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Fox Communities CU dethrones 5-time champion as best-performing CU in 2017

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Fox Communities CU dethrones 5-time champion as best-performing CU in 2017

Aided by a pair of mergers, Appleton, Wis.-based Fox Communities CU dethroned five-time champion Chubbuck, Idaho-based Idaho Central CU, to grab the No. 1 spot in S&P Global Market Intelligence's annual ranking of the 50 top-performing credit unions.

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Fox's 0.07% net charge-off ratio and 0.18% loan delinquency ratio were both lower than the top-50 median. However, the company's operating expense ratio was slightly above the median at 68.03%.

Last year, 81-year-old Fox Communities merged with two different Green Bay, Wis.-based credit unions — Horizon Community CU and Harbor CU — which helped the credit union post 17.6% membership growth in 2017 and 21.4% market growth. Horizon Community had $41.9 million in assets and 2,726 members as of Dec. 31, 2016, while Harbor had $110.7 million in assets and 11,347 members as of June 30, 2017; Fox Communities finished 2017 with 100,113 members and $1.52 billion in assets.

The growth figures and sustained credit quality pushed Fox Communities to No. 1, up from No. 98 in 2016's ranking.

Idaho Central CU took the No. 2 spot and continued posting higher-than-median member and market growth. Credit quality at the company did deteriorate slightly in 2017 as net charge-offs to average loans doubled year over year to 0.24% and loan delinquency hit 0.40%, compared to the top-50 median of 0.29%.

San Jose, Calif.-based Technology CU jumped from No. 52 in 2016 to grab the No. 3 spot.

Twenty-seven of the 50 top-performing credit unions in 2016 retained a place in the 2017 top 50 list. The nation's largest credit union, Vienna, Va.-based Navy FCU, fell to No. 199 from No. 88, while the second-largest credit union, Raleigh, N.C.-based State Employees' CU, dropped to No. 396 from No. 234.

Navy Federal's member and market growth both slowed in 2017, while credit quality deteriorated. However, the credit union's operating expense to operating revenue ratio improved to 50.30% in 2017, compared to 51.37% a year earlier.

A similar trend played out at State Employees' as member growth slowed significantly to 2.8% from 8.1% in 2016 and market growth dropped to 6.3% from 10.2%. The company's operating expense ratio improved as well.

California continued to lead the nation with 13 credit unions in the top 50, followed by Michigan and Wisconsin at four apiece.

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Click here to access a template containing the data used to compile the 2017 Credit Union Ranking.