ORLANDO, Fla. – With the number of new investment options available to members, credit unions have more options to penetrate their membership. "Whether it's Exchange Traded Funds, Index Annuities, Lifestyle Mutual Funds or Living Benefits in Variable Annuities, each have advantages and disadvantages," said Mark Warshauer, Financial Services Solutions Development Leader for CUNA Mutual Group, speaking at the Discovery conference here. He discussed many new investment products available to members, including Lifestyle Funds. "It's a broadly diversified mutual fund of other mutual funds, where professionals manage the allocation of underlying mutual funds. It's one example of an investment designed to reduce volatility, which some consumers find attractive," Warshauer said. Credit unions should also think beyond Baby Boomers when providing investment options, he suggested. "There is a significant population behind the Boomers. Gen X and Gen Y are also going to need financial services, and the size of those two generations is equal to the size of the Boomers." Why the "explosion" of investment options? Warshauer boiled it down to four basic reasons: * Technological capabilities: "We can do many more things now from a technical analysis and quantitative standpoint that were impossible to do five or 10 years ago." * Investor emotion: "The swing from greed to fear has been more dramatic in the last five years than it has been since the 1930s. The emotions consumers felt during the run-up and into the bust have led people to protect themselves from that risk, and some new investments have been designed to address that." * Money in Motion: "There is a great deal of liquidity in the marketplace today. Many would-be investors are still fearful of jumping into the market. It's somewhat related to the emotion, and investment advisors are trying to unlock that emotion. The first Boomers will begin to turn 60 in January." * Demographics: "Many companies are positioning themselves to address the generational wealth transfer that will occur in the next 10-20 years." [email protected]