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Last week, the Minnesota Credit Union Network brought together Strategic Alliance partners, The Baker Group and Deep Future Analytics, for a webinar focused on the Economic, Investment and Portfolio Implications of COVID-19. Each provided a high-level overview of the effects credit unions might anticipate and how to best prepare our businesses for uncertainty that comes with the evolving nature of the pandemic. As a recap, below are our top takeaways from the presentations. The Baker Group Andy Okolski, Director of Credit Union Strategies with The Baker Group, discussed what we might expect economically and how credit unions might consider preparing. Here’s what we took away: -Fed Funds is at zero while expenses remain unchanged; Loan demand/quality are declining -Events are pressing entire yield curve down and will drive additional liquidity into credit unions -Take proactive approach to what you can control - your excess funds and investment portfolio -Manage your investment portfolio to prepare for lower loan demand and lower interest rates -MNCUN along with The Baker Group will provide credit unions FREE Independent Assessment and Written Portfolio Strategy based on your total balance sheet -Please reach out to Mark Baumann with questions for The Baker Group Deep Future Analytics (DFA) Dr. Joseph Breeden, CEO of Deep Future Analytics, concluded the session with a focus on credit union stress testing for pandemics. Please see the note Dr. Breeden left us with: “Economically, this is the most uncertain period in our lifetimes. The range of possible impacts of COVID-19 on our financial well-being is greater than any previous event on record. A nationwide natural disaster has never occurred before. A natural disaster that starts as suddenly as a hurricane, yet keeps growing in force over weeks or months is unprecedented. No one can know with even the ordinary level of uncertainty what the rest of 2020 will hold. Even if never before in your professional career, this is the time that you must stress test everything you do.” In short: -Hope that this is a sprint, but prepare for a marathon -DFA can help with economic scenario design to understand the range of COVID-19 Recession outcomes and help clients run loss forecasts, adjust pricing for new loans, and risk-adjust their origination volumes by loan type. -Please reach out to Dr. Joseph Breeden or Charles Hoy with questions for DFA If you were unable to attend or would like to review this webinar, a recording of this webinar is available online.