ATLANTA-A number of experts have said that banks pulling back on commercial lending has opened up a window of opportunity for credit unions-now one expert is offering strategies for leveraging that opportunity.
Dan Roderick, senior director of consulting services for ProfitStars, expects Credit Union Journal's Grow Show attendees to walk away from his session with a "a better understanding of increased profitability and an awareness of their advantages."
Roderick's session, dubbed "Where the Loan Growth Opportunities Are," will teach credit unions about the best loan growth opportunities in today's financial environment, he said. "What I will be talking about is primarily commercial loan processing," Roderick said. "I'll be talking about principles-primarily for commercial loans."
He explained he will be talking about business lending for those credit unions already offering the product and looking to expand, and for those seeking to now enter into business lending.
He said that many credit unions are still using crude methods to determine and set pricing for loans. He plans to advise attendees to instead find new opportunities that achieve set profitability standards their credit union has already established, while still serving members the way credit unions are known to do.
"We've seen a significant increase in the interest of many credit unions," Roderick said. "There's a current opportunity for credit unions right now considering what's going on in the banking industry. What I'm hearing is that we're seeing this as our window of opportunity."
Roderick explained that right now credit unions want to be very certain they are making the best possible choices when it comes to loan requests, including ensuring that the CU's pricing approach includes driving control, discipline and consistency.
Roderick noted that he is not planning on spending a lot of time with a PowerPoint presentation during his session, but instead plans to focus more on model pricing scenarios.
"We can actually look at real life scenarios, too," he said. "I will also ask for questions. It's interactive in that respect."
