by Brittany Rollek | Aug 9, 2019 | Articles
Published in: CU Business The strategic planning season is ramping up and many financial institutions have initiated the process of preparing for 2020 – identifying likely challenges, defining strategic direction, and forecasting the balance sheet and financial... by Shahid Sattar | Nov 19, 2020 | Articles
The year 2020 has caused a significant shift in the way Americans view everyday activities due to COVID-19. Many storefronts have implemented card only policies to slow the spread of the virus. However, the trend of using cards over cash has been tilting more towards... by Jake King and Shahid Sattar | Oct 26, 2020 | Articles
An opportunity for federally chartered credit unions to gain greater flexibility in managing interest rate risk and making profitable decisions. Key Takeaways The preapproval process for derivative use will be eliminated for Federal Credit Unions with greater than... by Priyag Babaria | Sep 9, 2020 | Articles
On March 13th, a national emergency was declared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic impact of the pandemic has raised questions about capital adequacy in the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Economic shutdown and stay-at-home mandates forced many... by ALM First | Aug 18, 2020 | Articles
Second Quarter, 2020 Commercial Banks increased provisioning with provision for loan losses to average assets more than tripling YoY.Reserves/NPAs continue trending upward by 78% for Commercial Banks and 25% for CUs YoY. Net charge offs as a percentage of average... by ALM First | Jul 10, 2020 | Articles
First Quarter, 2020 Commercial Banks witnessed record breaking growth in assets and deposits, with 42.3% and 43.0% annualized QOQCredit Unions grew significantly in assets and deposits, with 18.3% and 17.0% annualized QOQQuarterly ROAs for CUs and Commercial Banks... by David Ritter | Jun 19, 2020 | Articles
Are we at a tipping point for credit unions? Proactive credit unions that have been performing well for a long period of time are starting to reconsider potential mergers and acquisitions for relevance, stability, scale and, most importantly, to benefit... by Bloomberg News | Jun 16, 2020 | Articles
Unemployment is high. Credit is tight. And scientists are warning that a dangerous second wave of the coronavirus is coming. But somehow, U.S. mortgage companies are having one of their best years in history. Just ask Keith VandenAkker. He’s forgoing weekends to... by Robert Perry and Hafizan Hamzah | Apr 24, 2020 | Articles
Reinvestment Risk Rears Its Ugly Head, Savvy Managers Seek Alternatives to Ladder Portfolios If your depository has historically invested in passive Treasury and bullet ladders, it may be time to re-evaluate your investment strategy and seek more actively managed... by Emily Hollis, CFA | Apr 9, 2020 | Articles
The world is grappling with an issue of enormous scale and I find myself cherishing my family, work family, friends, and amazing clients. Our hearts go out to all those affected by the virus. No crisis is an isolated, neatly contained incident and the COVD-19 outbreak... by Robert Perry and Darren Fago, CFA | Mar 16, 2020 | Articles
When interest rates make sudden, unexpected movements, it is imperative that financial institutions remain diligent and make sensible, yet timely decisions. Extreme volatility may provide rare opportunities to capitalize on disjointed markets. Here are 7 tips to keep... by Eric Tran | Mar 5, 2020 | Articles
Over the last few years, there has been a rise in the number of credit unions acquiring community banks. Several additional complexities exist when a credit union acquires a community bank in comparison to acquiring a credit union. The largest difference is that cash... by ALM First | Feb 13, 2020 | Articles
Washington, D.C. – The Trust for Credit Unions (TCU), the largest family of institutional mutual funds created specifically for credit unions’ unique investment needs, has experienced strong growth as many credit unions re-evaluate their investment options. Total... by Jason Haley | Feb 6, 2020 | Articles
It has been a busy start to 2020, with market concerns ranging from war with Iran to the outbreak of a deadly virus in China and a presidential impeachment trial somewhere in between. Despite the headline noise, risk markets performed reasonably well for much of... by ALM First | Jan 30, 2020 | Articles
Dallas, Texas – ALM First Financial Advisors recently promoted Jason Haley to Chief Investment Officer. Haley joined the firm in 2008 and previously served as the Managing Director of ALM First’s Investment Management Group. He’s been responsible for leading the... by Jason Haley | Jan 13, 2020 | Articles
It was a good year for the U.S. economy and broad financial markets in 2019. The S&P 500 generated a 31.5% return, a performance second only to 2013 (32.4%) over the last 20 years. Making the year more unique was the fact that broad fixed income also performed... by ALM First | Jan 9, 2020 | Articles
DALLAS, TX (January 9, 2020) — Six new sessions will focus on mortgage assets during ALM First’s 2020 Financial Institute, the highly-rated conference for continuing education, financial analyst training, current market trends and industry updates to ensure... by Michael Oravetz and Cullen Coxe | Dec 27, 2019 | Articles
Published in: Credit Union Business No matter the movement in rate forecasts and growth expectations, liquidity remains critical for healthy institutions. In order to ensure that adequate liquidity sources are available in the event of the unexpected, institutions... by Michael Oravetz and Cullen Coxe | Dec 23, 2019 | Articles
Published in: CUNA Councils Effectively forecasting liquidity remains vital for credit unions as we head into the new year. Regardless of rate forecasts and growth expectations, healthy credit unions must ensure that adequate liquidity sources are available in the... by Gleb Barkovskiy | Dec 19, 2019 | Articles
With the rate rally the financial markets have experienced in 2019, even amidst a steadily churning US economy, many financial institutions are asking whether to lock in low borrowing costs for their balance sheets. We have recently received inquiries from clients to... by ALM First | Nov 25, 2019 | Articles
Published in: CUNA Councils With many credit unions currently finalizing their strategic plans and budgets for 2020, there are several key economic factors that are important to take into consideration. This article includes key takeaways from the recent economic...