Learn how to meet and beat more benchmarks – and make ALCO meetings more fun

by QuantyPhi Balance Sheet Optimization Services

Better performance begins with better benchmarks.

ALCO meetings are no fun when you have poor performance numbers to report. If your credit union keeps underperforming month after month, those meetings can be downright grueling. Certainly, performance goals need to be reviewed if your credit union is consistently failing to reach its benchmarks, but chronic poor performance might mean it is time to review your benchmark-building process as well.

Tailor-made benchmarks are a must.

Your credit union is one-of-a-kind. Its needs and goals are like no other financial institution’s needs and goals and therefore, tailor-made benchmarks are necessary for success. The first step to better benchmarking is making sure your financial services partner is helping you build benchmarks that are wholly unique to your credit union. Peer performance, historical references, industry averages, and market indexes are often used to construct benchmarks and measure portfolio performance, but benchmarks are only useful if they are custom-built, timely, and future-oriented.

Benchmarks are only appropriate and effective if they meet certain criteria.

Building appropriate benchmarks also requires a thorough understanding of your balance sheet. How are loan assets performing? What do your credit union’s deposits require you to do? What ongoing measures are necessary to keep the balance sheet optimized under various rate environments given the constraints of your liabilities and your risk exposure? Once you have answered those questions, make sure your revised benchmarks meet these six criteria:

  • Unambiguous
  • Investable
  • Measurable
  • Reflective of current opinions
  • Accountable
  • Tailored to your credit union’s unique needs and goals

It is only when performance benchmarks are built to meet the above criteria, and built with your credit union’s one-of-a-kind constraints, considerations, and aspirations in mind, that the benchmarks become useful in getting you to your goals. And when you meet and exceed performance goals, ALCO meetings are a lot more fun.

To learn more about effective benchmark building, contact QuantyPhi Balance Sheet Optimization Services for Credit Unions at (414) 433-0176.

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