Wealth management

A regulatory investigation into its parent company and flat sales industrywide made last year difficult for AIG SunAmerica's variable annuity business in the bank channel.

ING Investment Management announced Thursday that it had hired Vincent Costa to be a senior vice president and its head of portfolio management for quantitative equity.

New York Life Insurance Co. announced Wednesday that it had elected Mark E. Arning a senior vice president.

KenBanc Insurance, the insurance agency for the Kentucky Bankers Association, said it had chosen VantisLife Insurance Co. to provide life insurance services to its more than 300 members.

Fidelity Investments’ clearing services unit has expanded its client roster by 129% since 2003, and the company expects to continue adding share as industry consolidation continues, its president says.

Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that it had affirmed and removed from rating watch-negative all of its ratings on American International Group Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Dreyfus Corp. announced Tuesday that Thomas F. Eggers, who rejoined it as president a year ago, has been promoted to chief operating officer.

Placemark Investments, a Dallas overlay manager for financial services companies, announced Monday that it will supply overlay services to Smith Barney Consulting Group, the managed account unit of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. said Monday that it had promoted three executives - two to treasurer of their units.

(Annuity Market News)

Its recent integration of employee benefits business lines into one group will let AIG American General Life Cos., a Houston subsidiary of New York’s American International Group Inc., offer employer-funded and employee-paid benefits on a single platform, according to AIG executives.

Legg Mason Inc. announced Friday the renaming of nearly all Smith Barney mutual funds as Legg Mason Partners funds.

Axa Group of Paris said Friday that it is considering a binding offer for its reinsurance business from Paris Re Holdings Ltd., a company created by a consortium of international investors led by Trident III LP, a fund managed by Stone Point Capital LLC, in which Axa would take a 5% to 10% stake.

The Greenwich-Van Global Hedge Fund Index returned 1.88% in March, according to a preliminary report, and was up 5.62% for the first quarter.

CIT Group Inc., a provider of commercial and consumer finance solutions, announced Thursday that its vendor finance division had acquired the remaining 45% ownership stake in its joint venture with two Chinese companies.

For more information on this data, visit Novantas LLC and Market Rates Insight.

A high-net-worth client of Peter S. Izzo, a Merrill Lynch & Co. wealth adviser, recently came to him seeking to allocate a small percentage of his portfolio to emerging markets. The client, a 50-something retiree who once ran a public company and now spends his time on for-profit and not-for-profit ventures, wanted to select four or five countries with the best potential return.

To generate assets from the ultra-wealthy, some banks lead with products, others with "solutions."