the completion of the offering and up to $250,000 in cash. At the minimum, midpoint, maximum and adjusted maximum of the offering range, we will contribute to the charitable foundation 333,928, 392,857, 451,786 and 519,554 shares of common stock, respectively. The contribution will have an adverse effect on our net income for the quarter and year in which we complete the offering and make the contribution to the charitable foundation. The after-tax expense of the contribution is expected to reduce net income for the year ended June 30, 2019 by approximately $3.1 million, assuming the offering closes at the midpoint of the offering range. Our net income for the six months ended December 31, 2018 and for the year ended June 30, 2018 was $9.2 million and $11.5 million, respectively. In addition, persons purchasing shares in the offering will have their ownership and voting interests in Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. diluted by up to 2.0% due to the contribution of shares of common stock to the charitable foundation.

Our contribution to the charitable foundation may not be tax deductible, which could reduce our profits.

We may not have sufficient profits to be able to fully use the tax deduction from our contribution to the charitable foundation. Under the Internal Revenue Code, an entity is permitted to deduct up to 10% of its taxable income (generally income before federal income taxes and charitable contributions expense) in any one year for charitable contributions. Any contribution in excess of the 10% limit may be deducted for federal income tax purposes over each of the five years following the year in which the charitable contribution is made. Accordingly, a charitable contribution could, if necessary, be deducted over a six-year period and expires thereafter.

SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

The following tables set forth selected consolidated historical financial and other data for Pioneer Bank, on a consolidated basis, at the dates and for the periods indicated. It is only a summary and it should be read in conjunction with the business and financial information contained elsewhere in this prospectus, including the consolidated financial statements that appear starting on page F-1 of this prospectus. The information at December 31, 2018 and for the six months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 is not audited but, in the opinion of management, includes all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation. All adjustments are normal and recurring. The results of operations for the six months ended December 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending June 30, 2019 or any other period. The information at June 30, 2018 and 2017 and for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 is derived in part from the audited consolidated financial statements appearing in this prospectus. The information at June 30, 2016, 2015 and 2014 and for the years ended June 30, 2016, 2015 and 2014 is derived in part from audited consolidated financial statements not appearing in this prospectus.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “project,” “believe,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “seek,” “expect” and words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

These forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions with respect to future business strategies and decisions that are subject to change.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements:

Because of these and other uncertainties, our actual future results may be materially different from the results indicated by these forward-looking statements. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 18.

HOW WE INTEND TO USE THE PROCEEDS FROM THE OFFERING

Although we cannot determine what the actual net offering proceeds will be until the offering is completed, we estimate that the net proceeds will be between $69.7 million and $94.8 million, or $109.2 million if the offering range is increased by 15%.

We intend to distribute the net proceeds as follows:

Payments for shares of common stock made through withdrawals from existing deposit accounts will not result in the receipt of new funds for investment but will reduce Pioneer Bank’s deposits. The net proceeds may vary because total expenses relating to the offering may be more or less than our estimates. For example, our expenses would increase if fewer shares were sold in the subscription and community offerings and more in the syndicated offering than we have assumed.

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. may use the proceeds it retains from the offering:

See “Our Dividend Policy” for a discussion of our expected dividend policy following the completion of the offering. Under NYSDFS regulations, we may not repurchase shares of our common stock during the first year following the completion of the offering and, in the second and third years, we may not repurchase more than 5% of our then-outstanding shares of common stock in each of those years without the prior approval of the NYSDFS.

Pioneer Bank may use the net proceeds it receives from the offering:

Initially, a substantial portion of the net proceeds retained by Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. will be invested in an interest-bearing deposit account in Pioneer Bank and in short-term investment securities of the type currently held by Pioneer Bank. We have not determined specific amounts of the net proceeds that would be used for the purposes described above. The use of proceeds outlined above may change based on many factors, including changes in interest rates, equity markets, laws and regulations affecting the financial services industry, the attractiveness of potential acquisitions to expand our operations, and overall market conditions.

We expect our return on equity to be low until we are able to effectively deploy the additional capital raised in the offering. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Offering—Our failure to effectively deploy the net proceeds may have an adverse effect on our financial performance.”

OUR DIVIDEND POLICY

Following completion of the offering, our board of directors will have the authority to declare dividends on our shares of common stock, subject to statutory and regulatory requirements. However, we currently do not intend to pay cash dividends. The decision to pay a dividend in the future would depend upon a number of factors, including: regulatory capital requirements; our financial condition and results of operations; our other uses of funds for the long-term value of stockholders; tax considerations; statutory and regulatory limitations, including the Federal Reserve Board’s dividend waiver regulations and policy, which effectively prohibit us from paying any dividends to our public stockholders without also paying the same dividends per share to Pioneer Bancorp, MHC; and general economic conditions. We cannot assure you that any dividends will be paid on our common stock as long as we operate in the mutual holding company form, unless there is a change in Federal Reserve Board regulations or policy that would allow mutual holding companies to waive the receipt of dividends. Moreover, even if we pay dividends on our common stock in the future, we cannot assure you that dividends will not be reduced or eliminated. Special cash dividends, stock dividends or returns of capital, to the extent permitted by applicable law, regulations and policy, may be paid in addition to, or in lieu of, regular cash dividends. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Offering—You may not receive dividends on our common stock, and if we were to declare dividends on our common stock, Pioneer Bancorp, MHC would be restricted from waiving the receipt of dividends.”

We will file a consolidated federal tax return with Pioneer Bank. Accordingly, it is anticipated that any cash distributions that we make to our stockholders would be treated as cash dividends and not as a non-taxable return of capital for federal and state tax purposes. Additionally, pursuant to applicable regulations, during the three-year period following the offering, we will not take any action to declare an extraordinary dividend to stockholders that would be treated by recipients as a tax-free return of capital for federal income tax purposes.

Pursuant to our articles of incorporation, we are authorized to issue preferred stock. If we issue preferred stock, the holders thereof may have a priority over the holders of our shares of common stock with respect to the payment of dividends. For a further discussion concerning the payment of dividends on our shares of common stock, see “Description of Capital Stock of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.—Common Stock.” Dividends we can declare and pay also will depend, in part, upon receipt of dividends from Pioneer Bank, because initially we will have no source of income other than dividend income from Pioneer Bank and earnings from the investment of the net proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock retained by us and interest payments received in connection with the loan to the employee stock ownership plan. New York banking law imposes limitations on capital distributions (including dividends) by Pioneer Bank. See “Supervision and Regulation—New York Banking Laws and Supervision—Dividends.”

Any payment of dividends by Pioneer Bank to us that would be deemed to be drawn out of Pioneer Bank’s tax bad debt reserves, if any, would require a payment of taxes at the then-current tax rate by Pioneer Bank on the amount of earnings deemed to be removed from the reserves for such distribution. Pioneer Bank does not intend to make any distribution to Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. that would create such a federal tax liability.

MARKET FOR THE COMMON STOCK

We have never issued capital stock and there is no established market for our shares of common stock. We expect that our shares of common stock will be listed for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “PBFS,” subject to completion of the offering and compliance with certain listing conditions, including the presence of at least three registered and active market makers. Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. has advised us that it intends to make a market in shares of our common stock following the offering, but it is not obligated to do so or to continue to do so once it begins. While we will attempt before completion of the offering to obtain commitments from at least two other broker-dealers to make a market in shares of our common stock, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in obtaining such commitments.

The development and maintenance of a public market, having the desirable characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness, depends on the existence of willing buyers and sellers, the presence of which is not within our control or that of any market maker. The number of active buyers and sellers of shares of our common stock at any particular time may be limited, which may have an adverse effect on the price at which shares of our common stock can be sold. There can be no assurance that persons purchasing the shares of common stock will be able to sell their shares at or above the $10.00 offering purchase price per share.

HISTORICAL AND PRO FORMA REGULATORY CAPITAL COMPLIANCE

At December 31, 2018, Pioneer Bank exceeded all applicable regulatory capital requirements and was considered “well capitalized.” The table below sets forth, at December 31, 2018, the historical equity capital and regulatory capital and the pro forma equity capital and regulatory capital of Pioneer Bank after giving effect to the sale of shares of common stock at $10.00 per share. The tabular data assumes the receipt by Pioneer Bank of 50% of the net offering proceeds. See “How We Intend to Use the Proceeds from the Offering.”