Credit unions that want toincrease revenue should look toward investment and insuranceproducts, attendees of CUNA Mutual Group's fourth-annual Online Discovery Conferencewere told Tuesday.

In addition to providing good member service, such products area good source of non-interest income.

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“Growing your credit union's investment program is not only goodbusiness, but it's good for business,” said conferencespeaker Hendrix Niemann, managing director of practice and wealthmanagement services for CUNA Brokerage Services.

According to recent Raddon Financial Group research, creditunions lose an average of $165 on CDs but make an average of $177providing investment products to their members.

This means converting CDs to investment accounts can potentiallyresult in a substantial increase to bottom-line revenue, whilesimultaneously improving the capital ratio, Niemann told onlineattendees.

Currently, credit unions only attract around 3% of theirmembers' investment dollars, while 46% of members have investmentaccounts elsewhere. According to Raddon research, 54% of membersdid not know if their credit union offered an investment program,and 16% were not aware of their credit union's investment program,making marketing such programs paramount, he added.

However, a recent Kehrer Saltzman & Associates study found that members whopurchased credit union investment and insurance products were 40%more loyal than those who did not, and were two-thirds more likelyto consider the credit union their primary financialinstitution

“The importance of this 'stickiness factor' cannot beoveremphasized,” said Niemann. “Offering an investment program willlock in additional revenue for many years to come, and it'sbeneficial for members, too.”

Niemann told session attendees that older members need to be educated on retirement income planningand healthcare planning, while younger members need help gettingstarted with investing.

“Who's going to give your members sound financial advice if youdon't?” Niemann asked. “Credit unions need to start treating theirinvestment programs as core products.”

Online Discovery is an annual, free conference sponsored by CUNAMutual Group that this year attracted a national and internationalcredit union audience of more than 1,300, the company said.