Size has its advantages, but achieving a higher return on credit union assets is not necessarily dependent upon size. One only has to look closely at the performance of mid-size credit unions to see how this is true. By dividing the 1,121 credit unions between $100 million and $1 billion into five peer groups, we can get a clearer perspective on their performance.

as of June 30, 2006
The data shows that across each peer group, between 30% and 40% of the credit unions recorded had ROA greater than 1% as of June 2006. While it is true that this percentage increases as one moves from lower to higher asset size, the fact that they are within a 10% band also shows that having a larger asset base is not a requirement for having a higher ROA.
In fact, if a bigger asset size was essential for a higher ROA, one would expect to see highest ROA in the $800M ~ $1B group. However, that is not the case. The highest ROA of 3.6% was posted by Progressive Credit Union ($301 million in New York, NY).
As the graph below shows, the only difference between the five asset ranges is that the range of ROA narrows as asset size increases.
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While scale can bring benefits, these results point to the ability of credit unions to utilize a variety of business models to deliver strong bottom line growth. In fact, a ROA has a higher correlation with non-interest income (0.21) than with asset size (0.10).
The following is the list of top five credit unions in each of the asset ranges that posted the highest ROA.
Top 5 ROA in $800M - $1Bn Group |
St |
Credit Union |
ROA |
Assets |
CA |
LBS Financial |
1.77% |
$964.11 Mn |
CA |
Arrowhead Central |
1.73% |
$996.54 Mn |
AZ |
Vantage West |
1.65% |
$861.97 Mn |
NY |
Melrose |
1.60% |
$805.29 Mn |
WA |
Spokane Teachers |
1.52% |
$832.92 Mn |
Top 5 ROA in $600M - $800M Group |
St |
Credit Union |
ROA |
Assets |
FL |
Campus USA |
1.70% |
$754.05 Mn |
AL |
Max |
1.69% |
$674.32 Mn |
OR |
Unitus Community |
1.65% |
$640.09 Mn |
HI |
HawaiiUSA |
1.61% |
$773.77 Mn |
CA |
Coast Central |
1.59% |
$627.89 Mn |
Top 5 ROA in $400M - $600M Group |
St |
Credit Union |
ROA |
Assets |
PA |
Philadelphia |
3.27% |
$545.59 Mn |
CA |
Water and Power Community |
2.38% |
$418.74 Mn |
KY |
Fort Knox |
2.28% |
$514.74 Mn |
MI |
USA |
2.20% |
$576.77 Mn |
NV |
Clark County |
2.20% |
$562.26 Mn |
Top 5 ROA in $200M - $400M Group |
St |
Credit Union |
ROA |
Assets |
NY |
Progressive |
3.59% |
$301.14 Mn |
CA |
Cal State 9 |
2.98% |
$386.28 Mn |
TX |
Schlumberger Employees |
2.61% |
$202.98 Mn |
CA |
Valley First |
2.58% |
$262.94 Mn |
MI |
United |
2.56% |
$215.04 Mn |
Top 5 ROA in $100M - $200M Group |
St |
Credit Union |
ROA |
Assets |
PA |
NET |
2.83% |
$126.83 Mn |
NJ |
South Jersey |
2.75% |
$157.64 Mn |
GA |
AFLAC |
2.72% |
$116.16 Mn |
NV |
WestStar |
2.71% |
$180.61 Mn |
IN |
Fort Financial |
2.39% |
$174.47 Mn |
Data as of June 30, 2006 |
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To see how your credit union compares on ROA and other key ratios, try Callahan's Peer-to-Peer software or CUAnalyzer, the latest online financial analytical and benchmarking tool.