Visions FCU creates risk-management role, hires Huff

ENDWELL — Visions Federal Credit Union (FCU) has hired a woman with more than 30 years of financial-services experience to serve in its newly created position of VP of risk management.

Darla Huff, whose experience includes a 15-year background in risk management, started in her new role on Dec. 3.

Having relocated from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Huff most recently worked as a senior director of operational risk management at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an asset-management firm owned by Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP).

About the role

As Visions’ chief risk officer, Huff is responsible for “strengthening” its regulatory-compliance efforts, information security, and fraud procedures, and vendor risk management. 

“Those are just some of the risk areas that I’ll be covering,” says Huff, noting it’s an “enterprise” risk-management role, meaning it focuses on every area risk. She spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 25.

Huff went on to explain that credit risk has always been part of the concerns for credit unions and banks, and that type of risk is easy to measure. If the institution makes a loan for $100,000 and the borrower defaults, the credit union or bank knows what it’s losing.

“But many other aspects of risk are not easily quantifiable,” Huff notes.

 She pointed to vendor risk management, noting that it’s “very difficult” to calculate that risk to the organization. Visions FCU has a vendor risk manager and other employees in risk roles throughout the organization.

“But they’re not brought together so that there’s a complete enterprise view, and that’s what I’m creating,” says Huff.

When asked for an example of risk involving a vendor, Huff mentioned computer software and how it handles personal data.

Regulators have “ramped up” their expectations about what they expect credit unions to do in managing their vendors and making sure their vendors are “appropriately” managing the information that they have access to,” says Huff.

Besides vendor risk, she calls cybersecurity “one of the biggest risks” in protecting people’s privacy and “personally identifiable information.” “That’s a key concern,” she says.

Working with Visions’ executive leadership, Huff also wants to help the credit union to maintain a “balanced risk/rewards framework.”

When asked to explain what that means, Huff says she wants Visions to focus on taking “measured risks.” “So, let’s try to find out everything we can up front and not have any surprises,” she adds.

For example, if Visions should purchase a new software program for transmitting member data, Huff says the credit union should know ahead of time if the product is secured and encrypted before the organization starts using it.

Visions Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Broome County, operates 51 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. It has about 200,000 members and 600 employees, according to its website. 

Established in 1966, the nonprofit Visions FCU offers traditional banking services such as checking and savings accounts, mobile and online banking, as well as auto, home, personal, credit card, and business loans. The credit union has $4.1 billion in assets. 

Tyrone Muse is president and CEO of Visions FCU and George Bobinski, Jr. is chairman of the credit union’s volunteer board of directors.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com