MERRIFIELD, Va. - This April marked the sixth anniversary of thelaunch of Navy Federal Financial Group and during that time, thesubsidiary serving one of the world's largest credit unionscontinues to build its repertoire to meet member needs. Thedivision of $25 billion Navy Federal Credit Union is actuallycomprised of investments, insurance, trust services, mortgagesettlements and now, its latest offering-Navy Federal BrokerageServices, which opened for business July 1. At the end of May, NFFGhad $473 million in investment assets under management and $877million in life insurance coverage enforced. The division also has27,000 active accounts, 150 employees and is headed by DennisGodfrey, president/CEO. Godfrey has guided NFFG since the divisionstarted and before then, he served as vice president of secondarymarketing in Navy Federal's mortgage department. There is no secretto NFFG's success, just good people who make it work day in and dayout, Godfrey said. "We have tremendous staff," he said. "We havestaff who've been here for 30 years and some that have just walkedin the door. All of them are creative and energetic." That energyhas led to Navy Federal being one of only a few credit unions tohave its own broker-dealer, which has the ability to serve in all50 states. Godfrey said it will continue to use CUNA BrokerageServices for back office functions. Twenty-two registeredrepresentatives and seven platform representatives make up NFFG'sbroker-dealer's staff. NFFG has spent the last 60 days transferringaccounts over from CUNA Brokerage. "When we started, we recognizedwe wanted to get into the [broker-dealer] business rather quickly,"Godfrey explained. "We really only wanted to serve our members.Sometimes, when you buy a broker-dealer, you have to bring in theirexisting clients." This year also saw the investment program goingfrom a managed account model to a dual-employee model so that repsare now employees under Navy Federal's umbrella. Reps are locatedin some of the credit union's larger services centers while creditunion employees at smaller outlets receive platform rep training.Godfrey said the goal is to have a rep in all of Navy Federal'sservice centers located in 22 states and the District of Columbia.The credit union is also coming up on its one-year anniversaryalliance with MEMBERS Trust Co., CUNA Mutual's national trustoffice. NFFG has $10 million in active trust accounts and severalhundred accounts that have designated the subsidiary as its trusteeupon death, the latter being especially important given the CU'sfield of membership which consists of mainly Navy and Marine Corppersonnel. Still, trust services have seen "moderate success,"Godfrey conceded. "We face the same things other credit unionsface-dealing with the perception that trust services are just forthe rich," Godfrey said. "But it's about what happens to theirmoney and their families in the future. You want to make sure youhave enough money for education or if you have a child with specialneeds." Given Navy Federal's military FOM, there are uniqueplanning and insurance situations above what other credit unionswould offer, Godfrey said. For instance, with its accidental deathand disability insurance product, there's a "narrowly defined warclause," which has helped many servicemen and women. There's lessof an exclusion for war so NFFG can offer more assistance whenthere are police actions. NFFG is also able to offer lower-costinsurance deals through an alliance with the Navy Mutual AidAssociation, Godfrey said. NFFG is sensitive to the sometimesinevitable aftermath that comes with those in the military servingin wartime, he emphasized. "A young widow with a family who hasjust received insurance papers, we will sit down and talk aboutgoals and objectives and suggest they come back in about four tofive months so that they have time to get settled," Godfrey said."In the mean time, we might advise putting money in a savingsaccount or CD until they get their feet on better ground." NFFG hasalso delved into one of the credit union industry's newestofferings-longterm care insurance, which covers the expensesrelated to a prolonged illness. In the 11 months the insurance hasbeen offered to members, Godfrey said it has proven to be verypopular, in part, because it can offer rates better than governmentplans. While in demand from some members, offering such insurance"is very involved," and there are "a lot of moving pieces." Anotherinsurance offering going over well is a discount auto programthrough Geico Insurance. Members can qualify for an 8% discount.NFFG is also in the process of signing contracts to offerhomeowner's insurance. "It's taken us a long time to negotiate acontract on this because most companies want both home and car. Wehave such a great relationship with Geico," Godfrey said. NFFGwanted to continue along that path with the auto insurance giant.Besides dedicated staff, Godfrey said integration has also beenanother key to NFFG's success. Navy Federal's employees "feelcomfortable" recommending products and services offered by thesubsidiary. More importantly, everything is backed with impeccableservice, he pointed out. "It doesn't do any good to sell a mutualfund to a member and then ignore them," Godfrey said. "We've beenoffering a good product with a good price and great service. We maynot always have the best price but we back it all with greatservice." [email protected]