Wealth management

Principal Global Investors' dedicated real estate group, Principal Real Estate Investors, has advised Principal Life Insurance Co. on the purchase of Fountainhead Corporate Park in Tempe, Ariz., from AmberJack Ltd., a real estate subsidiary of State Farm Insurance Co., the company said Tuesday.

American International Group Inc. has announced the retirement of senior vice president Cesar Zalamea, the president and chief executive of its AIG Global Investment Group-Asia division and a 50-year veteran of the insurance giant.

Citigroup Inc.'s corporate and investment banking unit announced Monday that it had agreed to provide transfer agency, fund administration, and related services to AGF Management Ltd. and other fund managers in the Canadian market.

Bank of New York Co. Inc. said Monday that its securities lending services had been chosen by Korea Securities Depository for a program involving offshore securities owned by National Pension Corp.

With its agreement to buy a big upstate New York insurance agency, Lockport-based First Niagara Financial Group has positioned itself to extend its insurance presence throughout its banking footprint.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s worldwide securities services unit said Monday that it had hired Gavin Callan and Michael Fox for its securities lending relationship management team in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

HSBC Holdings PLC plans to enter China's fledgling insurance industry by selling a domestic partner's products this year, an executive says.

Hedge funds as measured by an S&P overall index returned 0.90% in June and finished the year's first half up 0.13%, Standard & Poor's said Friday.

Russell Investment Group is expanding its retirement services group by hiring wholesalers nationally as it looks to increase distribution through banks and other channels.

HSA Bank, a division of the Webster Bank subsidiary of Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., announced that its new-account total for the health savings account product has already surpassed the total for all of 2004.

Northern Trust Corp. announced Thursday that it had named John Cole to head active-growth equity investments.

The strategic alliance Countrywide Financial Corp. reached with a New York insurer this week significantly advances revenue diversification efforts and fills a gap in its product lineup for the affluent, an executive for the lender said.

Bank of America Corp. said Thursday that it had hired a Fidelity Investments executive, Regina Sullivan, to be the compliance executive for its global wealth and investment management unit.

Sun Life Financial Inc. of Toronto said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Commonwealth Bank of Australia's insurance and pension assets in Hong Kong for $451 million.

Countrywide Insurance Group and Atlantic Mutual announced a strategic alliance Wednesday that will pair the former's "A" rating and its parent company's strong brand and national presence with the latter's independent agent model to expand the availability of the Atlantic Master Plan for affluent people.

Bank of New York announced Wednesday that its trust unit had signed a definitive agreement to buy the bond administration business of Marshall & Ilsley Trust Co. and M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank.

Mutual fund firm Janus Capital Group Inc. is considering using hedge funds to help balance its product offerings, its new chief financial officer said.

As BNP Paribas aggressively gobbles up banks in the West and Midwest, its U.S. asset management arm also plans to grow by acquisition, but its chief says it will be buying specialties it can sell through its global distribution network, not primarily looking to add scale.