CUSO Financial Services Honors Top Financial Advisors and Programs at Annual Investment Conference

Tools

Technology and Back Office Resources Help Credit Unions Achieve New Levels of Production, Record-Breaking Months

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CUSO Financial Services, L.P. (CFS), a full-service broker dealer and SEC Registered Investment Adviser providing customized investment and insurance solutions to credit unions, recognized top investment advisors and programs at its annual user conference. The conference, themed “It’s a New Day 2011”, was held July 30^th to August 3^rd at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

According to CFS executives, continued challenges in navigating financial markets in 2009 and 2010 increased the need for stability, efficiency and education of financial advisors and investment clients alike. Looking for higher touch relationships with advisors, many investors chose to leave big bank brokerages and wire houses, creating great opportunities for credit unions offering investment and insurance services to their members. CFS responded to this flight to quality by adding to its management and back office resources to provide more support to investment programs. The company also enhanced technology offerings to help advisors provide expanded services and performance reporting to investors.

As a result, more than 15 CFS-affiliated investment programs achieved 50 percent or greater revenue growth in 2010, earning them the “Breakthrough” award, and many investment advisors had their best year ever. CFS also recognized 9 investment programs with “Keystone” awards, honoring the credit unions with the highest production per million dollars in total credit union assets.

The top program awards went to:

Nevada Federal Credit Union, which earned the “Rising to New Heights” award for its 111 percent year-over-year investment program growth
WyHy Federal Credit union in Wyoming won the “Rookie Program of the Year” award for having the highest GDC to total assets ratio of all new programs, those with CFS for less than 2 years
DFCU Financial received the “2010 Program of the Year” award for achieving the highest commission per advisor
Navy Federal Financial Group won the “2010 Pinnacle” award for the highest total production.

CFS recognized 72 individual advisors with its Gold, Silver and Bronze Pacesetters awards, indicating they had met CFS’s highest production standards. At the top, 31 of the company’s advisors achieved Gold Pacesetter status. Kevin McDermott from Citadel Federal Credit Union in Pennsylvania was awarded the “Pacesetter of the Year” honor while Pan Kwe from Wescom Financial Services in Pasadena, California, was recognized as the “Advisor of the Year.”

In addition, the company awarded 19 Silver Pacesetter awards to the next tier of top producers and rounded out the awards presentation by recognizing 22 Bronze Pacesetters. In all, the 72 Pacesetters represented roughly the top 20% of producers in 2010.

“Our advisors continued to prove themselves in 2010 and provided excellent service to their clients during this time of volatility,” said Valorie Seyfert, president and CEO of CFS. “Their commitment to increased education, regular reviews and dedicated support for their clients has earned them the business success they deserve. CFS partners with our credit unions to help them be more efficient and effective, so we are equally excited about their achievements. Our technology expansions, back office support and marketing tools resulted in increased credibility and growth for our investment programs, peace of mind for clients and, ultimately, growth for us as well.”

CFS has a longstanding reputation for investment program support, particularly in technology as the company’s web-based data management system, dataVISION®, is considered by many as one of the best in the industry. This year, the company added Albridge Solutions, Inc. performance reports to provide enhanced data management and wealth reporting solutions to advisors within the CFS network. The Albridge tools help advisors create customized reports for clients easily and efficiently. The firm is offering six months of the service to advisors free of charge to familiarize themselves with its capabilities.

About CUSO Financial Services, L.P.

Established in 1997, CUSO Financial Services, L.P. (Member FINRA/SIPC) is headquartered in San Diego and has more than 135 credit union users, including 25 of the top 100 credit unions in the country. With branch offices located nationwide, and more than 350 licensed representatives, CFS is a full-service broker/dealer and SEC Registered Investment Adviser offering customized investment and insurance solutions to credit unions. For more information, call 858-530-4400 or visit www.cusonet.com.