THE WOODLANDS, Texas — More credit unions are offering supplemental executive retirement plans as a means to retain top executives.

According to a D. Hilton Associates Inc. survey of executive retention and retirement plans in the credit union industry, more than 56% of credit unions with assets of $200 million or more offered their CEO a SERP and 47% of all credit unions that offered their CEO a SERP also offered other executives the opportunity to participate. In 2005, 20% of CEO respondents who had been at their jobs for less than three years reported that their board provided them with a SERP, compared to 2003 when no one at that level was offered this benefit.

"The increased use of SERPs highlights their function as a key retention tool, and as a form of additional compensation for continued excellence," said Debbie Hilton, executive vice president at D. Hilton Associates. "As SERPs become a mainstream part of executive retirement packages, the need for firms that can design supplemental packages, will not be needed."