Wealth management

U.S. Bancorp’s private-client group said Monday that it had started a nonproprietary separately managed account platform in an effort to bolster the options offered its customers.

ING Group NV, a global financial services company based in Amsterdam, said Monday that it had more than doubled its roster of transition counselors to serve retiring baby boomers and a younger generation that has a tendency to switch jobs more often.

Prudential Financial Inc. in Newark, N.J., announced Monday that its long-term-care insurance business had joined forces with the Connecticut Partnership for Long-term Care and the Indiana Insurance Program for Long-Term Care.

National Bank of Canada said Monday that it had hired Alain Brunet as a senior vice president-insurance and the president of its National Bank Insurance unit.

Pershing LLC, a subsidiary of Bank of New York Co. Inc., said Monday that it had added Goldman Sachs Asset Management to its no-transaction-fee FundVest mutual fund program.

FundQuest, an investment management unit of BNP Paribas, has fallen short of its bank trust department sales goal for turnkey open architecture asset platforms as banks have shown wariness about signing up before they see others succeeding, the Boston company says.

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A.M. Best Co. on Friday upgraded the financial strength rating of North American Casualty Group and its subsidiaries to "A," from A-minus, in view of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s purchase of the San Francisco insurer.

BancWest Corp. has welcomed a life insurance partner back into the fold.

Elias Asset Management, a bank-owned Buffalo investment management firm, has announced a name change to Nottingham Advisors.

St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc. denied a media report Thursday that it is in merger talks with Zurich Financial Services Group of Switzerland.

Barclays Global Investors, a San Francisco investment management unit of Barclays PLC, said Thursday that five iShares S&P Global Sector Exchange Traded Funds had begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

A.G. Edwards Inc. announced fiscal second-quarter earnings Thursday that were up 40% but missed analyst expectations by a penny.

Claymore Securities Inc., a Lisle, Ill., investment manager, said it had started five exchange-traded funds Thursday.

Money Management Executive

American International Group Inc. announced Wednesday that it had hired a former top executive at Citigroup Inc. to be its chairman.

It remains to be seen whether Marsh & McLennan Cos. can find an acceptable bid for its Putnam Investments unit, an analyst said Wednesday, in view of the steady outflow of assets under management at Putnam the past nine years.