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Fishers-based Forum Credit Union was on the upswing from a sizable loss in 2008 when a slew of challenges hit late last year.
The institution became embroiled in a lawsuit after partnering with another credit union on $6 million in unusual life-insurance loans that defaulted.
Forum lost $4.7 million in the fourth quarter and was in the red for 2010. It was the second year since 2007 that the state's fourth-largest credit union lost money.
And last winter, Forum's top two officers - CEO Gary Irvin and Chief Financial Officer Bill Dailey - left within about a month of each other. Forum officials called the departures planned retirements, but Irvin left without a successor in place. Jeff Welch, another member of Forum's leadership team, replaced Dailey.
Now, after all that, Forum is rebuilding its earnings - and looking for a new leader to steer the company.
Forum's board recently chose San Francisco-based O'Rourke & Associates to lead the search for a CEO. The quest begins in earnest this month, and credit union officials expect to hire Irvin's permanent replacement by the end of the year.
Michael Peterson, the company's former chief risk officer, is leading Forum in the interim.
Credit unions, like banks, take deposits and issue loans. But they're owned by their depositors, rather than outside investors, and are exempt from paying federal taxes.
Forum officials say the insurance-loan losses were an anomaly and not a reflection of larger problems. They note the credit union, which has about $975 million in assets, earned $4.3 million in 2007 and $6.4 million in 2009.
The $12 million loss in 2008, they say, stemmed from turmoil sweeping through the financial services industry during the depths of the recession, not issues unique to Forum.
Forum had been profitable in 2010 until the fourth quarter. For the full year, it lost $2.8...