Credit unions are challenged with increasing competition and regulatory scrutiny, which requires them to manage risks effectively to maintain their financial stability and reputation.

As cyber threats also increase, credit unions need to have a robust risk management framework in place to protect their members' personal and financial information. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is a crucial component of risk management for credit unions, and those that prioritize ERM are better equipped to achieve their strategic goals and enhance their long-term success. 

Due to the increasing demand of ERM training in today’s environment, CUNA Enterprise Risk Management Certification School has two trainings in 2023: June 6-8 in New Orleans and Dec. 4-6 in Las Vegas.

CUNA’s leading ERM experts offer insights on the most important parts of credit union’s ERM strategy.

Where to start assessing your credit union’s ERM strategy:

1. Risk appetite enables credit unions to strike a balance between risk and reward that aligns with their strategic objectives and values. Given the current challenges in the banking sector, risk appetite has emerged as a crucial area of focus. By defining risk appetite, credit unions can establish clear guidelines for risk-taking and risk mitigation that are consistent with their overall risk management strategy. This helps create alignment and enables them to communicate their risk management practices more effectively to management and board members, resulting in key organizational buy-in.

2. ERM integration with other risk factors is a growing question among credit unions as they try to narrow their focus on strategic risks, operational risks, vendor risks and more. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of effective risk management and the need for credit unions to be prepared for unexpected events that can impact their operations and members. It’s important for credit unions to build resilience, agility and adaptability, which are critical capabilities for long-term success. 

3. Strategic risk governance is an increasing topic of conversation as credit unions are understanding the importance of risk culture and accountability. Effective strategic risk governance enables credit unions to anticipate and respond to emerging risks, identify and exploit new opportunities and make informed decisions about risk-taking and risk mitigation. It also ensures that risk management activities are integrated with the credit union’s overall governance and management structures and that risks are managed in a consistent and coordinated manner across the credit union. Additionally, understanding your board’s role in ERM and the questions they should be asking is critical.  

How do you equip yourself with the knowledge to make and implement these important risk decisions?

CUNA Enterprise Risk Management Certification School dives into these three key areas of ERM, where you’ll address how to make these important decisions, help deepen the understanding of how to balance organization risk with revenue-building interests and gain organizational buy-in at your credit union. This is also the single source to earn a Credit Union Enterprise Risk Management Expert (CUERME) designation in 2023.

CUNA's two trainings in 2023 are June 6-8 in New Orleans and Dec. 4-6 in Las Vegas.