The number of affluent who turn to their credit union or bank for their investment and insurance needs is low, according to a Prudential Financial study.

Members and customers who purchase investment and insurance products where they bank have on average $348,000 of investable assets, which is 84% more than financial assets held by other bank customers and members. However, only two out of every 10 of the affluent have purchased these products from their bank or credit union, Prudential Financial said.

“The Value of an Investment and Insurance Customer to a Bank,” a study by Kenneth and Christine Kehrer and Peter Bielan, culled responses from 4,374 households and 1,500 affluent households.

Consumers who have purchased an investment or insurance product from their primary credit union or bank have checking account balances that are 16% higher than households without a brokerage or insurance relationship, according to the study.

Investment and insurance customers are 34% more likely than other households to stay with their current financial institution even if they receive better offers, the study revealed. By contrast, selling the typical customer additional banking products did not yield meaningful increases in customer loyalty.

Brokerage customers have savings account balances that are on average 85% higher than non-brokerage customers.

The data also showed that brokerage and insurance customers have more than twice as many credit products and 11% more remote banking products than customers who have not purchased an investment or insurance product from their primary credit union or bank.

“The research confirms that the number of products is much less important than the type of product in predicting how sticky a customer is likely to be,” said John Gies, vice president and national sales manager, Prudential Annuities. “Nevertheless, banks and credit unions have a significant opportunity to redeploy resources and cross sell strategies.”

Instant Insights /

Affluent Look Elsewhere for Investments, Insurance, Survey Shows

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