Editor's Note: Since this story was originally reported, Patelco Credit Union said a filing error has been corrected, and that the correct 2018 compoensation figure for CEO Erin Mendez should be $935,065.
WASHINGTON—The average compensation for CEOs at large state-chartered credit unions with at least $1 billion in assets was $1,030,696 for 2018.
This is the fifth consecutive year in which the average compensation topped $1 million, reported Keith Leggett, the former senior vice president and senior economist at the ABA.
Doug Ferraro, CEO of the $5.4-billion Bellco CU in Greenwood Village, Colo., topped all state-chartered CU CEOs with $3.6 million in total compensation, according to Leggett’s findings.
The median total compensation for 2018 was almost $838,372.
Total compensation includes base salary, bonus and incentives, other reportable income, retirement and deferred compensation, and nontaxable benefits. Compensation information was obtained from Schedule J of Form 990s filed by state chartered credit unions with at least $1 billion in assets, Leggett stated.
Leggett noted that during his research, Form 990s for 2018 were not available for the following credit unions: Municipal Credit Union (New York), Canvas Credit Union (Colorado), Rogue Credit Union (Oregon), and Cobalt Credit Union (Iowa).
Self-Help Credit Union in North Carolina filed a Form 990, but did not publish Schedule J, Leggett said.
Sixty-three CEOs reported total compensation of at least $1 million. The following table lists the 10 highest compensated large state-chartered credit union CEOs.
Mean and median base compensation was $552,498 and $525,599, respectively. Seven CEOs had a base pay in excess of $1 million. The CEO with the highest base salary was Madison-based $3.5-billion University of Wisconsin CU's Paul Kundert at $1,915,557, Leggett said.
Mean and median incentives and bonuses were $172,853 and $118,419, respectively. Most large state chartered CU CEOs received some sort of incentive or bonus compensation, Leggett said.
“Compensation information for CEOs at federal credit unions was not available as federal credit unions are not required to file Form 990s,” Leggett said.