Does Your Risk Appetite Include Boxing Tyson?

Does your risk appetite include getting in a boxing ring with Mike Tyson for two rounds in exchange for $2 million?

Would you do it for $5 million if he had one arm tied behind his back?

This fun—or terrifying! —example is one way to start to think about risk appetite, as Ancin Cooley explains in the CUES Podcast Episode 29. Cooley, principal of Synergy Credit Union Consulting, recently joined me to talk about this topic.

He recommends that your credit union start its strategic planning process by defining its risk appetite. This will allow you to better define your CU’s growth goals and strategies.

Some of the key takeaways from my interview with Cooley include:

1. the value of developing risk appetite statements;
2. the benefits of utilizing risk appetite statements when developing your strategy;
3. identifying the timeline and schedule for developing these statements; and
4. and worst-case scenarios if credit unions decide there’s no need to develop these statements.

Listen now.

James Lenz is CUES’ professional development manager.