Mica Listed Among Top 20 Best-Paid Trade Assn. Execs

CUNA President Dan Mica rose on the heels of credit unions' lobbying triumph in 1998 to enter the select list of top 20 best- paid trade association executives in the nation's capital.

The annual ranking compiled by The National Journal lists Mica and his $696,414 in compensation as the 18th highest-paid trade association executive in 1998 and the best-paid depository institution trade group leader, topping the American Bankers Associations' head man for the first time. ABA Executive Director Donald Ogilvie earned total compensation of $657,169 in 1998, while America's Community Bankers' chief Paul Schosberg earned $452,467, Financial Services (formerly known as Bankers) Roundtable head Tony Cluff earned $427,097, Independent Bankers Association President Kenneth Guenther earned $339,600, and Consumer Bankers Association chief Joe Belew earned $281,178. NAFCU President Ken Robinson was way down the list at $206,647.

The heads of several insurance trade groups, which in 1998 were poised for a historic victory of their own on financial modernization, topped Mica and the banking association executives. Robert Vagley, chief of the American Insurance Association, was paid $925,018, and Carroll Campbell, head of the American Council of Life Insurance (Mica's former employer) earned $891,823.

Topping the list was Eugene Upshaw, president of the National Football Players Association at $1.8 million, and Frank Zarb, head of the National Association of Securities Dealers at $1.5 million.