How Credit Unions Democratize Financial Wellness with Justin Steitz

Episode 043: In this episode, Kyle talks with Justin Steitz, President at Copper Financial. In his role, he leads sales, investment operations, compliance, and audits for the CommunityAmerica advisor channel and the broker-dealer business unit. Justin is dedicated to the credit union mantra of "people helping people" and focuses on giving back to the community. With a strong background in compliance, he is well-versed in the highly regulated wealth management industry. Before joining the Copper Financial team, Justin served as Chief Compliance Officer for Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc., where he led the effort to build an in-house broker-dealer.

Justin talks with Kyle about the unique challenges and opportunities of serving the credit union space. He highlights the importance of philanthropy and community in the credit union industry and how Copper Financial is dedicated to helping credit union members invest and improve their financial well-being.

Join us as we discuss:

• [01:47] - Copper Financial's philanthropic activities.
• [03:35] - Justin's money moment that led him to a career in wealth management.
• [06:40] - How Copper Financial creates investment programs for clients of all sizes.
• [11:42] - Why credit unions are lagging behind in digital adoption.
• [14:14] - What differentiates Copper Financial from other investment firms.
• [18:28] - The competitive advantages of credit unions over wealth management firms and private banks.
• [24:01] - The challenges and benefits of AI in the industry.
• [29:08] - Justin's thoughts on the future of wealth management and credit unions.
• [32:32] - Milemarker minute: must-see places in Kansas City, Chiefs' game vs Royals' game, and bucket list travel destination.

Key Takeaways

• Copper Financial provides investment programs for credit unions and is driven by the credit union mantra of "people helping people."
• The credit union industry is community-focused and emphasizes giving back to members and the community through philanthropy and financial literacy programs.
• Technology, including robo-advisors and self-directed trading, is driving the evolution of credit union wealth management.
• Credit unions have historically been slower to adopt digital technologies due to resource constraints. There is a growing need to compete with fintech companies and provide members with digital investment options.

Quotes

"It doesn't matter if it's $500 or $5 million, we're going to work with them. And that was my moment of 'I'm all in.' I build products and services for credit union members to invest in. I love to help people. And it went into that mantra of people helping people. Now, I get to do it in the industry I love and help change people's lives." ~ Justin Steitz

"We can be the entry point, not only digitally, and get you to start investing. Then, we have the financial advisors to grow and morph into. It's a one-stop shop." ~ Justin Steitz

"It comes down to survival of the fittest with the amount of technology that's in the space. You've got to be spending money on technology in order to compete, or a customer or a member is going to go somewhere else where they have that." ~ Justin Steitz

Links 

• Justin Steitz on LinkedIn
• Copper Financial
• CommunityAmerica Credit Union
• Robinhood
• Betterment