Orange County-based credit unions remained in growth mode during a 12-month span through June, buoyed by gains in assets and membership at some of the biggest among them.
This week’s Business Journal list, which ranks 35 credit unions by total assets, reflects an almost 6% increase in total assets from a year earlier to $15.43 billion.
That’s an improvement from previous recent years, with assets rising at an average rate of just above 2% annually for the past three years. But it’s still some distance away from prerecession growth levels in the double digits.
Credit unions on the list vary widely in size, with the smallest holding being $734,000 in assets to the largest with almost $10 billion. The top four institutions combine for about 84% of the total assets reflected on the list.
Jobs Up 7%
Jobs at OC branches grew by 7% during 12 months through October for a total of 2,603 employees. Membership expanded by 3% during the same span to 909,413.
Credit unions are owned by their members, who typically join based on common affiliations such as place of work, religion or ethnicity.
Rankings didn’t change much at the top, though there were shuffles in the bottom half of the list.
Santa Ana-based SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union drove much of this year’s growth.
SchoolsFirst, the largest credit union here, had $9.61 billion in assets as of the end of June, up 9% from a year earlier.
Its year-over-year change of almost $800 million accounted for 95% of the overall asset increase on the list.
The credit union also led job gains by adding 178 workers for a total of 1,193 as of October. It now has about 529,000 members, including 37,911 who joined in the past year.
SchoolsFirst’s gains more than offset membership losses at other credit unions. The rest would have combined for a 2.6% drop in membership.
Twenty-one other credit unions increased their assets over the past year.
No. 4 Santa Ana-based Orange County’s Credit Union had a 9% growth in assets to $1.05 billion as of June. The credit union serves residents of OC and parts of Los Angeles and Riverside counties.
Profit for the first six months of this year was $4.6 million, up 27% from a year ago.
The credit union has boosted work force by 9% for a total of 265 employees in 10 OC branches. It currently counts 81,540 members, up by 5% from last October.
“We’ve seen growth come from several different fronts,” Chief Executive Shruti Miyashiro said. “We’ve certainly had more media publicity as a follow up to (the industry’s promotional) Bank Transfer Day, as well as our own input to community involvement. We’ve had more members come in, and we’ve also had existing account holders starting to borrow again.”
Miyashiro said the credit union industry focused more on “getting lending going” than on gathering deposits.
That might explain years of tepid asset growth for credit unions, whose assets are comprised largely of deposits, she said.
Tight profit margins stemming from low rates have driven No. 9 Sea Air Federal Credit Union to work on keeping costs down and participating more in community activities, said Michael Pardon, chief executive of the Seal Beach-based credit union.
Efforts have helped Sea Air register a 14% increase in profit to $105,561 during the first half of this year. The credit union had a 2% year-over-year growth in assets through June to $152.9 million.
“All three of our offices are on bases, so we’ve been trying to improve accessibility,” Pardon said. “I know we are sometime hard to get to.”
Sea Air has branches at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station and its detachment in Corona, as well as the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base.
Biggest Gainer
The biggest percentage gainer on the list was No. 24 Interstate Federal Credit Union in Anaheim. It had a 36% increase in assets over the year to $22.1 million as of June 30. It has added two employees over the past year, for a total of five, and boosted membership by 70% to 3,725.
Interstate narrowed its half-year loss to $25,535, compared with a loss of $33,270 a year earlier.
Thirteen of the listed credit unions saw asset decreases, including four with slight dips smaller than 1%.
No. 5 American First Credit Union in La Habra had a 3% decrease in assets to $516.3 million. The credit union swung to profit during the first half of this year, notching $1.4 million in net income, versus a loss of $442,215 last year.
American First has 128 employees—five more than a year earlier—and 40,810 members, 27% fewer than on last year’s list.
Family 1 Federal Credit Union in Placentia maintained its No. 23 spot despite marking a 7% drop in assets to $22.8 million. The credit union—which serves individuals in Yorba Linda and Placentia—reported a loss of $474,193 during the first half of this year, versus a year-earlier profit of just more than $8,000.
Family 1 was acquired in June by Brea-based Credit Union of Southern Califor-nia. The takeover boosted the latter credit union’s assets to about $600 million.
No. 30 Buena Park-based Southland Savings Federal Credit Union had a 9% drop in assets to $8.8 million. It eked out a first-half profit of $528 this year after a year-earlier loss of $47,386 in the same period.
Select Customers
The credit union serves select employer groups, including Oakley Inc. in Foothill Ranch and stores at the Buena Park Mall. Its membership base expanded 6% during the 12 months to almost 3,000 members through October.
