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NACUSO Partner Spotlight: Mike Haggerty

PART ONE: Life Story and Experiences

 

What’s your current position and can you give us a brief overview of what it is you do in your work?

I serve as President/Chief Operating Officer of CommunityAmerica CUSO One, LLC (CUSO One), and President of Copper Financial (CuFi). CUSO One is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CommunityAmerica Credit Union, providing white-labeled, full service financial, wealth, and mortgage services to credit unions across the nation and members all over the world. CUSO One also serves as the innovation lab for CommunityAmerica, a member centric team developing products and solutions to ease member pain points enabling their path to financial peace of mind.

 

What would you say most motivates you to do what you do? What are you most excited or passionate about?

The credit union mantra of “people helping people” motivates me. I grew up 1 of 10 kids, and we were dirt poor. We had an amazing family, but financially we obviously weren’t in a good position, so I love that credit unions really focus on serving the underserved. Helping those who have similar upbringings or chapters in their lives that are similar to mine is something I’m passionate about.

 

We want to hear the story of how you came to work with credit unions. What attracted you to work for CommunityAmerica CUSO One, LLC (CUSO One) and Copper Financial (CuFi)?

My experience with credit unions dates to right before college. Missouri Central Credit Union hired me in the summer after I graduated high school as a teller, and I sort of became a jack of all trades. One thing that was really amazing about it was that any time I had a week or so off, they would let me come back in and get some hours. Since I paid for college 100% out of my own pocket, this job helped me focus on school while I was at school, and when I had time, pick up hours to help me offset the costs of school. It was a terrific experience and I worked with a lot of great people. Even though it was a smaller credit union, the mission was aligned with those of larger credit unions, like CommunityAmerica.

Later, I was in Wealth Management at a firm that was making headlines for all the wrong reasons. I ultimately loved what I was doing, which was helping people get on a path to financial peace of mind, but not who I was doing it for. So, I got connected with CommunityAmerica, who was looking to bring their investment program in-house and hire advisors (these had been previously fully outsourced). I talked to the person who was responsible for hiring the advisors and starting the program. It served a multitude of my desires at the time which was to continue to practice financial planning but to do so away from the umbrella of a large multinational organization, “focus on profits not people” stuff. Plus, the opportunity to get to work with all of the members.

 

Now if we can go even further back, where did you grow up and what was it like living there? Where did you go to school?

I grew up in Independence, Missouri in a small, 3-bedroom house, with 12 people, and probably 47 animals (*laughs*). My mom was a huge animal lover and I’m pretty sure every stray knew how to get to our house. Where we lacked in money, possessions, and belongings, we made up for in love, togetherness, and our family bond. At the time you wish you had this or that, but in hindsight I wouldn’t change a thing about how I grew up.

I went to Catholic schools all growing up and eventually ended up at the University of Missouri.

 

Who were your mentors along the way? People who deeply influenced who you are, what you believe in and what you’re committed to in your work and life? Tell us about them.

I had a few mentors along the way, and it starts with my parents. They armed me with a moral compass, first and foremost.

Later, I was a kid, 24 years old, at Smith Barney in a training program where the average age of a new wealth advisor was 39. A guy named Jerry Kroenig gave me a shot. We had similar backgrounds, but he saw something in me and really helped groom me through the initial stages of financial planning.

Now, Mike Patrick in the credit union space, gave me a shot to go from an advisor to a leader and program manager of the investment program. He’s served in the mentorship capacity ever since.

 

Finally, can you share something interesting about you that would surprise our readers? It can be anything, a hobby, an adventure, sports, the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?

Personally, I’m not much of a golfer, but the second time I ever went out playing, I hit a hole-in-one. I was with a friend and knew I hit it up this hill pretty well, but when we got to the green we couldn’t find it. We looked all over for it and finally my friend said, “Maybe we should look in the hole?” And wouldn’t you know, there it was! (*laughs*)

 

 

PART TWO: The Business Story

 

Tell us the story of how your CUSO/company was created – the early days. Tell us about some of the memorable characters in the history, some that brought your story color, drama, comedy, conflict?

We originally started the investment CUSO individually and later moved into the credit union in 2004. We ultimately moved it back in 2014 when we started our own broker/RIA. People who are still involved with the credit union were big backers from the beginning including Dennis Pierce, Jeff Kline, and CommunityAmerica CEO Lisa Ginter.

 

What were the key relationships that mattered most? What were the key sources of support or resistance you encountered?

Early on, from the top/down we had support, support from the CEO and even to the branches and contact center. This was critical to me because if you look at just the investment CUSO alone, it helped pave the way for our tremendous success. We got siloed sideways for a period of time, but since Lisa has been CEO, Tim Saracini as board, and me as the leader of the CUSO and aggregate, we’ve done a really nice job of breaking down those silos.

I truly believe you have to view every offering through the lens of the member – it doesn’t matter if it’s offered through the credit union, CUSO, whatever – you have to figure out what’s best for the member. The organizational structure is a reflection of that because we now have a member-first focus and it’s not just what you say but what you do.

 

What have been the greatest successes in your opinion?

For us, our CUSO isn’t just about how we can support CommunityAmerica members, but how can we help the industry as a whole. We have a Mortgage CUSO that helps multiple loaners, a Wealth Management CUSO which brings a different viewpoint of offering investments to members by breaking down the barriers to spending – something I don’t think has been done really anywhere else in this space. And we’ve created the Innovation Lab which has created award-winning tools to help members and non-members in their financial journeys. Even our Insurance Agency, which is in its infancy, has been extremely well adopted by member base, especially in comparison with other agencies at the same stage.

 

 

PART THREE: Reflections and Lessons

 

If you could start your CUSO/company all over again, would you do anything differently? Why and what would you do?

Even though it wasn’t the start, I think the previously mentioned “silo approach” is a portion in our CUSO history that I would change. I think if we had our shared servicing model that we have today we would be so much further ahead of where we already are.

 

Finally, when you think of the future for credit unions, what gives you hope and what makes you concerned?

I’ve heard it said previously that “it’s no longer about just leaving your mark by writing a check.” These younger generations want to roll up their sleeves and make an impact that goes far beyond financial resources. That’s exactly what credit unions are all about. It’s not necessarily about profits, it’s about the impact we make on the communities we serve. I think there’s great alignments with the shifts you’re seeing, and culturally what credit unions have always been about. I think this will present a terrific opportunity for credit unions going forward.

I think that CUSOs no longer being our best kept secret is our biggest concern.  Credit Unions can’t do it all on our in own order to compete with much larger institutions. The best way to achieve the cooperative model is through CUSOs. I also think we’re facing competition from the non-traditional competitors that are bringing new schemes to the table. Regulations can tend to be reactive rather than proactive so making sure both traditional and non-traditional financial institutions are playing by the same rules will be important going forward.