The board of Westchester County, New York’s Quorum Federal Credit Union has chosen Jeffrey Pachter, its current president, to be its president/CEO as of Feb. 1, 2022.
He will succeed Bruno Sementilli, who announced he will retire next year after 38 years with the credit union, including 16 years as its president/CEO.
Quorum Chair Mark Werner said the board considered the leadership it wanted for its future success.
“That led us to the selection of Jeff Pachter,” Werner said.
Sementilli has worked with Pachter since he joined Quorum in 2014 as its CFO/COO, and Sementilli said he plans to continue working with him during the transition. Prior to joining Quorum, Pachter held senior executive positions with Time, Inc./Reader’s Digest Association and Gartner.
“Jeff is a seasoned executive who knows our business,” Werner said. “He brings a relentless focus on success for our stakeholders including members, partners, investors and employees, a strong track record of driving growth and innovation, and proven transformational leadership, all of which position him well for positive results.”
In 2019, Pachter was promoted to president, while Sementilli retained his role as CEO.
“In this role, he increased baseline ROA while managing multiple disruptions, a business model shift and substantial investment in projects. He positioned the organization to outperform the peer group due to strong loan operations and guided the launch of the organization’s multi-year strategy to focus on business transformation,” according to Quorum FCU’s July 2 news release.
Pachter said he was honored to have the opportunity to succeed Sementilli.
“Together with the Quorum senior leadership team and all our employees, I will work to build on the strong foundation that Bruno has put in place,” Pachter said. “I am excited and confident about our company’s future and look forward to further accelerating the value we bring to all of our stakeholders.”
Sementilli joined the credit union as a loan officer in 1983. He later served as a branch manager, vice president of lending and in other roles.
He became CEO in December 2004 in December 2004, when it had $535.7 million in assets and 39,311 members.
Kraft Foods Federal Credit Union was founded in 1934 as the exclusive credit union for Kraft Foods employees. In October 2005, Sementilli oversaw its name change to Quorum to reflect that its membership base had moved beyond its original sponsor. He said the name change was part of a larger year-long effort to be prepared to serve more select employee groups.
Quorum now describes itself as an online credit union serving members living in all 50 states and with ties to more than 50 companies nationwide, including Ogilvy, Avon, Mondelez International, Philip Morris International, Altria and Kraft Heinz.
In 2004, Quorum had 103 full-time and 12 part-time employees at 12 branches. In March, it had 147 full-time and two part-time employees at its one office in Purchase, 30 miles northeast of New York City’s Times Square.
Last year’s net income fell 66.8% to $1.9 million after its loan loss provisions spiked to $8.2 million in the wake of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic in March 2020. Its return on assets was 0.22% for the year, down 48 basis points.
In the first quarter, net income was $2.5 million, up from $181,202 in 2020’s first quarter when it took a $3.3 million loan loss provision. That translates into an annualized ROA of 1.07%, beating the national credit union average of 1.04% and rising 99 bps from 2020’s first quarter.
Its net worth ratio was 13.82% on March 31, down 149 bps from a year earlier.
“Leading Quorum into the financial services company we are today has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and I know the company is in great hands,” Sementilli said. “After nearly 39 years, I’m proud of the company we’ve built, humbled by the amazing people I’ve had the pleasure of working with, and pleased that the accomplishments we’ve achieved have helped to improve the lives of our members.”
“Jeff’s leadership, business and financial acumen, and proven performance at Quorum make him the natural choice to succeed me as CEO,” Sementilli said. “The company is well-positioned for future profitable growth, and I have full confidence that Jeff will continue to advance our success.”