Bolstered by a growing confidence in the financial condition of credit unions, Catalyst Corporate's Credit Union CEO Confidence Index increased moderately during the first quarter of 2016, after two quarters of decreases.

The index was 30.41, up from 27.02 in the previous survey. The Present Situation Index increased from 25.20 to 29.71, and the Expectations Index increased from 27.93 to 30.76.

Catalyst Corporate's quarterly confidence was sent to 1,969 credit union CEOs in April 2016; 242 credit union professionals responded, for a response rate of 12.3%.

Using a scale ranging from negative (-100) to positive (+100), respondents reported their confidence levels in six areas to create an overall index.

“The uptick in the Indexes is surprising given the widespread volatility across the global financial markets in the first three months of 2016, but it shows the underlying financial strength of the credit union industry,” Steven Houle, vice president of Catalyst Strategic Solutions' Advisory Service, said.

“Credit unions have had a few strong years of loan growth and earnings, and that helps them weather these short periods of market volatility,” Houle said. “Credit union executives also are confident that strong loan growth will continue in 2016, as it appears monetary policy will be accommodative and loan rates will remain low.”

CEOs' appraisal of current financial conditions was more optimistic quarter-over-quarter, both for their own institutions, increasing from 34.22 to 37.76, and for their members, increasing from 16.19 to 21.69, in the most recent survey.

CEOs also were more positive about the short-term outlook of financial conditions. The assessment rose from 39.26 to 42.23 for the CEOs' own institutions and from 18.80 to 25.41 for their members.

Expectations for member share deposit growth in six months increased from 21.55 to 26.97 this quarter. And expectations for member loan demand in six months decreased from 32.08 last quarter to 28.57 in the most recent survey.