Weekly Bottom Line
After an eerily calm few months, a fresh dose of volatility descended across global financial markets this week. Top Fed officials speaking this week noted that they are getting ‘closer’ to cutting interest rates. Financial markets have fully priced the first cut to come in September. Retail sales and industrial production data for June came […]
Key Themes for Bonds in the Second Half of 2024
The first half of the year was a challenging environment for a lot of fixed income markets, especially higher-quality markets. With the Federal Reserve (Fed) seemingly unlikely to lower interest rates until after the summer months (at the earliest), the “higher for longer” narrative has kept a lid on any sort of bond market rally. […]
How Credit Unions Can Make the Most of the Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) 2024
The credit union movement’s biggest annual advocacy event, the Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) hosted by America’s Credit Unions, will occur this year from March 3 to 7 in Washington, D.C. and draw an estimated 6,000 attendees, including CEOs, board members, and executives. In addition to networking and informative sessions, the event offers credit union leaders […]
How Non-Organic Growth Strategies Can Lead to Explosive Growth in the Credit Union Movement
Achieving unprecedented growth takes strategic planning, ongoing examination, and access to the information required to consider and pursue opportunities. There is a surge of innovations, fintech partnerships, and bold ideas occurring in the credit union movement that every leader should consider, as ignoring them could pose a risk to significant future growth. In this episode, […]
The Three Pillars of Exceptional Leadership: How Modern Management Practices Can Help Credit Unions Stay Relevant
Exceptional leaders play a critical role in any organization’s success. Effective leadership can help credit unions navigate new challenges, innovate, and get results while creating an environment that aligns with the expectations of modern employees. Without it there is a significant risk to organizations and the broader credit union movement. Laurie Maddalena, CEO of the […]
How Credit Unions Can Leverage Existing Real Estate to Secure Immediate Capital
With the high rate of deposits across credit unions, leaders are deploying creative ways to generate funding and improve their capital ratios. In addition to alleviating balance sheet margin pressures and improving net worth, credit unions need accessible capital to pursue long-term strategic plans, such as acquiring another financial institution, undergoing a digital transformation, and […]
Year-End Tax Strategies for Credit Union Executives
As we approach year-end, there are several tax-optimization strategies credit union executives and recent retirees may leverage based on their current financial situation. Credit union leaders often have complex compensation and retirement benefit packages plus a unique tax delta that lend themselves to creative solutions that may help them save more money or manage their […]
Should You Park Your Money in CDs Right Now?
ACT Advisors founder Doug English, CFP®, MBA, was a recent podcast guest on the South Carolina Business Review with host Mike Switzer. The pair discussed why Doug thinks CDs are an attractive savings instrument, especially in today’s high interest-rate environment. Doug shares that CDs, in general, are an effective tool for investors who want predictable, […]
What Executives Can Learn from Credit Union Failures
When “C.U. on the Show” guest Maurice Smith was a kid, his father encouraged him to read the newspaper every day and pay particular attention to the stories centered on failures, such as a company going under or a leader making a fatal organizational mistake. Why? It created a roadmap of what not to do. […]
How Credit Unions Can Invest in Life Insurance for Executives and Minimize Risk
Credit unions commonly use life insurance-based executive benefits, such as collateral assignment split dollar plans to retain key talent. One of the original intentions has always been to leverage these benefits to incentivize an executive to stay in place in exchange for receiving life insurance coverage and tax-free income throughout retirement. However, what happens when […]