Eight years after dropping mutual funds from its list of products, Western Financial Savings Bank has jumped back into the game.
The $3 billion-asset thrift, based in Irvine, Calif., says it had little choice. Western Financial had watched customers steadily take money from certificates of deposit and move it into mutual funds, said Terrance P. Mungon, senior vice president for retail banking.
A Defensive Move
"The primary reason we did this was as a defensive move rather than an offensive move," Mr. Mungon said.
Since March, the thrift has been offering five fund families though a broker-dealer affiliate, Westplan Investment. The funds are available at 26 retail offices throughout California.
The five families are Franklin, American Funds, American Capital Funds, Oppenheimer Funds, and the Fidelity Advisor Group. So far, sales have totaled about $500,000.
Sales Reps Spread Thin
In its earlier push in mutual funds - in the mid-1980s Western Financial used a marketing firm, GNA Corp., to sell funds to its customers. But the effort was unsuccessful.
Not only was the market unready for mutual funds, but GNA's program had sales representatives spread among two or three branches, Mr. Mungon said.
As a result of a training program, most branches now have two officers who can sell funds, said Rhonda Brouillet, assistant vice president of operations and compliance at Westplan.
Some customers have already asked sales representatives what days they would be in the branch, Ms. Brouillet said. The fact that they are always available gives the customers comfort, she said.
The thrift is considering a plan to offer variable annuities to its customers as well, Ms. Brouillet said.
Mr. Moore is a freelance writer based in Vassalboro, Maine.
