Georgia Credit Union Pitching Investment Software Package

A $318 million-asset credit union has become the first financial institution to offer personal investment software marketed under the brand of Inc. magazine.

Lockheed Georgia Employees' Federal Credit Union will soon begin pitching the Personal Market Analyst software to its 70,000 members in monthly statement stuffers and a quarterly newsletter, said Ellen K. Hartsock, director of marketing.

The Marietta-based credit union also expects to promote the software through direct mailings to likely users of the product, Ms. Hartsock said.

The co-marketing agreement was announced last week by Ben Ezra, Weinstein & Co., the Albuquerque firm that developed the software.

Michael Weinstein, the firm's chief operating officer, said he hopes other credit unions will agree to market the product. "We certainly have implications that it won't be the last," he said.

Personal Market Analyst is meant to let investors compare finances of 6,000 companies listed on the Nasdaq National, American Stock Exchange, and New York Stock Exchange. Quarterly or annual updates are available on CD- ROM. In addition, the software explains the investing process and its risks.

"We believe it has the same tools that the big Wall Street houses have, and you have that right at your fingertips," Ms. Hartsock said. "We just thought it would be an excellent resource for a certain segment of our membership, as a guide in making financial and investment decisions."

Lockheed credit union members would get the software at a discount. Neither the credit union nor the software developer would disclose the price or the amount of the discount. But Mr. Weinstein said Personal Market Analyst would be "very affordable," costing about the same as dinner for a family of four at Denny's.

The program, which initially will be bundled with Quicken personal finance software, will probably be available by late August or early September, he said.

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