The head of a financial services company that is spending about $32 million to settle litigation is stepping down.[@@]
The company, Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., says Keith Tucker has given up his posts as chairman and chief executive.
Tucker, who took over as the chief executive of Waddell & Reed, Overland Park, Kan., in 1992, will continue to be a consultant and non-voting board member for 8 years, Waddell & Reed says.
Waddell & Reed once was part of Torchmark Corp., Birmingham. Torchmark converted Waddell & Reed into a separate company in 1998. Waddell & Reed provoked lawsuits and regulatory actions in the early 2000s, when it tried to cut ties with Torchmark by having thousands of clients who held annuities issued by units of Torchmark roll funds into annuities issued by a life insurance unit of another company.
