Susan Hannigan
Title: Chief Financial Officer, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union
Age: 55
Experience: 33 years
Before she joined Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, Susan Hannigan had had one job, as a public accountant at Wolf & Co., where she spent 33 years after graduating from Stonehill College. In her time there, Hannigan saw lots of ups and downs in the Massachusetts banking scene. Now, she’s ready to tackle her newest challenge as Jeanne D’Arc’s newest CFO.
Q: You said you started thinking about a career change when your youngest daughter graduated from college – why Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union?
A: I think that what they were missing and what I had just melded together. I was really drawn to the credit union’s commitment to the community … the fact that they really do put their members first and trying to help them, trying to improve their financial conditions, educating them, helping various nonprofits move forward, whether they’re active in fundraising or active in boards that they’re on. The theme here is, “We have a common thread,” and it kind of builds off of the mills because we’re in a mill town [Lowell].
I think that’s what’s good about the credit union industry in general – they do want to give back, and they are looking to improve the overall financial literacy of everyone in [doing so]. Those are the pieces that really drew me here.
Q: You’ve described yourself as ‘a lifelong learner’ – what are you most looking forward to learning at the credit union?
A: You know, there’s a great emphasis on interest rate risk management and asset liability management and managing those risks in that interest rate risk environment … [Rates are] not going to go up tomorrow, but you have to be thinking about that constantly. That’s not an area where I have had a lot of experience. I haven’t had to do that as part of an audit, looking at interest rate management and how the decisions are being made in order to manage that properly.
To me, that is going to be a big challenge. It’s going to be something I will have to dig into more and learn more, so I think that that’s an important piece to the overall management.
Between interest rate risk management, asset liability management and compliance, I think those are the biggest concerns that I will be getting involved in here. Those are areas where in the next six months I’ll be revving up my engines to learn a little bit more about so we can be ready to address those issues and concerns.
Q: Coming into this role as somebody who’s previously had an outside role advising financial institutions, what do you anticipate in the way of challenges?
A: It’s one thing to be on the outside and you come in and do an audit, when you do an audit you can only drill down to a certain level. I think that what I will enjoy about working here is learning about all the different departments and how they’re integrating. It’s exciting to think about, how can we continue to grow and how can I help make that difference.
There are a lot of challenges coming up. The banking industry in general is competitive. There are tons of institutions out there, and we have many in our own footprint, whether they’re credit unions or banks. So I’m excited about contributing to managing the risks while still growing the credit union and helping to provide services to our members, so they can reach their dreams, too.
I’m excited that it’s something totally different. When you’re in public accounting, you’re with a client and you give as much as you can to them, but you have this little time period to get things done. You can provide suggestions and help, but you don’t get to turn around and help them implement that. I’m looking forward to that here. There are a lot of things I have to learn that excite me, as well as being able to bring my knowledge and share it with others here.
Susan Hannigan’s Top Five Plants For Summer:
- Gerber daisies
- Hydrangeas
- Lupine
- Peonies
- Coneflower
