Asset Life Settlements, LLC enters secondary market for life insurance
Asset Life Settlements, LLC, a life settlement broker located in Orlando, FL, announced the company's entry into the marketplace. Citing a rebound in the industry driven by a combination of market factors, the company states it is well-positioned to handle the anticipated increase in the demand for life settlement transactions.
Although the company's name is new to the marketplace, the founders are long-time veterans of the secondary market for life. Company co-founders Jeff Hallman and Scott Thomas bring to the table more than 25 years of combined industry expertise and have closed nearly $3 billion in policy value over the past 13 years.
Hub International acquires assets of Free Market Insurance Agency
Hub International Limited (Hub), a global insurance brokerage, announced that its Hub International New Mexico division (Hub New Mexico) has acquired the assets of Free Market Insurance Agencies, LLC, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based insurance brokerage firm (Free Market). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition provides Free Market clients with access to the global resources, services and network of Hub's property and casualty, employee benefits, risk services and personal lines solutions while continuing to extend Hub's local market reach in New Mexico. This is Hub's second acquisition in the state in two months.
Free Market's Albuquerque-based team will relocate to Hub New Mexico's newly-renovated Albuquerque headquarters. Michael Dennis, president of Free Market, will join Hub New Mexico as a client executive, vice president for the region.
MassMutual, BlackRock team up to offer customized asset allocation program for retirement plans
MassMutual Retirement, responding to a growing demand by financial advisors and employers, is teaming up with BlackRock to introduce a customized, lower-cost alternative to managed accounts for defined contribution retirement plans.
MassMutual Managed AllocationsSM powered by BlackRock® enables financial advisors to offer professionally managed asset allocation strategies to help achieve the diversification and customization that individual plan sponsors and their advisors are increasingly seeking. MassMutual provides the recordkeeping for the Managed Allocations strategies while BlackRock assumes fiduciary responsibility for designing and updating the glidepath models and asset allocations.
The Managed Allocations program provides several benefits not previously available together within a single asset management solution:
- Three glidepath options, including conservative, moderate and aggressive, designed to help participants grow their assets and manage their savings to-and through-retirement. The choice of glidepath may hinge on a variety of considerations, including whether or not the plan sponsor offers a defined benefit pension, offers company stock as an investment option, employee demographics, employee savings rates and other factors that advisors can help clients navigate.
- Flexibility in asset class inclusion, as plan sponsors can choose from as few as 6 asset classes to as many as 9 asset classes.
- Fiduciary oversight of the glidepath model and asset allocations. On an annual basis, BlackRock will rebalance the glidepath model and asset classes.
- The ability to choose from the full menu of investment managers and investment options offered through MassMutual.
- The expertise of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager and the creator of the first target date fund.
Managed Allocations is designed to be an alternative to MassMutual's CustomChoice StrategiesSM, an asset allocation program that enables advisors who act in a fiduciary capacity to take a more active role in creating the allocations and glidepath.
Women in Insurance & Financial Services launches new national event
Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS) is organizing a virtual run to be held on September 13th, 2014 to promote Ovarian Cancer Awareness. The Imagine the Cure WIFS Virtual 5K will raise funds, encourage team building and community involvement, and a portion of all proceeds from this event will benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.
A virtual run has no specific starting location or time, making it an ideal event to engage WIFS members located throughout the U.S. Participants in the Virtual 5K can share their training ups and downs on various social media outlets with the hashtag #imaginethecure. There is also some healthy competition in play, with individual runners and chapters receiving special recognition and medals at the WIFS Annual Conference in Orlando Florida, October 22nd – 25th. For more information, please visit the WIFS Virtual 5K page.
Cooper Gay and NMB Appoint Martin Stephenson as CEO Reinsurance
Cooper Gay & Co Ltd (Cooper Gay) and Newman Martin and Buchan LLP (NMB) appointed Martin Stephenson as CEO for their combined reinsurance business.
Previously managing director of the NMB reinsurance division, Stephenson brings over 25 years' market experience to the role. Following the acquisition of NMB by the Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC) Group last year, Stephenson held the position of head of reinsurance production for the combined businesses.
Based in London and reporting to Gordon Newman, CEO of Cooper Gay and NMB, Stephenson takes over the role of CEO reinsurance from Andrew Hitchings who has resigned from the company. He also joins the boards of Cooper Gay and NMB, subject to Financial Conduct Authority approval.
Guardian Retirement Solutions™ expands national sales team
The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc. (GIAC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, is enhancing its 401(k) national sales team to meet growing market demand with the appointment of six new wholesalers: Jack Curtis, Lucio Giliberti, Norbert Naths, Bryan Rouse, Terry Terry and George Webb join as regional vice presidents of retirement plan sales.
Curtis brings over 10 years of financial services experience, most recently as a senior regional retirement representative with Guardian. He will directly manage retirement sales in South Texas and Arkansas. Formerly a wealth management adviser for Merrill Lynch & Co., Curtis holds a Bachelor's degree in English from University of Massachusetts, as well as FINRA Series 6 and 63 licenses.
With more than 25 years of industry experience, Giliberti will manage retirement sales in southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. A former U.S. Marine and Field Artillery Officer, Giliberti previously worked for Stadion Money Management, United Jersey Bank, Paine Webber and Oppenheimer Funds. He earned a Bachelor's of Science in business administration from Ramapo College and holds FINRA Series 6, 63 and Life licenses.
Naths manages retirement plan sales in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Northern Nevada and Idaho (excluding the panhandle region). He brings over 19 years of industry experience to Guardian and was previously a regional sales director at Great-West Retirement Services. Naths has a Bachelor's of Science degree in finance from Lehigh University and is FINRA Series 7, 63, 65 and 66 licensed.