Alternative investments

U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, an affiliate of the Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) unit of Bank of America [BAC], announced that Grant Boyd had been named market executive in Greater Atlanta. Boyd previously worked at The Private Bank of Wells Fargo, where he was a senior vice president and private banking manager for the Southeast region. In his new role he will oversee the direction and growth of U.S. Trust’s relationships with high- and ultra-high-net worth individuals and families.

The SEC, FINRA and national securities exchanges are proposing individual circuit-breakers for every stock available in the U.S. They would set in if a security price moves 10% or more in a five-minute period.

"I've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything...sophisticated, God, I'm sophisticated." -- Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby

For some time now, pension funds and other institutional investors have been looking for new ways to hedge against inflation and generate solid, reliable income. By hiring seasoned industry professional Joyce T. Shapiro, Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors (FTREA) believes it has found a way to deliver on both demands.

If nothing else, the last two years have taught affluent investors and financial professionals that change is often unexpected, swift and brutal. But despite taking severe double-digit losses on their portfolios, affluent investors surveyed recently by HSBC still largely have the same portfolio allocations they did at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008.

State Street Global Advisors and Nuveen Investments launched an exchange-traded fund tracking Build America Bonds Thursday, as investment vehicles devoted to taxable municipal debt continue to proliferate.

It wasn’t a hedge fund, a proprietary trading desk at an investment bank or a rogue trader that may have been the key trigger behind the “flash crash,” one-thousand-point drop in the Dow.

GE Funding Capital Market Services Inc., a subsidiary of General Electric Capital Corp., does not agree with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plans to file charges against it in connection with an industry-wide investigation of guaranteed investment contracts and derivatives, but is discussing the matter, including a “potential resolution,” with SEC staff.

Declining annuity premiums mean insurers may have to rethink their annuities products in order to survive, according to a report by Scott Hawkins, vice president and insurance analyst at Conning Research & Consulting in Hartford, Conn.

Hedge funds’ take on the wide array of new regulations being proposed for collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps and derivatives, in addition to taxes on risk retention, is simple: Bring it on.

Last year saw the launch of a record 12 new non-traded real-estate investment trusts, according to analysis by Blue Vault Partners, an Atlanta research firm that specializes in this sector.

Recent revelations such as those involving Goldman Sachs demonstrate that when it comes to investing, many commercial banks, pension funds, endowments and other institutions are not sophisticated.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) suit against Goldman Sachs centers on the allegation that the Wall Street firm failed to disclose to investors the role an opportunistic hedge fund, Paulson & Co., played in choosing the assets underlying a CDO, before betting against it.

WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to issue new rules on the use of derivatives in mutual and exchange-traded funds, Andrew “Buddy” Donohue, director of the division of investment management, told executives Friday at the Investment Company Institute’s General Membership Meeting.

Overall sales of annuities though bank holding companies were up slightly at $2.62 billion in 2009, according to the latest Michael White-American Bankers Insurance Association Bank Annuity Fee Income Report. The results, however, were skewed somewhat by BHC-in-name-only Morgan Stanley.

Women are living longer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are prepared for the risks of longevity.

Jackson National Life Insurance has expanded the sub-accounts available for its variable annuities and variable universal life products with the addition of six of the funds in the American Funds Insurance Series.

Working within existing regulations for 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans, Nationwide Financial Services is proposing 401KIncome, a new choice for workplace savings that includes an annuity option.

With the fresh spring breeze may come a breath of fresh air for The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which this week reported a first-quarter profit and improved investment results. This is particularly good news for the insurer, which earlier this month repaid $3.4 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Funds.

Bank of America’s U.S. Trust unit is embarking on a new advertising campaign aimed at ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The “What Is Worth?” campaign is an attempt to demonstrate to potential clients U.S. Trust expertise in managing both their tangible and intangible assets.