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INSURANCE TRUST
2 Ledgeview Drive
Westbrook, ME 04092

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
May 9, 2017

(Westbrook) – The CU Insurance Solutions Board has selected Kim Daigle Blier to lead as its new President/CEO.

Last year, current President/CEO David Baird announced his plans to retire on December 31, 2017, following 11 years of service with CU Insurance Solutions and its subsidiaries, Equinox and CUAlliance.

Originally from Fort Kent, Maine, Kim moved to Florida where she graduated from University of South Florida in 1992 with a degree in Elementary Education.  She taught a “Drug & Gang Prevention” program in Tampa’s inner-city schools for three years. Her desire to come back to Maine became reality when she was hired as a General Manager for a small retail business growing from 1 location to 13 locations in 6 years and learning all aspects of managing and growing a business.

Kim also worked as an Account Executive at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine working with multiple associations plans, employers, employees and brokers.  Kim’s decision to start her own business in 2009 was driven by her passion to provide employees and employers with a great benefit selection and education that helps consumers make informed decisions.  Eight years ago, Kim formed a new business called Better Benefits, LLC.  Better Benefits, LLC is currently assisting over four hundred business clients to help provide benefit education and great benefit selections to employers and employees throughout Maine and New England.

Kim has worked with CU Insurance Solutions and its credit union partners in various capacities for the past 17 years.  In the last 3 years, Kim has specifically worked as a strategic partner with the credit unions to assist with their employee benefits education.

“Our Board is delighted with the selection of Kim Blier as CU Insurance Solutions’s next President/CEO,” stated Board Chairman and Five County CU Vice President Mike Foley. “Kim’s strong background in the insurance and benefits arena, coupled with her already extensive familiarity with Maine’s credit unions as a trusted benefits provider and educator, will enable Kim and the Trust team to seamlessly continue their tradition of excellent service to Maine’s credit unions. The Board looks forward to a bright future for the Trust, and the credit unions it serves, under Kim’s leadership.”

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected as the new President/CEO of CU Insurance Solutions,” said Blier. “Over the past 17 years, I have been fortunate to work with credit unions and I have been forever inspired by the integrity and passion that credit unions and their employees have for helping members and the local communities. I am excited to work with the amazing team at CU Insurance Solutions and for the opportunity to help continue and build upon our important work and mission.”

The selection of Kim Daigle Blier followed an extensive search conducted by Drake Inglesi Milardo, Inc. – Human Resource Consultants of Portland and ultimately, the CU Insurance Solutions Board of Trustees.  Kim will assume her new position effective August 1, 2017.

About CU Insurance Solutions

CU Insurance Solutions was founded in 1963 by Maine Credit Unions to provide insurance solutions for their members. For over 50 years, CU Insurance Solutions has been the premier provider of insurance and loan protection products throughout the Northern New England credit union community.  Visit insurancetrustweb.com/cuis for more information.

CU Insurance Solutions is delighted to announce its 54th annual meeting that will take place at 2:00 pm on Friday, April 28, 2017 at the DoubleTree Hotel in South Portland, ME.  Join us as we celebrate more than half a century of service to the Maine credit union community.

During our meeting, each Trust committee chair will report on their committee’s accomplishments during the previous year.  You will also be brought up-to-date on the financial condition of CU Insurance Solutions.  There will be (1) Trustee-at-large elected for a three-year term and we are currently accepting nominations.

As part of our meeting each year, the CU Insurance Solutions Social Responsibility Committee will be recognizing our credit union partners for their generous efforts and contributions to Special Olympics Maine.  We will also present the annual Sandra A. Doucette award to an individual for outstanding service, volunteerism and support of Special Olympics Maine. Join us for a reception directly following our meeting with complimentary fare and refreshments.

Silent Auction for Special Olympics Maine

This year, CU Insurance Solutions will be holding a special Silent Auction with all proceeds to support Special Olympics Maine.  If your credit union would like to donate an item for the auction, please let us know!

Contact Us for More Info

To register as a delegate/alternate or guest at the CU Insurance Solutions 54th Annual Meeting, please contact Barbara Christy at bchristy@insurancetrust.us or complete the contact form below.

One of the biggest financial risks that both members and credit unions face is the fact that vehicles experience significant depreciation the minute they are driven off the lot. We know that GAP Waivers offer members protection against some of the risk of depreciation by helping to waive any remaining loan balance after the primary insurance settlement in the event of a total loss. However, GAP Waivers do not always help the borrower get back into a vehicle comparable to the one they originally purchased.  A few reasons for this are diminished market value, inflation and that primary insurance carrier settlements are often under book value.  Our partners at Frost have recently introduced a GAP enhancement that can increase the value of your GAP offering called the TotalRestart – Loyalty Membership Program.

How it Works

In the event of a total loss, TotalRestart pays up to $4,000 beyond the amount that GAP recovers. When members finance their auto loan through your credit union and purchase GAP coverage, they get the peace of mind of knowing they could get credit toward the replacement cost for a similar vehicle if theirs is damaged or stolen and deemed a total loss. Often times when a credit union finances less than 100% of the vehicle value, it isn’t easy to explain and demonstrate the potential GAP risk that might exist due to unexpected depreciation or poor primary carrier settlement values. Those loans, in particular, will benefit from TotalRestart protection, as the likelihood of receiving a benefit during the term of TotalRestart is even greater when the vehicle is not over-financed.  Credit unions offering TotalRestart have also seen an increase in GAP sales.  With the inclusion of the current $1,000 GAP Plus benefit, TotalRestart would allow your credit union to offer members up to $5,000 towards their next vehicle financed with you.

TotalRestart helps credit unions to:

• Provide a member benefit that goes beyond just paying off the loan.
• Differentiate your loan and GAP offering by promoting its added value.
• Increase member loyalty after a total loss as the reimbursement benefit is only available toward the financing of a replacement vehicle with YOU.

To learn more about TotalRestart, please complete the contact form below:

CU Insurance Solutions is proud to announce its new partnership with Dale Carnegie Maine.  The partnership will provide our Maine credit union partners with access to a Platinum discount on Dale Carnegie’s core programs.  The discount grants a 15% ($300) savings on these powerful training courses:

• The Dale Carnegie Course – A training process that improves company profitability by improving employee performance.
• Dale Carnegie Sales Training – This cutting-edge program trains sales professionals to build relationships that open more doors and encourages lasting client commitment.
• High Impact Presentations – Intensive training that concentrates on delivering a powerful and impactful presentation.
• The Leadership Advantage – This highly concentrated program focuses on primary management functions and communication skills development.

“Our agency is dedicated to providing comprehensive training resources to credit unions through our ongoing CU Insurance Solutions University initiative. We continually strive to provide new content that is dynamic and relevant for our credit union partners. We feel the Dale Carnegie courses will be a very beneficial addition to our yearly curriculum.” – David Baird President/CEO, CU Insurance Solutions

Dale Carnegie has over 9 million graduates and offers programs in over 80 countries and in 35 different languages worldwide.  Dale Carnegie graduates work in every industry and nearly every country and include employees from over 400 of the Fortune 500 corporations.  The training courses provide practical exercises are used to instill real-world solutions, and participants get the chance to interact in a positive environment. The Dale Carnegie objective is to gently, and persistently, support participants to move out of their comfort zones to achieve goals they have set for themselves.

To learn more about upcoming courses from Dale Carnegie Maine, click on the button below:

Please email CU Insurance Solutions Training Director Randy Judkins at rjudkins@inusrancetrust.us to receive the 15% ($300 savings) registration promo code. 

Over the past year, credit unions have seen an increasing trend in used vehicle loan delinquencies.  In a December 2016 article, S&P Global explained that at the end of the third quarter of 2016, used vehicle loans were the largest delinquent category for credit unions and accounted for $3.70 billion, or 28.41 percent of total delinquencies.  As a result of increased delinquencies, charge-offs and vehicle repossessions tend to go hand in hand.

It’s no secret that member vehicle repossessions are a difficult situation for credit unions in many ways.  It’s time-consuming, risky in terms of compliance and employees are left to play “auctioneer” to recover lost assets. And in many cases, credit unions take a substantial loss on the loan.  These issues have guided many credit unions to seek the solution of Auto Loan Protection to offset the risks of lending competitively.

Auto Loan Protection

Auto Loan Protection is a risk management program that helps credit unions to reduce losses on defaulted loans. The coverage is typically applied by lenders on C, D and E tier loans. The program purchases repossessed vehicles from lenders at higher values than auctions or bids. The program also provides a principal reduction payment to further reduce deficiency balances.  In this way, Auto Loan Protection can increase the profitability and yield of your auto loan portfolio.

How It Works

Loan Protection enables credit unions to protect loans by ensuring a predetermined depreciation amount that never changes due to market fluctuation or other factors. The vendor will purchase repossessed vehicles based on guaranteed vehicle values less collision damage, mechanical defects, or excess mileage. Purchase offers are consistently higher than auctions or re-marketers. Credit unions benefit from a 60% to 80% reduction of deficiency balances on repossessed vehicles.  The credit union simply defines the member group they wish to apply Auto Loan Protection to while continuing to make all underwriting decisions.

Helping More Members While Protecting Your Portfolio

Finding a solution to help offset costly charge-offs is something that our agency would recommend that all credit unions take advantage of.  Regulators and examiners commend credit unions for finding ways to proactively offset charge-offs while approving more loans.  The “buy here pay here” and “payday lenders” are steering your members toward high-interest auto loans every day! It’s important to have the ability to offer members with challenged credit a reasonable solution.  However, it’s also important to protect your assets and the profitably of your auto loan portfolio to ensure the continued success of your credit union.

To learn more about Auto Loan Protection, please complete the contact form below:

CU Insurance Solutions is pleased to announce our Spring Lending School presented by renowned credit union industry speaker, Brett Christensen.  This informative workshop will take place on April 5-6, 2017 at Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland, ME.  The lending school is split into two 1-day sessions. Day 1 is designed for CEOs and executive management and day 2 will focus on lending management and loan staff related topics. This event is part of our ongoing ‘CU Insurance Solutions University’ training initiative and semi-annual live lending school workshop.

Watch a clip from our 2016 Spring Lending School with Brett Christensen. 

Brett Christensen

Brett is the owner of CU Lending Advice, LLC based in Euless, TX and has worked directly with credit unions across the U.S. and Canada as an educator and consultant on focused lending topics for more than 10 years.  The 2-day lending school program that Brett has created is designed to provide specific advice and best practices that help to improve credit union lending processes and sales results as well as refresh lending expertise and explore the critical essentials for lending success. Prior to his experience as an educator, Brett worked for five years at Clark County Credit Union in Las Vegas, Nevada ($680 Million in assets) and has served in the United States Air Force as a Civil Engineering Officer.

Complete the form below to request registration info!

CU Insurance Solutions is excited to announce the newest member of our team, Tim Dalton.  Tim has been chosen for the position of Account Executive for Member Products.

Experience

With 8 years of credit union industry experience in various roles, ranging from financial services, operational management and departmental leadership, Tim comes to us with a strong understanding of both credit union operations and culture.  In previous positions, Tim assisted in several product implementations, developed procedures and held oversite of a successful department.  Tim also enjoys spending time with his 3 children.

Account Executive for Member Products

As Account Executive, Tim will work closely with our credit union clients in Maine as well as our strategic vendor partners.  His focus will be to provide support for our member products division which includes GAP, VSC, Credit Insurance/Debt Protection and more. We are delighted to welcome Tim to our CU Insurance Solutions team and feel that his valuable expertise will continue to enhance the business relationships between CU Insurance Solutions, its subsidiaries and their business partners and clients.

For a decade prior to the recession, used vehicles depreciated an average of 16% per year (NADA Q2 2015 Vehicle Equity). During the recession, vehicle depreciation dropped to a low of 5% annually in 2010-2011, thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program and plummeting new car sales numbers, and then rose back to 13% in 2012-2014, 14% in 2015, and 18% in 2016. Overall, depreciation rates are expected to average around 18% annually through 2017 as used vehicle supply continues to increase rapidly. However, as we saw with trucks and SUVs in the peak of the recession, compact and subcompact cars are seeing significantly worse depreciation. In fact, according to Black Book®, subcompact cars have depreciated 26.1% over the past 12 months. This represents the largest 12-month drop of any segment over the past 10 years.

A recent claim provides a clear example of the impact of this extraordinary depreciation. In April of 2013, a 2011 Volkswagen CC was financed for 75 months at 96% of the then NADA value of $22,200. Three years later, the vehicle was totaled, and with depreciation that averaged ~24% per year on a used vehicle, the loan still showed a deficiency of over $5,400.  While average depreciation among all segments might move up and down within a narrower band, individual segments and even particular vehicles can see dramatic swings in depreciation in response to ever changing market conditions and shifting consumer preferences.

The following graphs help illustrate the significant increase in GAP exposure as vehicle depreciation increases from a more typical 15% per year to a 25% annual depreciation rate that we have been seeing over the past 12+ months on smaller car segments. The areas shaded in blue represent the negative equity in the loan as reflected in the difference between the amortized loan balance and the expected value of the vehicle over the course of the loan at the given annual rate of depreciation. Not only does the number of months that the loan remains under water increase significantly, from 36 months to 56 months on this 72-month loan, but the amount of the deficiency during that period also increases substantially.

In addition to changing consumer preferences, higher incentive spending by manufacturers, and increased off-lease volume, the growth in Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) sales also drives greater depreciation in the used car market.  While CPO classification on used vehicles helps increase the market value of the vehicle at time of purchase from dealer lots, the value of the certification is all but gone six or 12 months later when the vehicle is back to being a standard used vehicle.  For example, a two-year-old vehicle sold as CPO may get a $1,500 boost in valuation at sale time only to see that benefit disappear within a year, creating exaggerated depreciation that includes the normal vehicle depreciation PLUS the $1,500 credit for CPO.  It is nothing more than having a short-term warranty that carries $0 value once the warranty has expired.

Top Factors Driving Increasing Vehicle Depreciation

• New car sales have increased to record levels
• Increased incentives by manufacturers to grow or maintain market share
• Dramatic rise in leasing is driving increase in supply of “off-lease” vehicles
• Changing consumer preferences
• Certified Pre-Owned

The impact of faster depreciation is significant – not only relative to the number of loans in a deficiency balance, but also in how it impacts negative metrics on loan portfolios.  An increased number of loans with a deficiency balance unquestionably drives higher GAP losses.  Having more loans under water and for a longer period of time greatly increases the potential for GAP claims.  Highlighting that impact, we have seen the average months from loan inception to GAP claim increase from a low of 13.3 months in 2014 to nearly 22 months in 2016.  This is a clear indication that more loans are staying under water for a longer period of time.

In addition to a dramatic jump in GAP claims, loan portfolios are slowly seeing the impact of strained car values.  First, lower car values today mean less equity (or more negative equity) for borrowers when they want to move out of their old car and into a new one.  Ultimately, that will contribute toward increasing average LTVs and longer loan terms. Importantly, less equity in vehicles also drives higher default rates – if not seen yet, it is on the near horizon. The probability of repossession is 10.3% when there is negative equity of just $2,000 and increases to 16.4% with negative equity of $5,000 (NADA Q2 2015 Vehicle Equity).

Information provided by Frost Financial Services | www.frostinsure.com

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