Under the leadership of Nader Moghaddam, this formerly insular financial institution has become dynamic and forward thinking.

Nader Moghaddam, president and CEO of Financial Partners Credit Union, has led a fundamental transformation of the organization in his first three years at the helm. But he feels the best is yet to come for the 12-branch credit union that primarily serves Los Angeles and Orange counties in Southern California and such major local employers as Pratt & Whitney and The Boeing Co.

Nader Moghaddam, CEO

Moghaddam was selected by the board of directors to lead the credit union in January 2005. He immediately put a multi-year action plan into place, concentrating first on building a strong management team while streamlining processes.

“In a little less than three years, the organization has been turned from an insular, inward-looking company to a dynamic, forward-looking organization,” the CEO said. “We’ve focused on increasing the level of service to our members and improving the infrastructure to ensure our long-term success.”

Low hanging fruit
During his first year, Moghaddam built up the senior management team and brought in new management methods and decisionmaking processes, transforming the culture of the organization. He also tackled some low-hanging fruit such as outsourcing item processing and internal audits.

Financial Partners installed a sales management system from Cohen Brown Management Group and brought performance-based incentives to managers and front-line employees. Every employee with a front-line position or client contact has a scorecard, which the credit union calls a Success Card, that ties the organization’s goals and strategies to the individual.
In addition to a competitive base salary, managers can earn quarterly monetary incentives as high as 10% of base salary, and front-line staff can earn up to 6% by meeting goals. A key metric is member satisfaction, and 84% of members in 2006 reported being “very satisfied,” the top measure, and the only one Financial Partners looks at.

“Alignment is key—providing a direct connection to the organization’s vision, strategy, business plan, and incentives to the department and the individual,” Moghaddam said.

The second year of Moghaddam’s plan focused on the credit union’s technology backbone, bringing in a new host system, beefing up its Internet banking, and adopting new member service, customer relationship management, and loan servicing programs. The results were dramatic, setting the stage for future growth while lowering overhead expenses by 37 basis points (approximately $2.6 million) a year. In 2004, Financial Partners had assets of $620 million and 200 employees. Current assets are $754 million with 45 fewer employees.

Technology enhancements have brought significant reductions in processing times. Consumer loan approvals are made in less than six minutes, mortgage loans in 18 days, and home-equity loans in 12 days. Further reductions in hold times in the contact center and added services such as account opening by phone and online are additional evidence of progress.

This year’s focus is on fine tuning operations and infrastructure for maximum efficiency. “It’s all about execution and providing the best value to our 55,000 members,” Moghaddam said. “We recently were named by Callahan and Associates as the number one credit union in the nation in our asset category for providing the best value to the borrower.”

Celebrating success
What’s now known as Financial Partners Credit Union celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. The North American Aviation Employees Federal Credit Union was established in 1937 by the aerospace industry to help members establish credit and avoid the exorbitant lending interest rates prevalent at the time. Initial membership was 376 members with assets of $5,000.

The Downey, Calif.-based credit union spent many years known as Rockwell Federal Credit Union, with its continuing focus on the aerospace industry. Members and sponsor companies began to change in recent years, and the organization became Financial Partners Credit Union in January 2001. Today, the credit union serves those who live, work, or worship in Orange County and a majority of Los Angeles-area cities.

Financial Partners is committed to serving the larger community through partnerships with various local community organizations such as Gangs Out Of Downey, the Downey YMCA, Cerritos College Foundation, and Regional Occupational Program to offer free educational programs to the communities it serves.

In addition to core savings, deposit, and loan offerings, Financial Partners is developing new products and services to better meet the changing needs of its members. For members planning for long-term savings and retirement, a team of experienced financial consultants continues to provide financial planning and investment advisory services to help members reach their goals.

The financial advisory arm of the credit union currently has $140 million in assets under administration, and Moghaddam sees this as a growth area for the company. “We have a unique member profile,” he said. “Our members are technology-savvy, educated, well-heeled folks who need loans, deposit and savings instruments, and sophisticated asset management.” The credit union will soon launch a robust lineup of product offerings for small business owners.

Moghaddam knows that the proper infrastructure is in place, and he said he can’t wait to see what the future success of Financial Partners will look like.

“We’ve put the management and systems in place to provide the chassis for a much larger organization than we are now,” Moghaddam said. “We will continue to live within our means, but we’ll be opportunistic, focusing on growing the organization from within. But if the opportunity for mergers that make strategic sense present themselves, we’re interested in those, too.”

Grayson Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , is a freelance writer based in Atlanta.