CARLSBAD, Calif. – XCU Capital Corp. has aligned with Curian Capital LLC to offer managed accounts. XCU Capital, a credit union-owned securities broker, will use the program to offer institutional asset management at account sizes that represent their typical depositor base. "The steady growth in the managed accounts market caused us to examine how XCU could maximize this opportunity," said Mark Allen, president/CEO, XCU Capital. "During our exhaustive due diligence, we discovered Curian and believe its program will be a welcome addition to the products currently on our platform." Denver-based Curian Capital is an indirect subsidiary of the United Kingdom's Prudential plc, a international financial services group with $267 billion in assets under management. Curian is a registered investment advisor provider of fee-based managed accounts and investment products. Historically, these accounts have been locked out of the separate account world, said Kevin Garrow, Curian Capital vice president, banking and financial institutions. "Only larger financial institutions could offer such a program, and then almost exclusively to their affluent customer base," Garrow said. Indeed, most managed accounts require a minimum account balance of $100,000, according to Cerulli Associates, a Boston research firm. Managed accounts amassed nearly $827 billion in assets this year, according to Cerulli, up from $758 billion a year ago. Similar to mutual funds that offer bonds, stocks or a mix of other assets, managed accounts generally allow investors to tailor their investment to keep taxes lows, to exclude certain stocks and instant access to their portfolio manager. Some of the features of the Curian managed account program include custom portfolios that combine suitability questionnaires, asset allocation preferences, and institutional asset management; a scaleable platform that can serve the needs of retail brokerage, private banking, or trust firms by offering these services with an account minimum of $25,000. Allen said partnering with Curian will allow XCU's credit unions to "get in the managed accounts market fast – much faster than we ever anticipated getting there." Owned by 13 credit unions, XCU Capital has more than $1.2 billion in assets under administration providing services to 24 credit unions nationwide. [email protected]