CUNA Mutual Group announced that its Executive Benefits Program for credit unions recently reached the $3 billion milestone in assets under management.
The program, which is now marking its 20th anniversary, serves more than 1,200 credit unions with plans for more than 3,800 executives. In the past five years, assets under management have more than doubled, from $1.3 billion at year-end 2013 to more than $3 billion today.
“Non-qualified deferred compensation plans have provided credit unions a great opportunity for many years to supplement the compensation and retirement income of their executive teams in an effort to support leadership continuity,” said Bruce Bauer, CUNA Mutual Group’s senior executive benefits specialist. “Our AUM keeps growing as more credit unions add executive benefit plans and total benefit pre-funding. They have also discovered the exceptional value in using non-703 investments to fund a charitable donation account to provide additional contributions to local charities and foundations, such as the National Credit Union Foundation.”
CUNA Mutual Group also said the benefits program has a 97 percent retention rate, which allows invested funds to continue growing.
“Customers stay with us because of the service and credentialed support we provide in the fiduciary and compliance components of our plans,” Bauer added.
The company is also now leveraging its expertise in new excise tax planning, which requires “understanding, strategy and collaboration with a credit union-knowledgeable attorney.”
“We began our total benefits pre-funding plan in 2012 with the help of CUNA Mutual Group,” said David Solis, chief financial officer at the $2.7 billion GECU of El Paso, Texas. “They recommended a funding program to include business-owned life insurance and a managed investment account through their vendor, City National Rochdale. For six years, the funding program has allowed GECU to offer a robust total benefits pre-funding plan for its employees.”
