How did 2025 go?
SECU "closes out the books" on June 30 of each year and "counts the beans"!For those of you who missed it; Ms. Leigh Brady, SECU CEO, emailed her review of 2025 performance today. There were many good things to report; here take a look in case you missed it [link] .
'Course as you might suspect, I have a few "observations". While our CEO's praise of favorable rates can still be challenged, the outflow of member funds has reversed and of equal importance that "iffy" $5 billion Fed loan has been repaid. Member borrowing is steady; but the continuing, elevated levels of delinquency and charge-offs are not mentioned at all - and bear continued scrutiny as the national economy wavers. Expenses "...lower than budget" also passes over the much higher than historical cost percentages.
Several periodic refreshes in mortgage systems, ATMs and voice response technology are positive, but the oft-touted digital platform is now scheduled for 2026 and that much-hyped "core replacement" remains an unscheduled promise!
Wanted to mention "the core upgrade" in particular, because so many SECU tech employees were unfairly and falsely maligned over "1983 technology" while the Board twiddled [link] [link] [link] . Hope it's beyond obvious that SECU continues to excel (according to Ms. Brady!), using that "decrepit" technology; and, evidently will need to do so for several more years. Shame always on "the leadership" for this striking employee injustice.
No specifics on the success of the rewards card program; and no details on the upcoming selling and risk/race rating of mortgage loans, which ... well believe we've discussed those issues before, haven't we! The work of the SECU Foundation always a plus!
This was a wow!: "But even more impressive was the number of new members we welcomed to SECU over the last fiscal year – 174,878! " That truly is impressive as the usual number is @75,000 annually. What would you suspect triggered that... great management, social media, Super Bowl ad?? [Nah... hint, (spelled backwards): C-I-V-I-C ... keep your eye on that situation!]
✅ But most important given the rapidly evolving national "merger/conversion/ bank-wannabee" push among credit unions was this quote:
"We don’t seek to merge with or acquire other financial institutions, but instead we focus on relationships and organic growth. It’s what our organization has done best for the past 88 years! "
😎 How do we as member-owners of SECU assure that statement holds true in the future?
It was such an amazing year! Yet employees were only allowed 2% vs the normal 4%. Was it an amazing year Leigh?
ReplyDeleteMerit funding is based on the next fiscal year not the previous one.
DeleteStole my words
DeleteSo previous year was a bust? Then why did she proclaim proudly it was successful too? Proving herself to be a liar year after year.... proof in the pudding....
DeleteShe is not a liar
Delete"She is not a liar" - Lol. Good one 😄
Delete3: 39 So now last year was a bust because this year was good? The accomplishments listed last year were all lies? What a jaded, cynical view. Why do you choose to either work for, or be a member of a credit union led by liar? Leave!!!
Delete@9:13a - ok, she is not a liar. Leigh is the CEO of a $50 billion financial institution that provides misinformation and untruths, "under good faith beliefs". That make you feel better?
Delete11 23. You can’t name one thing she has lied about, and then prove it.
Delete11:23AM Sounds like lawsuit material. Why don’t you file suit? If it’s as bad as you say, it’ll be a slam dunk and will for sure cause Leigh to step down.
Delete@10:19 Instead of being so angry and defensive why not explain to us all how she has NEVER strayed away from the truth? We are all ears. HAVE been since day "1". That's what we all are asking. It's always NO questions, else leave push back. WHY? Why not simply expose everything if there's nothing to hide???
Delete@11.23 Perfect camel and the tent story in reality. Initially coming in wanting a job, promising to be honest, and now kicking the member, who is the owner, of this place out. That's the "new" regime mentality. If it's too hard to digest and explain to the members, the "owners", why not YOU leave and find a place that fits like a glove. You know you can never find another place that will let you do this. Therefore this temper tantrum.
DeleteNow that the peacock Gymy and bombastica have left, Leigh-da's new pet "Why not #1?" guy Lee Chalk can come forward and answer. God knows he has given the same spiel 'Leave if you are not happy' to those below him multiple times.
DeleteOn second thoughts, to be fair, he never said if it was #1 from the top or bottom. It's us who misunderstood.
3 46 member growth rate is at an all time high and deposits growth far exceeds industry.
DeleteYep, kicking the member out! If only she kicked out the jaded, bitter from being passed over promotion, change-resistant and ignorant employees that post on here. Go to Civic and wait in line if SECU is so bad.
2 58. There nothing that isn’t already exposed. Stop with your conspiracy theories.
Delete@10:19 If everything is hunky dory and everyone is honest why all these double talks, shady deals, marketing team, overhaul of election procedures year after year, putting a gag on member-owners from asking questions, etc etc. WHY?
Delete10:39 That's the / your problem. What double talk? What shady deal? Minor change in election dates (more notice) and members can submit questions in advance. Only problem is the members and employees who take the bait on this blog about all the negative rhetoric and criticism of things that haven't, or aren't going to occur. Feel how you want, but when you complain, just remember there are more than 2.8 million members that don't feel the way you do.
Delete@10:39AM What shady deals? SECU has always had a marketing team, usually called member relations or member outreach. Can you provide specific examples of your claims?
DeleteOne thing? She was quoted in 2023 stating she was misquoted that she was disappointed in the election results. She claimed she was disappointed in the turnout. Which was at the time the largest voter turnout in SECU history, I believe. So that’s her words. Then there’s the LGFCU merger lies that she was a part of. Sr. management lied about collections returning to the branch temporarily. Those are off the top of my head. If I picked through her emails I’m sure I can find more. But she clearly had lied. Stop protecting her.
Delete@7:37 Calling the kettle black, huh? Lol
Delete@7:37 Member growth rate and deposits growth rate is high - ONLY reason is because Civic doesn't have physical branches. Nothing else. Who's jaded now?
Delete439. You are. Accept the success of your cooperative or leave. Trust when I say you won’t be missed.
Delete4:00. Being disappointed in something is an opinion, not a lie. Try again.
Delete@8:30 You are really hilarious 😂
Delete@8:30 When you know you are wrong, but still want to be stubborn and trying to get your way, throw your weight around with some temper tantrum.
DeleteYou are coming across as a weak person with just power. You need power, only when you want to do something harmful.
@4:39 Even after calling the members and employees jaded, bitter, change resistant, ignorant, etc. you are refusing to leave this party. What does it say about you? 🤔 Why not follow your own advise and just LEAVE? 😄
DeleteHard to follow your own advice? Then there's some plausible reason and explanation. Could it be that these so called ignorant and jaded people are saying the truth?
When was Civic leaving SECU first announced?
DeleteThe email sent by Leigh was tone deaf and a slap in the face of every employee.
ReplyDeleteWhy was it a slap in the face?
DeletePlease elaborate
Delete@1:03AM Because Leigh isn’t admitting the great coop, or hostile takeover or confirming anything they’re reading on this blog.
DeleteTalking about how great things are while employees are told that things are so bad we have a hiring freeze, "do more with less," and reduced merit.
DeleteYou don't give out a 2% merit increase and then send an "everything is great" email less than a business day later.
DeleteYes you do. Revenue is leaving so future expenses have to moderate. You shoukd explain the “why” though
DeleteThese numbers don’t include the lost revenue from Local Government. Nor does it speak to anticipated impact in the upcoming fiscal year.
ReplyDeleteNo duh. They are the numbers from the previous fiscal year.
DeleteWhy would it include lost revenue? LG separation was at the end of May, basically the end of the fiscal year.
DeleteWasn't implying that the numbers should have been excluded from the fiscal year that just ended. But would have been a worthy footnote, if I recall correctly from another blog post, that it was something like $60 million / year going from LG to SECU so that's obviously got to be made up from somewhere in the current fiscal year.
Delete3:26, did you see the jump in SECU membership? Would be willing to bet SECU comes out stronger and Civic weaker.
Delete@3:26PM A footnote about what? That we’ll have to make up the “$60m” in the next fiscal year? Even if that’s the real amount, the results of LG separation are not even settled yet. The “footnote” you want would be nothing but guessing and speculation. Thought you wanted facts?
Delete10:21, 3:26 has a point. no, don't put numbers and speculate, but consistent with other comments about pay.. the message praised higher earnings, in part because of lower than budgeted expense. People is the #1 non-interest expense. They trying to hold hiring and raises to partially make up for the lost LGFCU income. A nod to that in the comments wouldn't have been inappropriate, since the event itself happened last quarter.
Delete@12:10PM. I’ll phrase it another way, up until May 31st, there was no lost income from LGFCU
Delete@12:10PM And in addition to not losing any income YET from LG, the ELT may not have decided to put a hold on hiring and pay raises to make up for any lost income. Again, its likely that the true cost of LG separation is still being settled and they're still gathering info on how to make up for any lost revenue in FY 2026. Seems pertinent not to guess. That said, I would expect the "nod" that you're looking for will appear at the annual meeting when they discuss the upcoming year. Thats a FAR more appropriate place for this.
Delete2 13 - they already know how much revenue they are losing - they don’t need to actual have it go away to make decisions on expenses. Higher raises now is all future expense that gets burned in. Pretty simple. If the part about the causes even true, then they should explain why right now, not wait til October.
Delete@6:36PM Do you want them to explain “why” and speculate so you have something to complain about? The email was about FY 2025.
DeleteI wonder if Civic will be asking to come back or merge. If you read the Facebook comments, a lot of unhappy members. That will be an interesting annual meeting.
ReplyDeleteDoes civic have in person meeting or all digital?
DeleteHow is there wait time, last time I hear it was like an hour ôr something like that
Civic members were given so much time as a heads up that this was happening. It is the individual members fault for not being proactive.
Delete1001, do you know if they have in person meeting?
Delete""We don’t seek to merge with or acquire other financial institutions, but instead we focus on relationships and organic growth. It’s what our organization has done best for the past 88 years! "
ReplyDeleteDoesn't mean someone isn't actively seeking to onboard SECU and almost 3 million 'customers' with a nice payout to all those "Volunteers" with "...an Offer they Can't Refuse”
Literally against state law. Mergers require two consenting parties and SECU has now publicly said they aren’t pursuing it.
DeleteThat would be a merger….. which SECU just said they do not pursue.
Delete"We don’t seek to merge with or acquire other financial institutions" - then why was the a "no formal proposal proposal" made? Shouldn't that time, energy and effort have been focused on improving SECU? Isn't it exhausting to continue this charade and lies nonstop?
Delete3 47 A dinners and a coupla conversations got in the way of focusing on improving SECU? Reasonable would agree the LGFCU situation was different and unique than SECU pursuing a merger with sone random credit union. Best case scenario for SECU would to merge with them. Instead we lose tens and tens of millions in revenue with no viable levers to reduce expenses in full proportion.
DeleteThey aren't seeking a merger, but what about a conversion? That's the play for an organization the size of SECU. Convert to a mutual savings BANK and you get more flexibility in lending and an unlimited membership base. And I would imagine that the rules for executive compensation change too, which would certainly be a motivator for a few Board and ELT members.
Delete11:08. All for the privilege of paying fed income tax? There is no scenario where this would happen while the tax exempt status is in place.
Delete7:24 Except that the Board and some ELT are actively and purposefully behaving in a manner that threatens that tax exemption. The conversion is two steps away. First, the tax exemption goes away and then they say "well...guess now we just convert". Take their payouts and go.
Delete@7:58AM Literally what are you talking about. What “behavior” threatens tax exempt status? The board doesn’t get paid. Their payout would just be them closing their share accounts and taking their own money with them.
DeleteLolll SECU is not going to convert into a bank. Act like one? Yeah. But seeking to become one? Take off the tin foil hat.
Delete@10:38 The behavior is all they things they are doing to remove what makes a credit union different and unique (and thus justify the exemption). They are pursuing business lending, which they know will make the banking industry push back. That they are looking to expand field of membership, etc. And while the Board aren't paid under the credit union structure, they definitely could be under a mutual structure.
Delete12 59. We aren’t looking to expand field of membership and we aren’t “pushing”business lending. When we get rid of the 40 year old core, we can begin to serve our member owners that happen to own businesses. A lot of businesses are under-served by banks, others are banked but pay high rates and fees. CU’s have been doing business lending for decades and guess what - we’re still tax exempt. We aren’t going to compete with banks for the businesses and assets they really want.
Delete11:59pm What like Civic? Sorry, that was a bad joke.
Delete@922, we don’t act like a bank in any way whatsoever. Never will.
Delete@12:59PM SECU would have to dissolve and reform for the board members to be paid so your concern here is waaaaaaaaaaaaay over blown. Grasping at straws at this point.
DeleteOther CUs offer business lending and services and have been doing so for some time (see Civic CU). It’s called “meeting the memberships needs”. What if those needs are business services?
Expanded field of membership is also against SECUs charter and have been categorically denied by all BoDs and ELTs. It’s an unsubstantiated rumor perpetuated by comments like yours.
Do you have any other info to provide? Something other than “he said she said”? We’d love to know what concrete evidence you are holding back.
@12:59. If they hadn't embarked on the "Quiet Firing" campaign over the last 4 years we would have been four years ahead of where the new hired "experts" are now. How many have come and gone durting that time?
DeleteAll they had to do is give us the green light, and we would have done it with our people. Too late now, ya'll in trouble...
There usually are no such assurances. Things could change in the future and that’s ok. How does speculating, if not implying there is a merger strategy, and forewarning members their mystery equity is going to get stolen add value?
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive organic growth! Must be using a lot of fertilizer.
ReplyDeleteFor more insight into why expenses have to be managed so closely - we're reporting almost 4,300 members, representing several hundred million in balances, which are not meeting the terms of their modifications. DQ had spiked to a very scary level, but we just gave everyone mods. Well, thousands can't meet their modified payments. Foreclosures and losses will accelerate rapidly in the coming months. That, along with lost LGFCU revenue, will put serious pressure on earnings.
ReplyDeleteWhy did it get this bad?
DeleteIneffective leadership
DeleteCurrent management is a disaster. When Trump leaves office and regulations begin to be enforced again, we’re gonna take a huge hit. This morning I saw several examples of violations in Federal law.
DeleteManagement isn’t breaking fed law. You are.
Delete@4:06PM Why are you posting on a blog? Shouldn’t you be reporting these violations to a higher up? And if the higher ups are ignoring it, why aren’t you reporting it to the authorities/regulators?
Delete4:06 What federal laws did you witness being broken?
DeleteNope, wasn’t me…
DeleteIt's not the present intention to merge. Things could change in the future. That is not a NEVER comment. It also leaves open other could seek a merger with us. So you can stop the tantrum or fuss, but there are no guarantees and it could change and there could be compelling reasons for membership to do a merger. Exhibit A: Civic / LGFCU, a merger would have been the best possible outcome for SECU members and employees. Even though it gets whined about, Hayes and the Board should have pushed even harder than they did.
ReplyDelete