Alternative investments

Even as Build America Bonds continue to transform municipal finance, one thing stays constant: hedging a portfolio of muni securities remains very difficult.

NEWARK, N.J.--American corporations and households are tidying up their debt to get their financial house in order.

An age-old standard, gold, was one of the most touted alternative investments at the Morningstar 2010 Investment Conference in Chicago last month.

It might seem strange to bring up reverse mortgages in a space dedicated to the lives of Baby Boomers.

Under the theory that lucrative investment opportunities like alternative energy will be more likely to spring from overseas markets, Fidelity Investments is positioning its 20-year-old environmental energy mutual fund right at the crossroads of those two sectors.

Annuities sales through banks maintained their modest recovery pace in April after hitting record lows at the beginning of the year.

TD Ameritrade and Vanguard Group have added the Thesis Flexible Fund, an alternative strategies fund, to their respective platforms. Grand Distribution Services of Milwaukee distributes the fund, managed by Thesis Fund Mgmt. of New York. The fund uses hedging strategies and is managed by the Thesis team with Stephen Roseman, Thesis Fund Mgmt. chief executive officer, as senior portfolio manager.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it effected an "emergency asset freeze" against a 'purported fund manager' based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

CHICAGO—The $787 billion debt overhang the federal government absorbed from the failed banking sector from the 2008 credit crisis will not come due until 2020, or perhaps later.

CHICAGO — The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a review of a failed investment by five southeastern Wisconsin school districts in collateralized debt obligations that were intended to establish trusts to pay the districts’ non-pension retiree healthcare benefits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged ICP Asset Management LLC and its founder and President, Thomas Priore, with defrauding investors in four multi-billion-dollar collateralized debt obligations that were insured by American International Group.

Suddenly, Florida is the ripening fruit for many bank buyers, which raises the question, How did that happen?

American Banker | Monday, June 21, 2010

Citigroup Inc. plans to raise more than $3 billion for its private-equity and hedge funds, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Monday said the creation of a system of monitoring overall risks to the nation's financial industry could take one of eight forms, each of which would be costly.

Chief executives are feeling optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next 12 months for the first time since the second quarter of 2007, with CEOs of private companies with international operations being slightly more optimistic than those that are only domestic.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Banks expect hybrid annuities with long-term-care riders to be the next hot product on brokerage platforms, as soon as product providers ramp up their offerings in this area, a Kehrer-Limra executive said.

Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday Clayton G. Deutsch will succeed Timothy L. Vaill as chief executive officer and president on July 31.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a concept release on proxy firms and their OBO/NOBO (“non-objecting beneficial owners”) systems, Chairman Mary Schapiro recently told the Business Roundtable. The SEC aims to revise the proxy access rule by 2011.

The battle between Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch is heating up as both firms sweeten their recruitment packages, recruiters say.