What is ALMPro®?
How does ALMPro® work?
What about modeling and "What-If" analysis?
Why not just sell the software?
Do I have research my historical data?
Why is the ALMPro® report important?
Is support available for ALMPro®?
Has ALMPro® been approved by NCUA or the State?
Is the ALMPro® service guaranteed?
Is there a long-term commitment?
Can I talk to some referrals?
When would I have to pay?
Do I have to reformat or map my general ledger?
Do you provide rate shocks?
How do you set up the scenarios?
How do you arrive at prepayment speeds?
How do you classify non-maturity shares?
What other ALM products are available from Mark H. Smith Incorprated?
ALMPro®
is a quarterly analytical service that includes interest rate risk analysis
and forecasting. It is offered to credit unions nationwide. It provides important
asset and liability management and funds management information to credit
union chief executive officers, directors and other key financial decision
makers. The analysis is compiled each quarter
from a database maintained for each client. It provides management with useful
financial information including interest rate risk analyses and forecasting
in a format which is simple and straight-forward. Each section of the report
starts with a summary and overview of the information in that section, then
ALMPro® Reportalso includes the Dashboard. The Dashboard is a concise one-page summary of the credit union's whole ALM picture and is presented with cross-references so that one can see the big picture on the Dashboard and immediately turn to the supporting information in the body of the report.
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Each quarter, our clients mail or fax us their basic balance
sheet, income statement, loans by collateral report, investment report, summary
member CD maturity schedule and investment detail. Typically our clients
spend less than 15 minutes per quarter gathering and sending the data for
the ALMPro® Report. On receipt, the
information is added to the database that is maintained for that client. From
the database, their ALMPro® Report
is compiled and sent to the client within a week.
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Each quarter, we run three what-if interest rate scenarios
to test the credit union's sensitivity to interest rate risk (IRR). Each scenario
is customized to the needs of the individual credit union. The model allows
us to forecast interest rate spreads, net interest income, net income and
the net economic value (NEV)/market value of capital.
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There are many excellent ALM and financial reporting software packages available.
However, our clients have discovered that even the best software requires
a significant time commitment in which to learn and effectively use the software.
Additionally the use of software requires financial and analytical expertise
that some small- and mid-sized credit unions do not have on staff. We offer
an alternative to the increased workload of software by performing the work
required and offering timely analyses and information ready to use in the
decision-making process.
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Nope. We pull all of the historical information from the
Form 5300 Call Reports, which we download from NCUA's website.
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The management of every credit union is charged with
the responsibility of operating in a safe and sound manner. In today's complex
financial and economic environment, that means making difficult and complex
financial decisions including an estimate or quantification of interest rate
risk. We have found that often small- and mid-sized credit unions do not have
the time to perform the complex financial analyses which need to be done;
yet management has the responsibility to make sound financial decisions, and
a strong financial analysis is vital in this effort.
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Like you wouldn't believe! Free, unlimited, and timely telephone support, local training seminars, and the ALM 101 Seminar on
Video (which can be viewed free on our website at www.MarkHSmith.com/ALM Training Center/_Flash.) We welcome follow-up
calls with questions regarding your reports, not only because we believe in
training, but because these questions give us insight as to how you use our
service. This helps us in upgrading our service to meet your needs. We also
offer training conferences.
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To the best of our knowledge, neither NCUA nor any state officially approves
vendors' services. I can say that we have informally received very positive
responses from NCUA examiners and various state examiners, and we have been
informally referred in some cases. If NCUA or your regulator raises issues
with your report, it would be our responsibility to make any corrections or
adjustments to the content of the report at our expense.
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Yes. We make every effort to satisfy each client. If for
any reason you feel our work is not acceptable, we will redo the work to your
satisfaction at no extra charge.
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No. All agreements are on a quarter-to-quarter basis. You
can change your service at any time. If you wish to terminate your service all that is needed is to provide a written notice of cancellation.
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We have approximately 270 clients nationwide. Please
follow the link below to obtain a Client Referral List based upon your credit union's asset size and location.
Referral List Request Form
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Our policy is to bill one half of the set up fee as a retainer prior to work commencing. The remainder of the set up fee and the fee for the first report will be invoiced when you receive your first report. Note that even though you are remitting funds in advance our absolute guarantee of satisfaction is in effect
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No. We will take your data in whatever format it comes in.
Our objective is to make your life easier. We will take the information that
you have that is readily available and make it work.
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Yes, we perform a base-case, a rates-up, and a rates-down shock. The regular shocks we use are
300 basis points up and down because that is what NCUA has mandated. In the rates-down
shock, we currently run lesser shocks because of the low rates. As rates rise
significantly, we will run the 300 basis point rates-down shock as well. Additional
shocks and scenarios can be performed for a very reasonable fee.
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We will work with you to customize the scenarios to fit
your particular needs and circumstances. We do not use one-size-fits-all scenarios.
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We will work with you to arrive at estimated prepayment
speeds which are suitable for your credit union's individual circumstances.
We will test your loan portfolio turnover, implement industry averages, and
take advantage of your insight and experience as a CEO.
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We will work with you to arrive at a realistic evaluation
for your nonmaturity shares. We will also use industry averages and the NERA
study. We will rely heavily on your insight as to the unique attributes of
the credit union's geographic and demographic field of membership.
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Seminars and Webinars. Over the past 6 years Mark has presented hundreds of seminars and webinars. These nationwide presentations are directed toward small- to mid-sized credit union CEOs, staff, ALCO members, and volunteers, and topics range from asset and liability management to survival strategies for credit unions in the current economic environment. They have been met with universally exceptional reviews.
CU-ALM
Report: This is a periodic newsletter covering current
ALM issues. The newsletter is available to any credit union nationwide free
of charge. Follow the link above for more information on the newsletter or if you wish to be added to the distribution list.
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FAQs