The shrinking quartile (averaging -1.27% growth) has a 11.52% net worth ratio. The fastest-growing quartile (averaging 14.37% growth) has 11.62%. Fast growers are at least as well-capitalized as shrinkers — possibly more so.
All 1,809 federally insured US credit unions with $100M+ in assets, split into asset-growth quartiles. Outcome: net worth ratio at the latest quarter.
| Asset-growth quartile | Avg (asset-growth quartile) | Range | Credit unions | Avg net worth ratio | Median net worth ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 — shrinking / flat | -1.27% | -27.33% – 1.99% | 453 | 11.52% | 10.58% |
| Q2 — slow growth | 3.60% | 1.99% – 5.01% | 452 | 11.84% | 11.28% |
| Q3 — medium growth | 6.48% | 5.02% – 8.13% | 452 | 12.11% | 11.46% |
| Q4 — fast growth | 14.37% | 8.15% – 145.19% | 452 | 11.62% | 10.98% |
The intuition that fast growth eats capital — "every dollar of new assets needs to be backed by net worth" — would predict net worth ratio falls as growth rises. The 2025 data shows the opposite pattern: net worth ratio is broadly flat across growth quartiles, and the fastest growers are slightly better-capitalized than the slowest.
Causation likely runs the other way. CUs that are well-capitalized have the regulatory room to grow aggressively, and CUs that are capital-constrained pull back from lending and member acquisition. Fast growth isn't depleting capital — strong capital is enabling growth.
Practical implication: if you're holding back growth because you're worried about capital, the data doesn't support that worry. The fast-growing cohort isn't operating on thin capital — they're operating on healthy capital and putting it to work. The CUs that should worry are the shrinking ones; they're losing share without the capital cushion advantage they should be earning.
Tudovu Research is published from NCUA call-report data via CU Growth Plan. New analysis each quarter as fresh data lands.
Tudovu's Industry Data Explorer runs this same analysis on a custom peer set — pick the asset tier, state, charter type, or specific competitors and we'll show you where your CU sits in the curve.