by Brian Hague, CFA | Jan 30, 2015 | Economics
After several years of intently watching the Fed for clues as to the economy, the markets and interest rates, 2015 will be the year that we can finally take our eyes off the Fed, and focus on the consumer. Think this year won’t be about the consumer? Think again. The...
by Brian Hague, CFA | Dec 30, 2014 | Enterprise Risk Management
‘Twas the night before New Year’s, two-thousand-fifteen, A most interesting year on the ERM scene. Consumers were vulnerable to hackers’ reaches, As merchants were “Targets” of broad data breaches. Emerging technologies came every day: EMV, CurrentC, and ApplePay....
by Brian Hague, CFA | Dec 10, 2014 | Strategy
We hear “Wow!” a lot these days among many of the credit unions we work with, in the context of “Wowing the Member,” or “Wow Member Service.” But here’s a stark truth: you can’t “Wow” your members if you don’t first “Wow” your employees. Why? Because an excellent...
by Brian Hague, CFA | Oct 28, 2014 | Economics
The NCUA is hyper-focused on interest rate risk (IRR). They go so far as to include an “Interest Rate Risk Resources” button on their main webpage that includes, among other items, a video featuring NCUA Chief Economist John Worth highlighting the agency’s concerns...
by Brian Hague, CFA | Aug 22, 2014 | Enterprise Risk Management
The latest home price numbers (through May, according to S&P/Case-Shiller) looked pretty solid: the benchmark 20-City Composite measure was up 9.3% year-over-year (YOY). All 20 markets posted gains on an unadjusted basis, though 14 showed YOY declines when...
