Perspectives: All eyes on the economy

Inside Perspectives, you’ll find articles from some of today’s preeminent thought leaders to keep you well-versed in the developments, news, and insights of today’s credit unions. In our fall edition, we feature Mike McGinnis, SVP/chief investment officer for Catalyst Corporate FCU and Dave Willis, president/CEO of Tinker FCU.

In Part I of All Eyes on the Economy…

McGinnis warns, “For credit unions and various other financial institutions, the economy tells a cautionary tale: pay attention or pay the price.”

He notes, the right balance sheet is critical. “We need to see where there’s risk on our balance sheet and be prepared to address it, especially if we see a notable recessionary event that would cause delinquencies in those segments of our credit exposure.”

Read more of McGinnis’s insights, beginning on page 12.

In Part II of All Eyes on the Economy…

“There’s not a lot of historical data trending around the pandemic and the impact on the supply chain or stimulus to the economy by the government,” Willis said. “I think the biggest challenge in the last couple years is that our institutions have been flooded with deposits. Our credit union’s assets grew $1.5 billion in the past two years. That’s double our normal growth.” 

During the last few years, more people have been borrowing, Willis said. “A lot of credit unions don’t have enough capital to continue lending. At Tinker FCU, we are doing a few more participation loans to continue to lend. In this environment, credit unions have to get really creative.”

Read more of Willis’s insights, beginning on page 16.