Credit Union Management

A decline in satisfaction with their employers going back two years appears to be shifting among financial advisers.

Offered online for the first time ever, CUNA Mutual Group's 2010 Discovery Conference on Nov. 3 included virtual sessions on spotting and leveraging consumer trends for growth, evolving to meet consumer expectations and more.

A lively chat session on how credit unions can identify innovation opportunities involved almost always asking members what they want and the challenge of convincing reluctant boards.

Gen Y is going to be spending $2.45 trillion annually by 2015, and credit unions that want a piece of the pie will have to look at their lending product offerings to see whether they match young people's needs and expectations.

Joe Sullivan, CEO of Market Insights, has a simple message for credit unions--evolve or die.

Credit unions must focus on Gen Y 101--products and services--before they can worry about Gen Y 201, marketing.