Investing In a Rising Rate Environment
In the eight month period, from September 2007 to April 2008, the Federal Reserve lowered their overnight target from 5.25% to 2.00%. Recently senior Fed officials, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have publically stated that they are not likely to push rates any lower. The fed funds futures market has reversed course and is pricing in a series of Fed tightening moves anticipating a 3.00% fed funds rate by February of 2009. How should a portfolio manager adapt to this environment to ensure that the credit union’s portfolio continues to support their balance sheet?

Jumbo CDs as a Viable Investment Alternative
Credit unions, large and small, continue to look for ways to add diversification and yield to their investment portfolio, while maintaining a high level of safety and soundness. One way to meet this goal is to incorporate Jumbo CDs into an overall investment strategy. SimpliCD is a certificate of deposit program that enables credit unions to invest substantial funds in federally insured CDs without the hassles, time and expenses of investigating potential issuers and purchasing CDs on your own. This session will provide a brief overview of the program, and will focus on several strategies that have proven successful for many of our credit union members.

Developing Investment Policies
We will look at the areas that should be covered in an effective policy, including specifics of sector limitations, portfolio targets and documentation requirements. We will also review some of the areas that are most often overlooked in policies.

ALM Model Back-Testing
We will provide a complete review of the proper back-testing technique pertaining to NEV, income, growth, assumptions (assets and liabilities), when to back-test and what to look for in your back-testing results.

Analyzing ARMs, CMOs and MBSs
Many credit unions have extended their investment portfolios to include securities backed by mortgages. These mortgages have various features that need to be analyzed in order to obtain a true valuation. There are other particular attributes to these securities that should be known as well. We will discuss those features that should be known before you buy your next mortgage backed bond.

Loan Participations - Avoid NCUA Pitfalls
Recent “Hot topics” mentioned by the NCUA include member business lending and evaluating third party relationships. We will discuss several key focus points of underwriting such as cash flow analysis, acceptable loan write-ups, and understanding business and concentration risk. In addition, we will give you some key points to consider in evaluating your third party relationships as well as some market trends and how the recent capital market environment has affected loan participations.

Are Spread Products a Smart Investment?
This presentation will focus on the case for spread products in enhancing the returns of credit union investment portfolios. The primary emphasis will be on mortgage pass through securities.

Are the Yields on Callables Paying you for the Higher Risk?
Many credit unions have been searching for higher returns as the yield curve continues to drop. The most often used alternative to conventional investments for several years has been callable investments. However, many of these investments are currently being called. How can we tell if we have been rewarded enough to take the risk of having to re-invest this money? Traditional analysis of callable investments will be examined and explained. We will also visit less conventional analysis to better understand the value offered by callable investment options.

Evaluating MBS Risks
With market rates declining, it can be tempting to look to new asset classes to obtain additional yield. While Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) may be an attractive addition to your portfolio, it is very important to understand the dynamics of these investments before purchasing. This session will explain the basic principals behind MBS – how they are created, different structures that investors can purchase and how cash flows are returned to the investor.

Analyzing the Total Return of MBS
Regardless of whether markets are volatile or calm, investors should evaluate the expected total rate of return of any security before making a purchase or sale decision. This session will focus on the process for measuring MBS total returns.

THE ECONOMY AND THE MARKETS -- WHAT IS NEW, WHAT IS NEXT?

It certainly would not be an understatement to say that the economy is on nearly everyone's mind these days. So we think now is the perfect time to connect with you and take a closer look.

Join us as our panel of experts explores:

• A current overview of the Capital Markets with a specific emphasis on the state of liquidity with a brief review of how we got here.
• The impact to asset classes and spreads, and the outlook for what is in store.
• A review of the credit markets with an emphasis on credit spreads, the impact of credit scarcity, and the widespread rating downgrades. This section will also touch on counterparty due diligence and the impact of proper credit analysis and surveillance.
• Then, we will explore the actual impact of the credit and liquidity dislocation on the financial industry with specific discussion on unrealized losses, impairment, and other related issues as it has affected all of us.

Balance Sheet Symmetry
Credit Unions can become more efficient and more dynamic in response to changing market conditions when they pursue balance sheet symmetry. This session will introduce the balance sheet symmetry management philosophy. We will briefly demonstrate how to employ a best practices approach to balance sheet management using components such as 1) Share Sensitivity Analysis 2) Dynamic ALM Modeling 3) Benchmarking Analysis and 4) Total Rate of Return based decision-making.

Decision Theory
Can better performance be achieved purely based on your strategy? We will look at some applications of game theory that have won a Nobel prize in Economics and influenced war time strategy and international trade. We will also look at how the application of these strategies can improve your portfolio's risk adjusted returns.