Addison Avenue FCU Cements Acquisition of Essex National Securities

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Through its subsidiary, Addison Avenue Financial Partners, LLC, Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union has finalized the purchase of Essex National Securities, Inc. an investment services broker/dealer. Napa, Calif.-based ENSI was founded more than 15 years ago by Essex Corp., and provides investment products and services to two credit unions and 31 banks as a full-service broker/dealer. The transition should be seamless to ENSI's current clients in large part because ENSI uses Pershing, LLC, the same clearinghouse Addison Avenue uses, said Scott Davis, former president and CEO of Addison Avenue Financial Partners, who has been named as ENSI's president and CEO. The company announced the purchase finalization on March 7. The acquisition means the CU will end its six-year relationship with CUSO Financial Services, LP, sometime in the third quarter. The broker-dealer worked with the $1.7 billion Addison Ave FCU to build its investment program to more than $10 million in revenue as of 2005, according to CFS. Davis, who previously served as president of ENSI for four years, said the broker/dealer has an "an excellent ordering and sales tracking system" to "leverage Addison Avenue's technology expertise to develop it into a state-of-the art processing and front-end system for clients." Three new senior vice presidents will join Davis at ENSI: Keith Weber, former Addison Avenue Financial Partners national sales manager, as ENSI's managing director of sales, marketing and training; Bill Wade as managing director of new business and client relations; and John Cooney as managing director of compliance and operations.