Your Credit Union Will Get Through This -You Can Make a Difference Along the Way
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 is exceptional by all standards. ALM First has modeled numerous scenarios, but this one comes with extreme uncertainty. What we do know, is that this event will have a lasting impact on the world. There will be numerous stories that will be told of heroes, as well as villains.
My daughter left York University in Toronto in a panic with only a Canadian credit card. After crossing the border into Michigan, she walked into a Starbucks only to find that the Canadian card was denied. The attendant took the seven American dollars that she happened to have and gave her $20 of food. In a normal environment, would a large company really do that?
On the hero front, our clients are doing amazing things by implementing extended skip-a-pay offers, suspending foreclosures, suspending fees, offering temporary unemployment loans at low rates, increasing credit card limits, and providing other support. Foreclosures and car repos are being stopped. What great moves not only for the members, but to jump start the economy. As a financial institution leader, you have the power, similar to CEOs of big companies, to give back and make a real difference in members’ lives. But as we all know, great moves for the members can hurt the institution’s financial performance to some degree. But will it and will it only be temporary?
Here are a few steps your credit union can take to ensure that your cooperative makes a difference today and is able to serve members over the long-term.
Keep Your Board Members and Regulators Informed
Stay calm and alert your board and regulators that budget numbers may not be met. Bank stocks have dropped approximately 50% due to perceived losses and liquidity. Community bank merger valuations have dropped by 40% with perceived margin compressions, and increased defaults. If there is any time that board members and regulators should be understanding of low ROA results, it is now.
Time to Reset Expectations
The credit union industry is extremely well capitalized and, as we learned from the 2008 crisis, cooperatives are resilient. If your capital is greater than 8%, then you are well capitalized. Why do you have a high amount of capital? The answer is economic times like this. If the board and examiners were fine with a target ROA of zero, would your strategy change? Would the stress of searching for yield change? I distinctly remember having discussions with examiners in 2008 about relaxing ROA standards for this very reason.
Now is also the time to alert board members and examiners regarding your modeling results. Spreads are widening. Spreads widen due to credit risk, the higher the uncertainty of cash flows, or liquidity concerns and all three are happening. This widening will result in asset price devaluations. On the liability side, since rates are down and deposit rates have dropped, liability prices have also dropped. The drop in both asset and liability pricing will put pressure on the base NEV. In addition to lower ROA, alert your board and examiners to expect higher capital volatility in your ALM reports.
COVID 19 Strategies and Modeling
How do you ensure safety and conduct a COVID-19 strategy? Of course, the first priority is to take care of your staff. This includes producing clear policies and identifying any potential points of failure.
The second priority is to ignore all the spreadsheets and listen, talk to members and colleagues, and comprehend. I am on the phone and emailing clients as much as possible to understand exactly what they are witnessing and how depositor behavior is changing.
As far as modeling, encourage your staff to go deep into the models to ensure that market values in this illiquid market are correct. Don’t waste time on superficial checks of numbers that have no bearing on risk results. The base capital impairment phenomenon that occurred in 2008 returned to normal once liquidity increased in the markets. Institutions that were not forced to sell assets did fine. If effective duration volatility is forefront in your credit union's strategy, then the amount of interest rate risk may be minimal for your institution; however, if interest rate risk needs to be mitigated,....-->
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 is exceptional by all standards. ALM First has modeled numerous scenarios, but this one comes...