Credit union brokerages that currently lag behind their bank counterparts can improve their investment sales performance by hiring more financial advisors and getting them more referrals, according to the 2007 Kehrer-LIMRA Credit Union Brokerage Study.
The study, now in its second year, shows that investment sales programs in credit unions have lower financial advisor productivity, slightly lower revenue penetration relative to their size, and thinner margins on that revenue than bank brokerage programs.
But some credit union brokerages have outstanding levels of advisor productivity and compare favorably with the revenue and profit penetration of brokerage programs in banks of similar size.
According to Kelly Haskins, managing director of Kehrer-LIMRA, credit union brokerage appears to have achieved better integration with the host institution than bank brokerages.
Haskins noted that credit union brokerages see financial advisors as their growth engine, while banks are more likely to see growth coming from a balance of financial advisors and platform banker sales forces.
This second annual Credit Union Brokerage Study included data from 51 credit unions, ranging in size from $169 million in member deposits to $24 billion.
