Investment Services Are Set to Launch at Gesa Credit Union

Gesa Credit Union is gearing up for the November launch of its first investment program.The $900 million Richland, Wash.-based credit union has tapped CUSO Financial Services LP to provide broker-dealer services and back office support. Gesa’s investment program is slated to launch in coordination with the opening of its 10th branch in November. It will have two financial consultants and one assistant. CFS said it is looking to hire another consultant for Gesa within the first couple of months.After reviewing about a dozen brokerage firms, Gesa went with CFS for its ability to provide a managed program and its credit union partnership experience, according to CFS. The program will fall under the management of Sandra deChastain, western regional program manager for CFS.Gesa President/CEO Christine Brown said it was important to have customer-facing modules that could be co-branded by the credit union to integrate investment and trading capabilities through online banking.“I knew the potential that an investment program has to add non-interest income to the bottom line,” Brown said. “But more important to me, our members were asking for this type of service.”In putting the logistics together to offer investment services, Brown worked with Above the Crowd Business Development Group, a San Diego management consulting firm founded by Mark Hoaglin, former president/CEO of XCU Capital Corp., a credit union-owned broker-dealer that was acquired by LPL Financial Institution Services in 2007. Brown and Hoaglin knew each other from her days as CFO at Xceed Financial Credit Union, which founded XCU Capital.–[email protected]