Credit Union CFO Roles Emerging

SAN DIEGO – A recent Proactive Balance Sheet Strategies workshop during the 10th Annual CUNA CFO Council Conference and Roundtable reveals that credit union chief financial officer roles are emerging, as they increasingly become the credit union’s “financial steward”. According to presenters CUNA Mutual Financial Solutions Group Senior Investment Advisory Consultant Jerry Boebel and MEMBERS Capital Advisors Senior Investment Officer Paul Lefurgey CFOs will increasingly be expected to “inject their financial expertise into lending, marketing, and strategic planning to support the credit union’s dual goal of meeting member needs while maintaining financial strength.” Boebel says employing the right strategies can enable credit union success. He adds that the same objective when purchasing an investment – obtaining appropriate value for the risk you’re taking on it- should be used in identifying optimal loan growth. Lefurgey also emphasized the importance of using a “top-down” approach, driving from the ALM risk profile of a balance sheet, all the way down to individual security selection. “When looking at an investment, you need to measure risk in each security. That’s how to determine whether it’s priced right and how it reacts under various market conditions. The top-down approach is used to evaluate risks at the portfolio level. After analyzing the security and whether it is priced properly, you then must analyze how it fits with the rest of the portfolio,” said Lefurgey.