The biggest local credit unions have picked up the pace of growth, notching an 8% increase in combined assets to $18 billion.
This week’s Special Report includes a list of the 25 credit unions with headquarters in Orange County ranked by asset size as of June 30.
The entries’ percentage growth is the highest in years. OC credit unions tended to increase assets at double digits in the years before 2008; asset growth fell sharply in 2009 to 1% and has fluctuated to as high as 6% since then.
Fifteen of the credit unions on this week’s list increased their assets from a year earlier, with two of them reporting double-digit gains. The remaining 10 saw assets fall.
The list also includes net income for the six months ended June 30. The group combined for $74.4 million in profit, down slightly from their year-earlier total of $74.5 million.
Eight credit unions had better profitability in the first half of this year compared with a year earlier, with some increasing earnings, a few narrowing their losses, and one reversing course after logging a loss last year.
Four of the 17 that had weaker profitability swung to losses, and 13 either saw profits decrease or losses widen.
• The perennial No. 1, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, had a 9% increase in assets to $11.4 billion. It’s the largest financial institution in the county, including commercial banks.
Santa Ana-based SchoolsFirst serves employees and retirees of the education industry in Southern California and their families.
The credit union’s recent growth past the $10 billion mark put it under direct supervision of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
It’s the first credit union in OC and in California and the fifth among the more than 6,000 credit unions in the U.S. to report to the agency. That means the credit union is now subject to stricter regulatory oversight regarding potential consumer fraud.
SchoolsFirst had $56.1 million in profit in the first six months of this year, up 9% from the same period a year earlier. It has about 1,500 employees in OC and more than 668,000 local members, both figures higher than any other credit union on the list.
• NuVision Federal Credit Union had a 5% asset increase to $1.4 billion, good for keeping its No. 2 spot. It grew its OC employee base by 5% to 225 and increased OC membership about 2% to nearly 28,800.
• Orange County’s Credit Union follows closely at No. 3, with $1.3 billion after an 8% increase. It has 280 employees here, up by 10, and nearly 93,000 members, up by about 3,000.
• Aliso Viejo-based Capstone Federal Credit Union moved up three spots to No. 15 with a 5% increase to $38.2 million.
President Candice Landeros said the credit union’s growth could be attributed to its approach to annual bonuses from employers to membership groups that stay on with the credit union.
The “stock market volatility and uncertainly of rates going up” also have been growth drivers, she said.
• Evangelical Christian Credit Union was among the entries with decreases in assets. The Brea-based credit union slipped one notch to No. 5, with a 9% drop in assets to $944.9 million.
ECCU’s net loss for the first six months of the year widened to $1.6 million from about $657,000.
Chief Executive Abel Pomar said the credit union has been “strategically decreasing assets in an effort to strengthen and diversify” its balance sheet.
“Over the past year, we have been focused on reducing underperforming loans so ECCU can enter 2016 with a stronger portfolio of assets,” Pomar said.
“Despite the decrease in assets, ECCU has remained well capitalized.”
Efforts to reduce exposure to troubled loans have included disposing of distressed assets and real estate owned properties.
“The combined financial impact of these measures will result in a financial loss for calendar year 2015 but will position ECCU to emerge from 2015 a stronger organization, positioned for sustainable, long-term growth,” Pomar said.
ECCU has 175 local employees, down 11%, and 12,330 members, up 6%.
• Newport Beach City Employees Federal Credit Union’s assets dropped by 9% to $12.2 million.
It swung to a loss for the six months through March 31—numbers used are as of March 31 rather than June 30 because the credit union filed in May for a merger into Brea-based Credit Union of Southern California. The deal was completed in September, and the numbers reflecting the combination will be included in next year’s list.
Credit Union of SoCal, No. 4, had about $982.5 million in assets as of June 30, up 26% year-over-year, the biggest percentage gain on the list.
• Buena Park-based Southland Savings Federal Credit Union merged into Downey-based Financial Partners Credit Union in June and technically wasn’t its own entity as of June 30, our benchmark date. We’ve kept Southland Savings on this year’s list, though, because it was an Orange County-based institution for most of the fiscal year we’re tracking.
It had $7.6 million in assets as of March 31, down 2% year-over-year. It reported a loss of about $16,000 for the six months through March, a swing from a profit of $331 in the year-earlier period.
