Alternative investments

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.

ProShares has launched four new exchange-traded funds that seek to provide 200% of the daily return of their respective indexes.

The Insured Retirement Institute on Thursday sent a “broad, comprehensive” response to the request for information on lifetime income that the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Labor recently issued.

WASHINGTON—Although some of the “most profound” proposals in regulatory reform made during the wake of the economic collapse are now not likely to happen, Richard Ketchum, chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Thursday that the financial services industry still has a responsibility to act aggressively at detecting fraud before it’s cleaning up the mess at the end.

WASHINGTON — Republicans, as promised, banded together to block Senate debate on financial regulatory reform legislation Monday, picking up opposition from one Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Armed with its first full period of earnings since buying Barclays Global Investors, BlackRock announced its profits quintupled in the first quarter.

Although financial advisers expect 2010 to be a great year, wirehouses are still feeling the turbulence, and concerns about breakaway brokers, although waning, remain, according to Aite Group.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced Thursday it has reached settlements with units of HSBC and U.S. Bancorp related to the sale of auction-rate securities that became illiquid when auctions froze in February 2008.

The civil suit filed against Goldman Sachs by the Securities & Exchange Commission alleging securities fraud could strengthen the argument to establish a universal fiduciary standard, according to legal experts.

Between women living longer and financial crisis, they are concerned more than ever about not having enough money to last throughout their lifetimes. As a result, more women are buying income annuities to ensure they have sufficient retirement income.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Agriculture Committee has voted 13 to 8, mostly along party lines, to approve a bill to regulate over-the-counter derivatives. The bill would impose a fiduciary duty on dealers who pitch, advise or enter into swaps with localities, endowment funds, or pension funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) actions against Goldman Sachs have sent credit default swap spreads spiraling wider not only for Goldman, but for the entire banking sector, according to Fitch Solutions.

Former President Bill Clinton now says he had an inadvertent role in the credit crisis and the SEC’s civil fraud case against Goldman Sachs by signing the Commodity Futures Modernization Act in 2000, exempting the $58 trillion credit default swap industry from meaningful regulation.

Bernie Madoff's legacy is still influencing the regulatory community. Fraud is as much a part of Wall Street's history as the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, but the Securities and Exchange Commission's recent amendments to its custody rule are intended to make life trickier for any future Madoff.