TALLAHASSE, Fla. -
The new CUSO will be led by President Gregory Wirthmann and Peter Gibson, who will serve as director of investment advisory services. Gibson said while virtually every credit union in the nation has some type of investment and is usually looking for more, the average CEO or CFO is more attuned to running the credit union versus managing a complex and ever changing investment portfolio.
"We've received requests from credit unions to manage their portfolios. Their core competence is not in portfolio management. They say 'What investment is right for me? Just tell me to buy it and I'll buy it," Gibson said.
Wirthmann and Gibson told Credit Union Journal it's never that simple. Each credit union has unique goals, liabilities and levels of available cash. Southeast Corporate has offered services such as bond accounting and generating investment reports for staff or the board of directors for years, but Gibson said Accolade Investment is a recognition the need for a formal service to offer a full suite of asset-liability management, bond accounting and investment reporting services.
Accolade's methods will focus on the total rate of return for a credit union's portfolio versus a yield to maturity model, which in turn will help CUs get through various interest and liquidity cycle, Gibson said.
Gibson said Accolade Investment recognizes that credit unions aren't in the business of making investments and a large part of the CUSO's goals is to simply take the function of off the desks of CEOs and CFOs, allowing them to focus on operations, deposits, staff and most importantly, the membership. Gibson and Wirthmann compared the new CUSO's services to an individual saving for retirement: always save part of your salary but let a trained professional who enjoys the work worry about the daily details.
Wirthmann said credit unions who want to start their own investment management operations would be force to spend "six figures" to open for business, whereas Accolade Investment will leverage Southeast Corporate's existing analytic systems, infrastructure and experience. Wirthmann said he couldn't quote a set start up fee for Accolade services as the fee structure will vary by the size of the credit union and it's portfolio. "The benefits will offset the fee structure," Wirthmann added.
