As Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus warned way back in 500 B.C., the only constant is change. Credit unions might be well-served to keep this in mind, especially when it comes to managing their balance sheets in light of today's dynamic economic environment.

When the Federal Reserve dropped its Fed funds rate to close to 0% in November 2008, many credit unions changed their approaches to balance sheet management. Now that economic indicators have prompted the Fed to promise a rate rise in the near future, those credit unions will soon learn how well they have managed those balance sheets, and so will their regulator.

Evident, too, will be how tightly margins have been squeezed between what credit unions earn on investments, loans and other assets, and how much they pay in interest on share savings accounts and other liabilities. Credit unions that find themselves upside down in their balance between the two may have some explaining to do, NCUA Chief Economist John Worth said.