CEO of Iowa's largest credit union retires

Jeff Disterhoft, CEO of one of the most active bank-buying credit unions in recent years, has retired at age 56.

GreenState Credit Union said in a press release Monday that Todd Fanning, the company's chief financial officer, has been appointed interim CEO, effective immediately. The North Liberty, Iowa-based company had not previously announced a transition plan.

GreenState said it hired executive research firm Spencer Stuart to help find a permanent CEO. 

At $11.2 billion of assets, GreenState is the country's 19th-largest credit union and the biggest in Iowa. Disterhoft joined the credit union in 1995 and became its chief executive in 1999. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a press release, Disterhoft said it was a "privilege" to lead GreenState and that he is proud of what it has achieved. "I look forward to seeing GreenState continue to succeed for decades to come," he said. 

GreenState reported net income of $15.3 million in the first half of 2023, an 80% decrease compared with a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration. 

A year ago, the company cut about 5% of its workforce, citing rising interest rates and the subsequent impact to the company's mortgage refinance business.  

The release did not provide further context to explain the timing of Disterhoft's retirement. In an email, GreenState spokesman Jim Kelly said there's "not much more to say."

Fanning joined GreenState in 2012 as its CFO and has overseen the company's financial planning and analysis, accounting and risk functions. He has more than 30 years of executive leadership expertise in the banking industry, having previously served as CFO, chief operating officer and a board member of Citizens First National Bank in Iowa.

"Todd has been an invaluable member of our leadership team over the past decade, and his deep understanding of our business, our members and our communities makes him the ideal person to step into this interim CEO role," said GreenState's chairman, Fred Mims, in the press release.

GreenState has more than 447,000 members and 33 branches. It has been an active buyer of community banks in recent years. The credit union acquired three banks including two in Illinois and one in its home state of Iowa.

Most recently, the credit union bought Midwest Community Bank in Freeport, Illinois, in 2022.

GreenState also struck a fourth bank acquisition — a deal to buy Premier Bank in Nebraska — but the transaction fell apart after a ruling that Nebraska state law prohibits such deals. 

Overall, bank purchases by credit unions reached a torrid pace in August after a slow start to the year. There have been 10 deals announced in 2023 with half of those announcements made last month.

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Most recently, the $7.7 billion-asset Michigan State University Federal Credit Union in East Lansing agreed to buy the $145 million-asset Algonquin State Bank in the Chicago metropolitan area.

There were 16 deals announced last year in which a credit union was buying a bank. 

Under Disterhoft's leadership, the credit union last year launched the GreenState Foundation to expand the impact of its community investment and philanthropic giving. The foundation also offers a suite of family financial wellness tools called MoneyRight, designed to assist members in "living a more prosperous life."