Brokers’ Economic Interests

The article about credit unions’ future investment options (“Natural Person CUs Plunge Into DIY Investing,” Feb. 9 issue) correctly asks, “Who can you trust?” To a large degree, credit unions are currently placing their trust in firms, such as brokers, whose economic interests are contrary to their own. But the advice of someone compensated to sell you products can’t replace the need to have someone in your corner. Credit unions now have the choice of building those capabilities internally or, as the article suggested, minimizing their internal investment while gaining the same advantages by using a registered investment adviser.

The costs associated with building resources internally are substantial, as the lack of a transparent fixed-income marketplace requires the addition of experienced personnel with the appropriate systems. These investments have become cost prohibitive for all but the largest credit union investors. The remaining credit unions, which still have reasonably large concentrations in investments, are then left in limbo, relying on relative value guidance from sales people, gleaning advice from the popular media and without the necessary operational resources to ensure their liquidity is being used most effectively.