Inclusiv CEO Cathie Mahon speaks at NCUA’s Credit Union Capital Markets Summit at NYSE
Inclusiv President and CEO, Cathie Mahon, was a panelist at the NCUA Credit Union Capital Markets Symposium on April 11, 2023 hosted at the NYSE. Industry leaders, regulators, investors, and others in financial services came together to discuss how credit unions can manage risk and drive growth.
CEO Mahon spoke of the tremendous growth seen in Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institution (MDI) credit unions over the last few years, including a 20% rise in assets and 36% growth in lending over just the last year. She noted the historic recognition, awareness, and engagement coming from outside the credit union industry as more people have finally taken note of the century-long successes of credit unions in driving capital to underserved markets.
“We believe that there’s a tremendous opportunity to see these capital investments continue to grow. We’ve shown that proof of concept to others, and social impact investors and others in the financial services industry are noticing that credit unions have demonstrated impact and strong lending models,” CEO Mahon noted.
She explained that Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs) have long had their pulse on the needs of their communities. In the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the U.S. Department of the Treasury deployed about $70 million to 48 CDFI and MDI credit unions around the country under the Community Development Capital Initiative under TARP.
Analysis by Inclusiv shows that these institutions were able to increase their lending by an average of 60 times over their investment amount – showing that secondary capital is a deeply powerful tool. Policymakers took notice and deployed over 9 billion dollars to nearly 200 CDFIs under the Emergency Capital Investment Program created in response to the recent Covid-19 pandemic because they recognize the critical roles that CDFIs play in supporting and uplifting their communities.