Nine of the highest-asset California credit unions reported positive ROA as of Sept. 30. Aside from reversing most of last December's corporate assessment, what did the leaders of these institutions do differently from their struggling peers?
Experience prevented San Diego County Credit Union from being among those that said they didn't see California's mortgage bubble burst coming. CEO Irene Oberbauer said her executive team and lending staff, some of whom have 30 years underwriting experience, "saw the writing on the wall."
"I would suggest this (recession) is the worst I've ever seen, but early on, we started changing our real estate and consumer loan underwriting standards," she said.
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The credit union has long-maintained a "balanced growth" strategy, she added, which included squirreling away more capital than aggressive growth-oriented peers. SDCCU's net worth was 10.12% as of Sept. 30. The institution also is among the nation's most cost-efficient shops, with a 1.61% operating expense to average assets ratio as of Sept. 30.
Credit Union Times will analyze the financial health of California's credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets in the Dec. 9 print issue.
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