This event sounds amazing for #BoardOfDirectors and all corporate governance folks interested in #ESG. #corpgov http://bit.ly/2zcfCan
— Directors & Boards (@DirectorsBoards) October 10, 2017
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Showing posts with label 2017 at 02:51PM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2017 at 02:51PM. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
RT @DirectorsBoards: This event sounds amazing for #BoardOfDirectors and all corporate governance folks interested in #ESG. #corpgov http://bit.ly/2zcfCan
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Sipping on success: Craft brews and credit unions
When Paul Stull, CEO of the Credit Union Association of New Mexico, saw our recent column on the scarcity of new credit union charters, he fired off a long email filled with thoughts about how to remedy this situation.
That is: just maybe we can take steps that lead to a flowering of many new credit unions.
It starts with this question: Are small credit unions a lot like microbreweries? Stull thinks they should be more like them—and, no, we are not sampling the wares.
Stull of course wants to see credit unions thrive, he wants to see more new charters, and then he thinks about craft breweries and he wonders—what is going on here?
He wrote: “micro brews are so popular that [they] spring up in every state. They are all startups, and indicators [are] that locally produced items with a unique identity and flavor can and do excite consumers.”
What’s that have to do with new credit unions? Just maybe a lot.
Stull observed: “The local brew master does not want to become Budweiser…. They want to serve their customers with a high quality product and meet their needs in a unique and welcome fashion.”
He added that much the same can be said about the feisty and creative food trucks that are flourishing in much of the nation. Think of Los Angeles cook Roy Choi and his Kogi BBQ Taco Truck, where Korean flavors meet Mexican in a mashup that has won Choi spreading fame. These cooks, observed Stull, don’t want to be the next McDonald’s—what they want to do is serve food, their way, that satisfies their community.
For McDonald’s and Budweiser, substitute Chase and Bank of America, and—does that make the picture clearer?
Do a quick Google search: “Craft beer [insert name of your town].” I did that for where I live, Phoenix, and Google returned many pages, including quite a few places and beers I had never heard of. That is because the sector is throbbing with activity—excitement and energy—and, yes, a lot of startups.
So why can’t credit unions?
Stull said: “It is hard for me to believe that financial institutions are so complicated that new ones can’t spring up to meet the needs of a specific community or group of people. Can’t regulation be designed to fit these organizations that are better able to know their members needs than even the highest paid bureaucrat in Washington.”
Read that again. He is making two crucial points.
First: the best model for a credit union is to attempt to be one of a kind, to meet the needs of a specific community or employee group, rather than be like a big bank and try to give a little satisfaction to a lot of people, just about anywhere.
Stull’s second point: Who better to come up with these ideas for credit unions than the people who live and work in them?
Stull continued: “McDonald’s has to adjust their menu to fit local tastes. Where I live in New Mexico, they serve green chile cheeseburgers. I don’t see that on their menu in Washington DC. Making adjustment to menus and regulation is just common sense. We need startups to grow the credit union movement, introduce it to new members and to specifically meet the needs of new communities all across the nation. Regulation has done everything possible to keep this from happening. That is just not the American way!”
Understand this: it is crucial that the credit union movement follows safe practices, and if that requires some regulation, so be it.
But Stull is right. The history of the credit union movement—going back to its roots—is that where an unmet need is observed, a new credit union popped up to help.
Don’t you believe the imagination and the energy are out there to help identify the kinds of credit unions and financial products that are needed in community XYZ.
There is a lot of creativity in the credit union movement. Is it is always properly fertilized and watered—or does it just get sidelined out of bureaucratic caution?
What can we do to let creativity flourish in financial services as much as it does in breweries? That just may be the key question in charting the course for a successful credit union movement in the 21st century.
The post Sipping on success: Craft brews and credit unions appeared first on CUInsight.
June 08, 2017 at 02:41PM
from Robert McGarvey
AIDINDIA retweeted: Whoohoo! The world’s largest pension fund called on asset managers to improve #corpgov & #ESG. #SRI #impinv #Susty… https://t.co/UdA6PzXcnQ
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AIDINDIA retweeted:
Whoohoo! The world’s largest pension fund called on asset managers to improve #corpgov & #ESG. #SRI #impinv #Susty… https://t.co/UdA6PzXcnQ
June 08, 2017 at 02:47PM
https://twitter.com/AIDIndia3/status/872750334099296257
from AIDINDIA
Palm Springs eternal: Follow the market
I spent Memorial Day weekend in Palm Springs. It had been 17 years since my last visit. Things have changed.
I’m late to the Palm Springs party, but I’m not the only one: the Coachella Valley broke several tourism records just last year, including all-time hotel revenue highs. Judging from the bustling crowds in the downtown shopping district, despite high temperatures of 106 on Sunday and 107 on Monday, this year might continue that winning streak.
The Palm Springs area has some five-star properties that command high room rates. There’s a Ritz-Carlton, the well-appointed L’Horizon Resort, and a few others. However, many of the hotels are aging mid-century properties built when Frank Sinatra was crooning his way and Bob Hope was a regular on the links.
And yet, this town with oppressive summer heat, seasonal airline service and squat motels set an all-time record last year with an average daily hotel rate of $159.99. According to a Jan. 27, 2017 article in The Desert Sun, other records set last year include $98.42 revenue per available room, which measures the balance between occupancy and rate, and $519 million in revenue from hotel room sales alone.
How did Palm Springs do it? By recognizing market demand and catering to it.
Ten years ago, the Parker Palm Springs led the way when it reopened with a fresh new façade that reinvented the property’s historic past and has served as a template for the entire city. Designer Jonathan Adler applied a Southern California desert-beach-hippie-luxe aesthetic, and the entire town has reproduced it.
I spent most of my time at the Ace Hotel and Pool Club. Like the Parker, it was among the first properties to transform a mid-century dump into an upscale, hipster resort. In this case, the Ace used to be the Westward Ho Motel and included an attached Denny’s with groovy, dated architecture.
Rather than tear the place down and start over, the Ace modernized it. Carpets were ripped up and replaced with finished concrete floors. Cinder block walls were painted with bright graphics and surrounding landscape was staged to provide perfect backdrops for social media posts. The pool clubhouse serves as a morning yoga studio and space for pop-up boutiques.
And the crowd ain’t your grandpa’s Palm Springs, either. The Ace, like much of Palm Springs, attracts a largely gay clientele. There were also lots of millennials of all lifestyles. Most importantly, everyone at The Ace had one important thing in common: money to spend.
I see a lot of similarities between The Ace and what credit unions should become.
Let’s start with the cooperative structure. A few credit unions walk the talk of the true credit union difference, but most sweep it under the rug. That’s a mistake. Nobody likes big banks, and regardless of generation, all young people like to stick it to The Man. Millennials, in particular, like working together as groups to create a better society. They want to bank with meaning. Nobody can give them that except credit unions. The downside, of course, is that behaving like a cooperative requires credit unions to genuinely want members to attend their annual meetings and volunteer for committees and the board. Like democracy, true cooperatives can be messy and most boards aren’t willing to give up their board seats to sass-mouthed young adults eager for change.
Instead of modernizing credit unions’ appealing past, most use big banks as a template, doing their best to match their branding and technology instead of creating something unique.
In addition to the messy (yet profitable) millennial market, credit unions have also missed the mark with the LGBTQ community. Three years ago, a group in Washington State tried to charter a gay credit union but failed to receive enough support from the industry or the NCUA. That’s terrible because the LBGTQ community is exactly the kind of groups credit unions exist to serve: underserved and discriminated against while having unique financial needs. Another credit union in the area stepped up to add the organization as a SEG, but that’s a second best solution.
Legal marijuana businesses also present a promising and growing market, but like the LBGTQ community, too many old fogeys are stuck in the Westward Ho days, questioning the world the way it is today instead of embracing it.
Credit unions aren’t hurting. Membership, loans and other key performance indicators are growing. However, the credit union community isn’t exactly as scorching hot as a Palm Springs afternoon. Recognizing market demand and catering to it will serve as a catalyst to that level of success.
The post Palm Springs eternal: Follow the market appeared first on CUInsight.
June 08, 2017 at 02:41PM
from Heather Anderson
Elezioni nel Regno Unito. Theresa May e la battaglia contro i diritti umani
La prima ministra britannica ha detto che cambierà le leggi sul rispetto dei diritti umani, se intralceranno la lotta all’estremismo e al terrorismo
June 08, 2017 at 02:37PM
from Anna Gaudenzi
Monday, May 29, 2017
Buy Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra Mahindra Financial Services: Sandeep Wagle
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May 29, 2017 at 02:43PM
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As hints get stronger, privatisation of Air India is now looking inevitable
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May 29, 2017 at 02:43PM
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Elvis Presley’s Private Jet Just Sold for Nearly $500,000
May 29, 2017 at 02:44PM
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FY17 GDP growth likely to be revised to 7.6%: SBI Research
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May 29, 2017 at 02:41PM
from
Saudi’s Alawwal Bank picks JPMorgan to advise on merger -sources – Reuters
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Saudi’s Alawwal Bank picks JPMorgan to advise on merger -sources
Reuters DUBAI Saudi Arabian lender Alawwal Bank 1040.SE, 40 percent owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), has picked JPMorgan (JPM.N) to advise it on a proposed merger with Saudi British Bank 1060.SE (SABB), sources familiar with the matter told … |
May 29, 2017 at 02:31PM
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Six in Sixty: Stocks you should keep on your radar
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May 16, 2017 at 02:33PM
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Monday, May 1, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Dabur India Q4 earnings on Monday, likely to report 2% profit growth
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April 29, 2017 at 02:48PM
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Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Committee of MPs: Let EU students have free movement in the UK after Brexit
LONDON – The government must grant European students the right of free movement in the UK for the country to remain a “global leader,” a committee of MPs said.
The House of Commons education committee, a cross-party group, said restrictions on incoming students could see the UK lose out.
“We believe the best model for EU students is to retain a reciprocal open approach with light touch controls, such as visa-free access, which would enable preservation of a system closely resembling freedom of movement,” the committee said in a report published on Tuesday.
“We recommend the Government takes this open approach with all international students if it is serious in its desire for the UK to remain a global leader in higher education,” the MPs said, adding that students should be removed from the net migration target.
“The Government’s refusal to do so is putting at risk the higher education sector’s share of the international student market.”
University staff should also be guaranteed rights to reside in the UK, or the country’s universities would lose out to competitors when trying to attract top professors to Britain.
“We caution that a delay in confirming these rights will only intensify the current uncertainty for universities, and likely lead to a significant ‘brain drain’ in talented staff,” the committee said. “The Government must be prepared to unilaterally agree the rights of EU nationals before the end of 2017 if a reciprocal deal is not agreed before then.”
Students from the European Union appear to have been put off from studying in the UK following last year’s Brexit vote.
The number of applications to UK universities from students in the European Union has shrunk by 7% in the wake of the Brexit vote, according to figures from UCAS. EU applications are down to 42,070 from 45,220 the year before.
The number of applicants from other overseas countries held steady at 52,630, around 70 more than 2016.
Applications to UK universities overall fell by 5% to a total of 469,490. There was a slump in English students applying for university, with 6% fewer applications in 2016. University applications fell by 5% in Northern Ireland, 2% in Scotland, and 7% in Wales.
In December, the Guardian reported that the government is considering cutting annual student visa numbers from 300,000 to 170,000 as part of a post-Brexit drive to lower immigration figures.
Up to 31,000 EU students could be deterred from coming to the UK if the Home Office makes European students pay the same university rates as non-EU nationals after Brexit, which would represent a 57% decline, according to a report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).
The post-Brexit drop in the number of EU students coming to the UK to study could cost the economy £2 billion ($2.45 billion) a year.
Here is the data:
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April 25, 2017 at 02:50PM
from Ben Moshinsky
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