Blog & Resources
Is Your Board a Catalyst for Success?
As credit unions kick off 2017, management teams have spent the last several months putting the pieces in place for the new year. The budget has been completed, the strategic plan is finalized with specific objectives and...
A Glimpse at the Futures
No, the title of the article isn’t incorrect; we’re going to be talking about using Fed funds futures to gain perspective on where the market believe rates are heading. But first, some background. The future direction of...
The Best Laid Plans
Credit union succession planning often seems to be one of those back burner issues that we will get to when we really need it. Unfortunately, that need can be unpredictable. Beyond the timing uncertainty, succession...
Strategic planning: Get in the Game!
The college football season is well underway, and so is the strategic planning season. This article will draw parallels between the two, and provide some key take-aways that can help turn your planning efforts into a...
Too Big to Govern?
The fallout from the Wells Fargo scandal continues to be in the news on a daily basis. While the bank emphasizes a small percentage of employees were involved, common sense dictates there were certainly cultural issues that...
Lessons from the Men’s Olympic Cycling Road Race
The 2016 Olympic cycling road race – a punishing, 148-mile course through the hills and along the coast in Rio, featuring 11 climbs with gradients in excess of 24% - witnessed numerous crashes on the dangerous descents...
Much Ado About Little: The Brexit
It’s only appropriate that we borrow a line (albeit paraphrased) from the Bard of Avon to describe our views about the recent Brexit vote. It should also be noted that the views expressed herein are those of the author,...
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
I’ve talked before about the concept of conducting a risk appetite assessment for your credit union so you can determine the alignment between management’s and the board’s appetite for risk across the credit union (“Bon...
Anecdotal Economics: Three Takeaways from the Recent Data
At the CUNA/Rochdale Paragon ERM Certification and Update Schools presented in April, I taught a session titled “Anecdotal Economics.” This concept holds that biases in economic thought, industry economists, and...