Archive for 'Business'
Secondary market for annuities comes under pressure
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by admin.
The nascent secondary market for annuities and their guaranteed benefits could be stunted as the result of a vote last week by state insurance regulators to allow carriers to terminate the annuity benefits if a client sells the contract. Last Monday, the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission, composed of the insurance regulators from 35 states [...]
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Expected about-face on placement agents invites criticism
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by admin.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s expected move to regulate placement agents as broker-dealers instead of prohibiting investment advisers from using them won’t curb influence-peddling, some critics say. After facing a storm of industry protest, the SEC is now looking at a regulatory solution to take the place of the ban that it originally proposed. But [...]
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Mixing friends, family with business is a danger
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by admin.
Clyde Wyatt managed his father’s money for about 18 months before he was abruptly dumped for another adviser: His own son Chris. “One day my father was asking some questions about investment options for some maturing certificates of deposit while my son was with me,” recalled Mr. Wyatt, managing director of Navigation Financial Group, which [...]
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Morgan Keegan’s legal fees are piling up
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by admin.
Facing intense pressure from securities regulators and investors, Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc.’s legal fees have skyrocketed during the past two years to $251 million, leaving some industry observers shocked. The firm’s legal costs are largely the result of defending itself from investor claims stemming from poorly performing bond funds that held toxic mortgage-backed securities. [...]
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Dodd seen scrapping fiduciary requirement for brokers in proposal
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by admin.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is expected to introduce new financial reform legislation this week that excludes applying a fiduciary standard to brokers offering investment advice. The provision was circulated three weeks ago by Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., a Banking Committee member. Rather than classifying certain brokers as registered investment advisers, his proposal [...]
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Roth conversions taking off in 2010
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by admin.
Upper-income investors are taking advantage of a change in the tax law and rushing to convert their traditional individual retirement accounts or old 401(k) plans into Roth IRAs, according to an informal survey of investment companies. New rules took effect Jan. 1 that allow those who earn more than $100,000 annually to convert to Roth [...]
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Lock ‘n’ load: Taking target funds tactical
Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by admin.
Against the backdrop of consumer outrage over huge losses in target date portfolios, a handful of big fund companies are revamping their target date offerings in hopes of limiting risk — and preventing another major blowup. AllianceBernstein LP, Van Kampen Funds Inc., Invesco Ltd. and Putnam Investments have all announced changes to their target date [...]
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Geller Group confirms Labor Department probe
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by admin.
The Geller Group LLC, a New York retirement plan administrator and registered investment adviser, has confirmed in internal memoranda that it is being investigated by the Labor Department. “The Department of Labor began an investigation of Geller Advisory Group in December to examine our third-party plan administrator and registered investment advisory business,” James English, head [...]
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B-Ds fight back against litigation on Reg D offerings
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by admin.
Two broker-dealers are coming out swinging against investors and securities regulators who are looking for redress over the sale of private placements that went belly up last year. Capital Financial Services Inc. and Securities America Inc. have been named in mass investor arbitration complaints over the sale of private placements, including Medical Capital Holdings Inc., [...]
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Fund companies are prepping bond investors for rising rates
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by admin.
Fearing a backlash from investors who are still piling into bond funds, mutual fund companies are rolling out sales and marketing campaigns to encourage investors to shift assets into other products. Rising interest rates are likely to cause a decline in bond fund values. But fund companies are afraid that investors will blame them for [...]
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Variable annuities asset leaders
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by admin.
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Senate bill stirs retirement plan lobby
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by admin.
As the Senate convenes this week to debate its version of a financial services reform bill, financial advisers and service providers working with retirement plans are trying to avert the possibility of coming under greater regulation by an existing or new government agency. In the reform bill passed by the House in December, a last-minute [...]
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Life insurers sue B-Ds over third-party VA sales
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by admin.
Two life insurers are suing a trio of broker-dealers, accusing them of fraudulently selling to third parties variable annuities with lucrative death benefits on terminally ill individuals. The broker-dealers, LifeMark Securities Corp., Fortune Financial Services Inc. and The Leaders Group Inc., are accused of fraud, unjust enrichment and negligence for processing variable annuities that investors [...]
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Advisers weigh benefits of new VA products
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by admin.
Now that the days of generous variable annuities are behind them, some advisers are finding ways to fit the revamped, slimmed-down versions into clients’ portfolios. The latest incarnations of variable annuities are attempting to balance advisers’ desires with insurers’ imperative to reduce risk and tamp down hedging costs. After designing living-benefit sweeteners in the early [...]
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Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. Traditionally, from antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, particularly agricultural debts and freeing of debt slaves. In the late 20th century it came to refer primarily to Third World debt, which started exploding with the Latin American debt crisis (Mexico 1982, etc.). In the early 21st century, it is of increased applicability to individuals in developed countries, due to credit bubbles and housing bubbles. Debt relief services are financial solution that is worth checking out.Real Estate Investment
If the property or properties you own happen to be located in Brisbane, Australia, you will need to take a great deal of care when hiring an expert to manage the property for you. Real estate is a big business and everyone seems to want to invest in real estate. You keep hearing a lot of stories about how people made a quick buck by investing in real estate.