The asset slide continues...
SECU March, 2023 April, 2023 1-month Change
Total Deposits $46.478 bil. $46.122 bil. (down -$356 mil.)
Total Assets $50.775 bil. $50.474 bil. (down - $301 mil.)
Year-over-year deposits (April, 2022 vs. April, 2023) are down $2.9 billion (-5.93%). Year-over-year assets are down $ 2.36 billion (-4.47%). For the first 4 months of calendar year 2023, deposits are down $552 million and assets are down $496 million.
This Board's strategic plan calls for an 8% asset growth target for fiscal year 2023, which ends 6/30/2023. You'll note above that with 2 months remaining, actual asset growth is -12.47% below the strategic plan target.
SECU March, 2023 April, 2023 1-month change
New vehicle loans $ 944 mil. $ 965 mil. up +$21 mil.
Used vehicle loans $ 2.723 bil. $ 2.756 bil. up + $33 mil.
It is harder to analyze SECU lending with limited data. The vehicle lending at SECU is the only lending sector currently affected by discriminatory risk-based lending (RBL). Overall vehicle lending was up by @ $54 mil month-over-month, which seems to be in line with recent monthly growth - no apparent surge in A-paper activity as yet, but it is probably too soon to tell. Without question RBL is overcharging the majority of SECU members who have lower credit scores. Mortgage loans - without RBL - showed the strongest growth - +$220 mil.
One interesting note is that the total loan interest earned on all SECU loans in April, 2023 - vehicles, mortgages, credit cards, unsecured, etc (a total of over $30 billion in loans!) - was only $632,000 higher than in March, 2023. That small positive gain was easily offset by a $3 million increase in the provision for loan losses in April, 2023 over March, 2023. Loan losses continue to advance as a result of the centralization of collections snafu of 2022. Total loan losses almost doubled to $95 million in 2022 and have reached $60 million in just the first 4 months of 2023.
As shown above, this Board's strategic plan budget remains +14% over target (2.28%/2.00%) - that's about $140 million over budget. Most of the overrun appears to be in the seemingly inexplicable explosion in staff from @ 6,800 to @ 8,000.
As a member, well... thanks a yacht!
drip drip drip ......
ReplyDeleteExplosion of management positions. Some of these VP positions have nobody under them. How are you a VP of a department that has nobody in it except for yourself. I'm sure the monthly meets are very engaging.
ReplyDeleteLook on the bright side, those VPs can keep their catering bills down.
DeleteWith this question maybe the green team will see some fresh green shoots (employees) so SECU could stop some plastic waste and save the environment. More green on this mother earth. We all love greenery. Now how much green is that going to cost SECU?
DeleteBut we still need to hire for these positions:
DeleteVP of loan losses
VP of future loan losses
SVP of asset decline
SVP of A-paper member-whisperers
EVP of contraction
EVP of no-more-yachting
Cash gun sensei
Wonder how many promotions have came from writing a Jim Hayes praise email for him to carry to the Board?
DeleteWhat happens to the actual members involved in the loan losses? Do they get a ding on their credit report? Then, do we invite them back for another loan at a higher rate?
ReplyDeleteAnybody remember the new/New Coke in the 80's? Sometimes, it's better not to change a proven formula.
ReplyDeleteYet he keeps trying to compare us to blockbuster. Totally different things
DeleteWould love to see the block he is standing on get busted out from under him. Mr. Above Us All came in the door putting down everything about SECU, including the Board. What did This Board do? Allowed him to bring in others just like him and infest the whole state.
DeleteOoh... That would be a block 'buster' alright.
DeleteClear Pepsi, anyone?
DeleteGot to keep the record going. Can't be a loser and change courses. BOD will unanimously agree on that and support Haze & Co. via another 'BUSINESS' wide email. Yeah, SECU is Haze & Co. now. How nice it must be to be the owners of a 50 billion dollar organization.
ReplyDelete50 billion dollar BUSINESS. After all 'it's the cost of doing BUSINESS'. Ain't that right Bombastica? What do we country yokels know?
DeleteWe know wasting 10 million dollars a day of the Member's money is Bombastic even in a Hazy world. A banker should know that.
DeleteUnacceptable! Members need to be made aware of this. “This board” should be held accountable for this insanity! Anyone know what impact the lending contact centers are having as well as centralized collections? Cost vs benefit? Also, what about all of the out of state upper management being brought in and flown back and forth to and from their homes? How much is this ridiculous practice costing our members?
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when no one was Special at SECU, except the Member.
DeleteAttempted answer to 9:23 am- from what I hear, branches are still doing clean up for Lending Contact Centers - Members walk into branches thinking everything is ready for pickup - not hardly. Consumer Lending Specialist- some Employee's personal loan requests have taken up to 3 days and prove to be not confidential since some closing items are sent to Branch inbox which allows all employees with that particular access ability to see employees' confidential request- employees not happy about that.
DeleteCentralized Collections - don't ask! Collection Staff hours spent ringing unanswered phones = no collection results. 2023 first quarter charge offs (loan losses) almost equal to entire year 2021 when branch staff handled loan collections.
Yes, reported Air Fare for an off-site Human Resources EVP - what would they care about employees they will never know, but probably the point - easier to axe someone you have never seen.
Branch Mortgage Lending Specialists- siting on their hands or on their cell phones while branch phones ring out to other branches.
Basically, every change implemented by Hayes and Harmon/Walker Loan Administration has set member's lending services back years. Cost- many promotions and salary increases for Loan Admin employees. Benefit - 0 for Members and 0 for SECU
The contact center, in particularly the LCC, has a constant que and is short staffed. You can say the opposite of what you said depending on who you talk too. Pointing fingers at departments is not what is going to get Jim Hayes.
DeleteCatching up on yesterday's activities on this blog I am just at a loss that we don't have ONE person on that SECU Board who is willing to stand and say to the others ENOUGH! The Hayes New Direction Experiment at SECU is a failure and we must fix this NOW! The continuing loss of Members' money is apparent, in black and white print, visible for all to see - but the loss of Members' trust in their credit union will send us other places. State Employees Credit Union has been a leader in the credit union industry for many decades due to their Strong Leadership and Dedicated Employees. People who took care of us not themselves. Jim Hayes continues to tear away everything that made SECU different from all other financial institutions. This Board caused this problem and continues to allow the situation to worsen each day. What is it going to take for you to act in the SECU Members' best interest and remove this CEO before we totally lose our credit union?
ReplyDeleteIt's up to the individual board members to realize that they are well educated adults with a successful professional career of their own. They are way past the teenage years of giving in to peer pressure and looking cool and playing the solidarity part come hell or high water.
DeleteBeing an adult means doing the right thing especially when you have the trust and money of millions of hardworking ordinary people and you made the promise to uphold and stand up to it when you ran for the board.
Very apparent Chairman Chris Ayers fell into the peer pressure applied by Hayes from the very beginning. I will never forget how enamored he appeared by the Hayes Show at the Annual Meeting in the fall while almost everyone else in attendance saw thru that CEO's performance. Now, you really have a reason to blush Chris, you should be embarrassed at what your allegiance to Hayes has cost SECU Members and the entire state. Just keep telling yourself you know best. Time and Money is a wastin but I guess as long as it's not yours...it doesn't matter.
DeleteLet's hope it's not TOO late by the time their conscience wakes up and they ACT on it.
DeleteYou can wake up a person who's really sleeping. Not one who's pretending to be.
DeleteLooking at how the board has acted and responded since September 2021, they would rather adhere to the saying "Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face".
Sourced from Wikipedia:
"Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" is an expression used to describe a needlessly self-destructive overreaction to a problem: "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning against acting out of pique, or against pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one's anger.
Board prove this commenter wrong. Show us that you have the last shred of dignity and righteousness and set this ship in the right course.
DeleteNote: The ship 🚢 NOT the yacht ⛵
Ship: SECU legacy with the 85+ years of unblemished reputation.
Yacht: #TeamSECU partying hard as though there's no tomorrow and sailing into that golden sunset beyond the nethers of no return.
You can't change someone who doesn't see an issue with your actions.
DeleteThis is a true test of "this Board". With 85 years of growth, they have never faced the responsibility that failure brings.
ReplyDeleteAll the great Teachers in the state would certainly give them all an F on this test, but they still have time to bring that grade up. Final grading will occur in October.
DeleteNever had to. Previous BODs picked people to lead who had integrity and worked for the best interest of the member. Focused on "people of modest means." The Bankers could take care of the commercial business and all others. Winning formula, SECU grew in membership by word of mouth, by asset size, by loans, one of lowest operating ratios in the industry, one of lowest loan loss ratios, innovative offerings and innovative structure. Managers of local branches managed local branches,their was community involvement. Advantages of low cost of operations because SECU did not outsource and lose control to third parties. These bozos in charge now, could not begin to run the complex organization SECU was 18 months ago. Why do you think they have outsourced everything? Hayes and his friends don't have the competence to do the job.Heck, they couldn't run a single branch and comply with previous audit requirements. Hayes, Leigh, any of the new administrative additions would be over their heads running a branch as it existed 18 months ago."This Board" knows and approves. This Board, each individual on "this Board" is entirely responsible for the wrecking and pillage of a wildly successfully run(until18 months ago) NORTH CAROLINA business, serving local communities rural and urban. "this Board" is moving money out of state as fast as they are able...
DeleteThe new genius team thought outsourcing everything meant less employees to deal with, raking in the moolah and plenty to share amongst themselves. But so far it hasn't panned out that way.
DeleteThey need another retreat in Sanderling resort or Hawaii to come up with another foolproof plan. Could be that Sanderling and Hawaii are jinxed. Nothing has worked out as planned.
Maybe NCR or another vendor will provide them with a yet again private chartered jet to go to Iceland or some place to come up with a brilliant idea under the dazzling lights of the aurora. After all these geniuses are dazzling on their own. The aurora will help enhance their dazzle.
And now NCR (who is already going through a corporate separation) is considering selling their digital banking business to someone else!
Deletehttps://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/ncr-ahead-break-up-mulls-sale-digital-banking-unit-sources-2023-05-23/
Honestly, if Jim Hayes had been sent undercover to infiltrate and destroy SECU from within (without making it too obvious and getting himself fired too soon), would his actions look any different from what he has actually done?
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder.
Relieved to know I am not the only one who feels this may be a part of a much bigger, dirtier plan - why else does this Board refuse to right their wrong? They hired him, They can fire him. Nearing the end of year two, and what has he accomplished?
DeleteThis Board appears to believe they know what the members need. Might not be what the members want but how could people of modest means know what they need?
DeleteHow can workforce be up 1200 people and we are back to standing in line in the branches on our lunch hour? Fix this.
ReplyDeleteWe don't want machines replacing our SECU employees faces. Other credit unions may be ok with that, here in North Carolina we are not! Invest Our Money in our local people, our local communities and in Our State, not in outside corporations and other fly by night associations this Hayes brought into our credit union. We are called North Carolina State Employees Credit Union for a reason. Didn't have this problem until 6 people on a board of 11 felt they knew better than anyone else and looked outside SECU for the CEO. You should have followed the same path all other previous Board Members followed for many years and our Credit Union and both SECU members and employees would not be in this horrible place. Losing what employees and members have all worked years to achieve.
DeleteBecause this 1200 increase is not at the branch level. It has been said branches can function with minimal employees, so while we were on a hiring freeze, the corporate office wasn’t. Hence the jump in number for new employees. Everyone is a VP, SVP or EVP. Newly created departments that are not needed and really have no role just so he can hire his buds. This is why members are having to wait in line in branches and very few employees to wait on members. When one leaves, replacement positions are more than likely not being reauthorized. Then employees are given “perks” like Flex Time instead of a raise, so branches are put in a hard spot with scheduling this along with other time off. Maybe voice this concern in a letter to the CEO, he seems to like to send out emails praising people for doing their jobs in which they were hired to do on a daily basis……at least that’s what those of us who have been with SECU long term know it is. But emails complaining never make it out to us….wonder why????
DeleteWhile these idiots are lost sailing on their yacht exploring the 7 seas, let us remain focused on our 7 C's for those of us that have not sold our soul.
ReplyDeleteCommitment-committed to doing the right thing!
Compassion-compassion for our members and employees who are trying to stay focused on the greater good
Centric-keeping it member centric to continue to enhance their lives the best we can
Careful-careful of who we surround ourselves with and remembering to trust no one
Catalyst-let the truth that is coming out be the catalyst to what we need to find that inner strength to rise above them
Calmness-Let's all pray for calmness in the days ahead. We know our jobs will get harder.
Confidence-Confidence to stand up for what is right without fear
#TeamSECU
I’m not against DEI, pronouns or anything like that. What people must understand is that corporations do not give a s*** about any of those things. It’s all just talk to get you to buy in and to make them look socially responsible while they purge a good culture and party amongst themselves . They don’t care about any of that stuff. Any company that starts to promote that…just run. DEI and respecting peoples gender etc is fine and dandy. I’m actually for that sort of thing, but anybody can see this is just fake initiatives. All corporations have started doing this. They aren’t going help you no matter what color, gender,etc you are. I promise you, the only thing they care about is MONEY!
ReplyDeleteDid I miss something?
DeleteAgree. Might I add that any company that says "we are a family" you need to run. Run really fast.
DeleteChief Culture Officer is promoting all these initiatives.
DeleteAgree with the run really fast comment. The top suite is the family and we are the hired hands serving the family waiting on them hand and foot. Reason why the call center is backed up with 550 calls on hold.
DeleteIf C-Suite is the family and the employees are servants, who and what are the members?
The members are the piggy bank.
DeleteChief Culture Officer has spent more time promoting Jim Hayers and herself than anything else. Who could run around the country making an hour long speech on the greatness of Hayes leadership just because he changed the dress code, she did. When their first year was spend riding that train, I knew SECU was in trouble.
DeleteI hated wearing the suite and tie, but I’ll wear it again any day if it means getting rid of them
DeleteWhat are the cultural officers doing out there? From what I read in the comments, one is gallivanting around the country when she ought to be doing her job. Another one is bullying and threatening employees in the same breadth she is preaching about no-bullying, fire-hire-promote and freedom counseling. Along with doing other jobs like making sure anonymous surveys are not anonymous anymore, etc.
DeleteIs the culture department a replacement for the HR deciding on who gets hired, fired and promoted? And freedom counseling??? Why is HR blatantly ignoring all these threats - especially open and public - to employees? HR cannot act this way since they will be going against their own rules and therefore, the management is making the cultural department play this role - so, this department is just a scapegoat to make the employees bend to their will? This will give HR an out to deny all possible involvement - plausible denial or plausible ignorance?
Cultural department is responsible for maintaining an organization’s culture. And that means ensuring all departments align with the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
So, as members, who are owners and funding this place, we are concluding that the organization’s he organizations mission, vision, and values have shifted and the board along with the new management they brought in are colluding to do whatever it takes to shut down the employees so members can remain in the dark.
Seems like the purpose of this blog is getting broader than what it is intended for. Lot of housecleaning to do. And that cleaning is going to be a real tough job since the cards will be flipped in a heartbeat. All those playing along with the shiny new dream and aiding it will be singing a different tune then.
Members and Employees need to be strong and brave themselves to get through the tough times.
The credit union members confidence rests with those legacy employees in the branches, they are SECU to us.
DeleteSince these facts kinda got lost in the "Yacht Party" yesterday (and rightly so) thought they might bear mentioning again since we're discussing financials today and how the SECU "yacht" has blown off course in more ways than one.
ReplyDeleteFor all the members and employees that always believed SECU to be a leader (if not THE leader) in deposit rates in the financial industry here’s where we are today. From March 2022 to present the Fed has raised interest rates 5.0% while SECU has raised it’s IRA rate a paltry 1.55% and their money market rate a measely 0.85%. From industry leader to back of the pack.
Why? Because they desperately need to increase the Margin. What’s that you ask? That’s the difference between deposit rates and loan rates. That difference (the Margin) pays for EVERYTHING at SECU from extravagant outside hires, to trips to Hawaii, to high priced “consultants, to the light bill, employee benefits and everything in between.They are losing assets and their expenses have increased dramatically (see loan losses). They need more money, the members be damned!
And let’s not forget, loan rates have gone up like a rocket ship with the implementation of Discriminatory Based Lending further increasing the credit union’s margin. Where’s all the money going that both Savers AND Borrowers are getting screwed? These actions do not pass the smell test. It’s ineptitude or malfeasance, take your pick.
#GiveUsOurTiesBack (see 3/9 post)
#GiveUsOurCreditUnionBack
My vote is it's both ineptitude AND malfeasance.
DeleteJust an FYI, if any other members would like to make a complaint or let the Credit Union know how they feel about these changes, the best way is to make a formal complaint in writing by sending an email to info@ncsecu.org or member.resolutions@ncsecu.org
ReplyDeleteI just got off the phone with someone at the call center and they told me this is the best way to make a complaint that can reach the Board of Directors
Don’t count on it…
DeleteThere was a comment stating something about the credit union is now flying in out of state employees? Can someone explain who these people are and what positions they hold? North Carolina is full of talented financial professionals, many NC educated available to fill positions in all the different areas or departments the credit union could ever need? Why are we not taking care of our own? Flying employees in - ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteHayes' audit buddy is based in Maryland. The leader of Total Rewards/Compensation is based in New Jersey. The new leader of MSS, Jared also lives out of state (Kansas, I think?)
DeleteThere may be more but those are the ones I know.
Those employees should be required to live in NC. North Carolina State Employees Credit Union. Geez
DeletePlease check 9.04 PM comment in response to June 11, 2023 at 9:23 AM comment.
DeleteYes, reported Air Fare for an off-site Human Resources EVP - what would they care about employees they will never know, but probably the point - easier to axe someone you have never seen.
EVP of HR, the department in charge of hiring is an off-site employee himself. Need to go further?
what?????? the internal auditor for SECU lives in Maryland? The internal auditor for a 50 billion dollar North Carolina credit union, 2nd largest in the USA, is not on site? Lives in Maryland???? What on earth on these folks thinking? Please, this must be a malicious rumor. 13 (this Board, Hayes, Leigh) supposedly intelligent people could not be that incompetent, could they??
Delete“Nero fiddles while Rome burns”
ReplyDeleteWait, so assets declined 300 million in one month? That means the credit union is losing 10 million dollars EVERY SINGLE DAY.
ReplyDeleteThis is insanity.
SECU's Board is going to need a stiff drink to accompany the June 30 fiscal year end report, just sayin.
DeleteHear. Hear. Another high end Sanderling that provides some really good stiff drinks for an awesome price coming up soon. #TeamSECU can afford it. Got to relax and calm down after seeing that beauty.
DeleteWe’re not hitting any targets this year. We aren’t doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteThey have a target alright. Members purses and their OWN 🎯
ReplyDeleteKnock, Knock jokes: "Yacht, Yacht who's there?' This Board.
ReplyDelete"this" isn't funny.
Deletethat increase in staff sure can't be seen at the member level. At least not for this member. Branch wait time, call center wait time.
ReplyDelete