Wealth management

More than half of affluent people have not established a guaranteed income stream for retirement, according to Spectrem Group, a Chicago research firm.

VantisLife Insurance Co. in East Hartford, Conn., introduced single-premium, whole-life products Tuesday.

HIP Health Plan of New York has announced an agreement to buy PerfectHealth Insurance Co., a provider of high-deductible health insurance policies in the New York market.

ProFund Advisors LLC, the investment adviser to the ProFunds family of index-based mutual funds, has announced the hiring of a chief investment officer from State Street Global Advisors.

Bank of America Corp.'s private bank announced Monday that it had appointed John L. Brennan president of its central region.

Mellon Financial Corp. said Monday that it had promoted two executives in its private wealth management group, Thomas J. Dicker and Jere Doyle, to senior vice president.

MetLife announced the promotion Monday of Steven L. Sheinheit to executive vice president.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced an agreement Monday to buy its first insurance business.

Commerce Bancorp, which recently stepped back into deal-making with its pending purchase of a Connecticut insurance brokerage, is eyeing the Middle Atlantic states, Connecticut, and South Florida for further agency deals, says Commerce Insurance Services' chairman and CEO George E. Norcross.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Great-West Lifeco Inc.'s A-plus long-term debt rating as well as the ratings on all its outstanding debt and preferred stock.

HSA Bank, a division of the Webster Bank subsidiary of Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., has announced plans for a month-long, nationwide education push to inform people and businesses about the merits of health savings accounts.

Deutsche Bank AG notified Prudential PLC on Friday that it holds 77.7 million shares of the London-based insurer, or 3.26% of the company's common shares.

Hedge fund assets shrank 2% in the second quarter, to $1.06 trillion, according to Barclay Group in Fairfield, Iowa, and managed futures grew 0.08%, to $121 billion.

New York Life Investment Management has seen a surge in sales of guaranteed income products for institutional investors, including retirement plans, in recent years and says it is weighing an expansion of its partially guaranteed products line.

Northern Trust Corp.'s Personal Financial Services division, the largest private trust bank in the country, has announced the appointments of regional executives in Florida and Missouri.

Synovus Financial Corp. has completed a six-month search for a new head for its financial management group by promoting one of its own executives to the post.

Banks lagged behind brokers in capturing share in the $1.1 trillion U.S. variable annuity market last year, according to research by a unit of Claritas Inc., a marketing company.