529 industry veteran Joins TIAA-CREF

Martin Noven, a prominent state official and veteran of the Section 529 college savings plan industry, will join…

Martin Noven, a prominent state official and veteran of the Section 529 college savings plan industry, will join TIAA-CREF today in the New York-based company’s Chicago office as regional vice president and associate general counsel.
Mr. Noven, the deputy treasurer in the Illinois state treasurer’s office, will supervise TIAA-CREF’s government relations activities for nine states throughout the Midwest. He will also serve as the firm’s liaison to the National Association of State Treasurers in Lexington, Ky.

Payden & Rygel offers target funds
Payden & Rygel today announced the launch of target maturity funds that use the investment research of Wilshire Funds Management, a unit of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Wilshire Associates Inc.
Los Angeles-based Payden & Rygel said the funds will be called the Payden/Wilshire Longevity Funds. The four funds are for 2010, 2020, 2030 and 2040.

Consumer sentiment Weaker than in June
Sentiment among U.S. consumers soured this month due to concerns about the job market and a weaker investment outlook.
The RBC CASH Index fell 5.3 points to 76.1, compared with 81.4 last month.

Specialist market to come to London
The London Stock Exchange said Friday that it will launch a dedicated market for issuers of specialist funds.
The new market is designed to provide flexibility for specialist vehicles such as hedge funds and private equity.

Finra, not SIRA, to be name of new SRO
The new self-regulatory organization to be formed by the merger of the regulatory units of NASD of Washington and the New York Stock Exchange will be called the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra.
In an e-mail to member firms, NASD chief executive Mary Schapiro said the previously announced new name, the Securities Industry Regulatory Authority, would be dropped because “the acronym ‘SIRA’ could create confusion or might even be considered offensive by some, because of its similarity to an Arabic term used to refer to the traditional biographies of Muhammad.”

AARP, Genworth to offer LTC insurance
Washington-based AARP said Friday that it will offer to its members long-term-care insurance from Genworth Financial Inc. of Richmond, Va., in October that will include a five-year rate guarantee, 60-day opt-out clause and inflation protection features.

Clarification
A June 25 story about registered representatives barred from the securities industry who were working as financial planners failed to give Kathy Nealon’s full title. As well as being a certified public accountant, she is a non-producing registered representative affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services Inc. of St. Petersburg, Fla., and is chief financial officer for Professional Planning Group of Westerly, R.I., which requires staff members to have securities licenses.