A National Association of Insurance Commissioners executive group last Thursday vetoed a proposal from the insurance industry to loosen required capital and surplus levels.
Despite the fact that 2008 saw a record 46 exchange traded funds close, the total number of ETFs actually increased year-over-year to 747, from 629, according to a report released today by State Street Global Advisors of Boston.
The troubles that hit variable annuity insurers last year will follow them into this year, further denting their financial strength, according to a report from Standard and Poor’s in New York.
The country is facing at least two more years of tough economic times, with no significant rebound for three-to-five years, said George Fisher, a senior adviser at New York private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
“Congress should grant the SEC explicit statutory authority to regulate hedge fund advisers as investment advisers,” Colorado securities commissioner Fred Joseph said at a press conference in Washington held by the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc.
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC has filed registration statements for two actively managed exchange traded funds focused on the non-agency prime and Alt-A residential-mortgage-backed securities markets.
Tremont Group Holdings Inc. of New York is closing its hedge fund division following $3.1 billion in losses associated with the Bernie Madoff scandal, according to the firm.
Florida hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel has come out of hiding and turned himself in yesterday to the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Tampa, Fla.
The genesis of the index is the Temporary Liquidity Guaranty Program created by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which allows bank holding companies to issue senior unsecured debt guaranteed by the U.S. government.
State Street Global Advisors today announced the launch of two new fixed-income exchange traded funds: the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF and the SPDR Barclays Capital Mortgage Backed Bond ETF.
Lincoln National Corp. has announced that it will lay off 5% of its employees, or approximately 540 positions, according to published reports.
The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting that 2009 will be another rocky year for the housing sector, with housing starts falling 22.9%, new-home sales declining 31% and new-home prices falling another 5.1%.
Despite the economic downturn, investors with more than $100,000 in assets were still optimistic about investing in green ventures, according to a survey released today by Allianz Global Investors.
A rocky history notwithstanding, the U.S. Global Investors Global Mega Trends Fund (MEGAX) hopes to turn the corner in 2009 by focusing heavily on infrastructure-related investing.
Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services today cut its credit ratings on AFLAC Inc., placing the Columbus, Ga., health carrier on CreditWatch with negative implications.
A bipartisan group of seven House members today sent a letter to Treasury secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, asking him to set up an office of insurance information if he is confirmed.
The deepening recession and rising unemployment took a toll on homebuilding giant Centex Corp. in the final three months of 2008 as the company saw new-home sales plunge 80%.
A Luxembourg investment partnership has agreed to purchase two private-equity funds from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy estate.
Shares of AFLAC Inc., a Columbus, Ga.-based health insurer, plunged after a research note from Morgan Stanley aired concerns about the company’s capital levels.
Forward Management LLC of San Francisco, adviser to the Accessor Funds, announced today the launch of a mutual fund that gives investors access to “frontier” equity markets which are smaller, less liquid and less developed.
