2005 Press Releases
Pentagon Federal Credit Union Names FOLIOfn As Its Exclusive Online Brokerage Provider
10/17/2005
ALEXANDRIA and VIENNA, Virginia – Pentagon Federal Credit Union, the nation’s third largest credit union, and the Internet-based brokerage FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., today announced that FOLIOfn has become the exclusive provider of online brokerage and investment services for the credit union’s members. Pentagon Federal Credit Union has 650,000 members and is a product and service leader in the credit union industry. Its membership includes both active and retired U.S. Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security personnel and their families, as well as VFW members and their families.
“For many years we have searched to find the right provider of brokerage and investment services for our members, and we are very pleased to join forces with FOLIOfn,” said Pentagon Federal Credit Union CEO Frank Pollack. “They are a firm that understands and can support our mission of delivering best-in-class, high-value, easy-to-use services that are good for our members. FOLIOfn’s range of products and services meets the diverse investment needs of our membership—from the simplest and lowest-priced offerings for beginning investors to highly sophisticated ones for those who are more experienced,” Pollack said.
Through FOLIOfn, Pentagon Federal Credit Union members will be able to purchase a broad range of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and ADRs, as well as invest in “Folios”—diversified, customizable portfolios of individual securities that investors can select and manage on their own. FOLIOfn also offers “Ready-to-Go Folios®” — pre-built portfolios, based on various indices and investment styles, that contain up to 50 securities that investors can modify as they wish.
Pentagon Federal Credit Union members also can select from nine new “Mini Folios”—portfolios of between three and five ETFs each, with each portfolio representing an investing style, from short-term to long-term and conservative to aggressive. A simple-to-use FOLIO Wizard®makes it easy for investors to choose the Mini Folio that best fits their investment “personalities” and goals. Like other Folios, the pre-built Mini Folios can be customized by the investor. Pentagon Federal Credit Union members with less than $15,000 to invest can own a Mini Folio for a special price of $5.00 per month, with no minimum investment. The cost includes five commission-free trades per month.
“We believe these Mini Folios will be an easy way for many of our members to begin an investing program with a properly diversified portfolio,” Pollack said. “They will be able to build and control their investment portfolios over time, and they will be able to do it on a very cost effective basis.”
FOLIOfn requires no minimum investment because the firm’s patented brokerage system can trade securities—including ETFs, stocks and funds—in fractions of shares, allowing customers to invest any amount of money and have it spread over a range of individual securities that they choose, based on their own investment interests and risk profiles. FOLIOfn’s system enables investors who could not otherwise own a broad portfolio of individual securities to obtain the benefits of diversification, along with the customization and control over tax consequences that only come with ownership of individual securities. The system also enables one of the securities industry’s lowest trading costs.
“Our firm’s mission is applying technology to bring services to the market that enable better investing for all investors—the small ones as well as the large ones,” said Steven M.H. Wallman, CEO of FOLIOfn Investments’ parent company, FOLIOfn, Inc. “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to provide these benefits to Pentagon Federal Credit Union members.”
FOLIOfn is a leading provider of brokerage services to the credit union industry. The firm also delivers its services to this market through its alliance with CUNA Mutual Group, the primary supplier of financial services solutions to credit unions and their members, worldwide. Through its CUNA Mutual alliance, FOLIOfn makes its brokerage services available to the members of more than 1,000 credit unions.
About Folio Investing
Folio Investing, a division of FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., is an online brokerage that enables investors to manage stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds as integrated investment portfolios called “Folios” that deliver better control, greater transparency, and lower cost. Investors can create their own Folios, much like creating personalized ETFs or mutual funds, or invest in over 100 Ready-to-Go Folios representing market indices, sectors, geographical regions, target dates, and more. The Folio Unlimited Plan features unlimited commission-free trading in twice-daily windows for only $29 a month or $290 a year. Ready-to-Go Folios can be managed or unmanaged, are not registered investment companies, and are offered by FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., a registered broker-dealer. FOLIOfn Investments, Inc. does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice. FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., is a member of FINRA/SIPC.