FAQs
Find clear answers to your key questions about our services, ALM validation, and credit union financial management. This FAQ highlights what you need to know to make confident decisions. Still need help? Our team of experts is just a call away.
What services does MHSI provide for credit unions?
At MHSI, we specialize exclusively in credit-union asset and liability management (ALM) and interest-rate-risk (IRR) consulting and CECL analysis. We offer a full suite of services including outsourced ALM/IRR modelling and analysis, liquidity forecasting, CECL (current expected credit-loss) solutions, budgeting development and variance reporting, , model and management-process validation (both ALM and CECL), deposit analysis studies, and risk-based-lending profitability analysis. Because we focus solely on credit unions, we deliver tailored, efficient, regulator-aware solutions.
Why is the ALM/IRR, liquidity, and CECL analysis important for a credit union?
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 IRR and liquidity risk, and a lifetime loss estimates on their loan portfolio. 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. ALM/IRR and CECL analysis are vital in this effort.
What is CECL and how can MHSI help my credit union with CECL compliance?
CECL (Current Expected Credit Loss) is the accounting standard requiring lifetime-loss estimation at origination (and for securities), replacing the traditional incurred-allowance for loss model. MHSI’s CECL solution is crafted for credit unions: we leverage segmentation, peer-data, streamlined assumptions, and reporting templates to help you not just comply, but integrate CECL into your ALM/financial-planning framework. We offer everything from initial model build, multiple loss methods, convenient monthly calculator, and easy qualitative and environmental adjustments.
Why should a credit union outsource ALM/IRR and CECL analysis instead of doing it all in-house?
Outsourcing to MHSI gives you access to 40 + years of credit-union-specific ALM/IRR experience, tested models aligned with regulator expectations, peer-data benchmarking, and an efficient process. Additionally, outsourcing frees your team to focus on strategy rather than model-building. Many credit unions find internal builds are resource-intensive, risk operational gaps, or lack the peer-perspective that a specialist firm can offer. With MHSI, you get both technical depth and practical consultancy at a fraction of the cost of an internal employee.
What is ALMPro®?
ALMPro® is a quarterly analytical service that includes interest rate risk (IRR) analysis and forecasting. It’s offered exclusively to credit unions nationwide. It provides important asset and liability management and funds management information to credit union chief executive officers, CFOs, 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 IRR analyses and forecasting in a format which is simple and straight-forward. The easy-to-read ALMPro® Dashboard is included with each report. The dashboard is a concise two-page synopsis of the credit union’s whole ALM-IRR 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.
What is the difference between ALMPro® Classic and ALMPro® Plus?
With ALMPro® Classic, credit unions receive a robust ALM/IRR model, tailored to their size and complexity, along with scenario testing, static liquidity reporting, and financial statement analysis. ALMPro® Plus elevates the analysis by providing additional interest rate shock scenarios, a detailed liquidity analysis including a 12-month cashflow forecast, and a executive summary for easy report review and board meeting preparation.
Is support available for your services?
Yes, client support is an area where we excel. We provide extensive initial training using several methods such first time report review, online webinars, ALCO training, GoToMeeting Training, board meeting support, training videos and more. This training is individually tailored for each client’s unique needs and circumstances. We will train the executive officers, ALCO and Board of Directors until they feel confident using the IRR and CECL analysis. We will provide refresher training as needed and repeat the effort when new employees or volunteers come on board. Free, unlimited, and timely telephone support is included at no extra charge. 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.
What size/complexity of credit union does MHSI serve?
We serve a large range of clients from smaller credit unions (under $50 million) to middle-market institutions (hundreds of millions) and even those approaching a billion in assets, with our model validations. Our service tiers scale with asset size and complexity. We tailor our services so you’re neither over-fitted with excess nor under-equipped with minimal deliverables.
Is the ALMPro® service guaranteed?
Yes. We make every effort to satisfy each client. If for any reason you feel our work is not acceptable, please return, within 30 days we will redo the work to your satisfaction.
Is there a long-term commitment?
No. All agreements are (new-clients one year then) 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.
Can I talk with some ALMPro® users?
Yes. We have approximately 325 clients nationwide. Please follow the link below to obtain a Client Referral List based upon your credit union’s asset size and location.
Do I have to reformat or map my general ledger?
No. We will take your data in whatever format. Our objective is to make your life easier. We will take the information that you have that is readily available and make it work.
Do you provide peer-comparisons or benchmarking in your service offerings?
Yes. One of the benefits of working with MHSI is access to peer-data context. Where available and appropriate, we include peer-comparative statistics (e.g., deposit-behavior lives, sensitivity assumptions, liquidity-coverage trends) to help you understand where you stand relative to similar credit unions. We believe benchmark insight enhances strategy-conversations and supports board/ALCO oversight.
What happens if we decide later to expand our service scope (e.g., add budgeting or risk-based lending analysis)?
Our engagements are modular and scalable. If you initially engage ALM/IRR but later want to add budgeting support, risk-based lending profitability, or enhanced stress-testing modules, we can expand the scope with minimal disruption. Because our framework is integrated and credit-union-tailored, adding modules is efficient. We simply build the base model and incorporate new inputs, scenarios or deliverables.
What data does MHSI need from my credit union and how secure is that process?
We typically request your recent call-report data, balance-sheet/income-statement files, loan-portfolio detail, deposit-account data (non-maturity shares, rates, balances), historical deposit behavior and any existing modeling. We use secure file-transfer systems, maintain confidentiality protocols, and operate under a non-disclosure agreement. Your data is handled by experienced analysts in a professional consulting environment.
What sets MHSI apart from other consulting firms or modeling vendors?
With over 30 years of credit-union-exclusive experience (serving more than 400 institutions), we bring domain-specific knowledge, peer-data comparisons, regulator-aware deliverables, and hands-on support. We don’t sell generic banking models; we build credit-union-driven solutions that are scalable, practical and transparent. Our team remains committed to the credit-union movement.
