Success Stories

A commonly asked question we're asked frequently is: "Does your model really work, for your business, your members and your partners?" Here's one example of how the First West model helps everyone succeed.

A partnership investment that pays dividends

The situation
In early 2008, Valley First Credit Union and Envision Financial began a journey to form First West Credit Union—a completely unique way of offering financial services in Canada. While Valley First and Envision would retain their local brand identities, executive team and decision-making following the merger, each organization would also gain the financial benefits of being part of a larger organization.

As merger talks progressed between Envision and Valley First, it was also an opportune time to re-evaluate each credit union’s back office wealth management platform.
 

First West’s anticipated growth meant the organization required a wealth management supplier with a wide selection of products, dynamic platform and technology solutions, and hands-on support as the organization expanded and added other credit unions to its operating model.
 

The solution
In October 2008, Valley First made the decision to transition to Qtrade Financial Group, and Envision followed suit in May 2009. Along with strategic partner First Calgary Savings in Alberta, the credit unions were able to negotiate with Qtrade as a three-way buying group—allowing for pooled volumes and greater revenue lift as a result of their combined revenue and assets.
 

Wins for First West & our members

According to David Lanphear, Envision’s assistant vice-president of wealth management at the time, the benefits of transitioning to Qtrade were relatively immediate. “Take, for instance, the account opening process for mutual fund sales staff. It was reduced from 50 minutes with our previous supplier to about 17 minutes with Qtrade. That’s a huge time savings for our members, and it’s also a win for our advisors, since they could spend more time identifying sales opportunities.”
 

“Our members also experienced enhanced investment statements, online access to account information and more robust planning advice thanks to Qtrade’s integrated financial planning software.”
 

Other quantitative benefits to First West included:

• By May 2010, the combination of revenues for Valley First and Envision increased the percentage of revenue retained from the dealer. This increased from 77.8% and 82% respectively with Credential to 83.1% for First West Credit Union through Qtrade.
• Based on 2009 revenue totals, this represented an increase in revenue of 5.3% for Valley First and 1.1% for Envision.
• Costs to the credit union have been reduced in some areas, as the move to Qtrade’s AdvisorWeb platform allowed the organizations to eliminate subscriptions to previously required tools.
   

Wins for our partner

In its first year of the partnership, Qtrade gained assets in the amount of $900 million, with associated annual revenues in excess of $1.5 million in relation to overall revenues (with incremental growth expected each year). But as Qtrade CEO Scott Gibner explains, the benefits of working with organizations like First West are exponential.

“Although we have one contract with First West, in reality we’re dealing with a larger book of business because there’s two organizations. And as First West develops its plan to grow and add more credit unions to its operating model, we’ll also earn a share of that growth. So when First West grows, its vendors and suppliers do as well—and that’s the beauty of this model.”