Wealth management

To help protect some annuity customers from the consequences of identity theft, Sun Life Financial U.S. in Wellesley Hills, Mass., said Monday that it is offering a one-year free membership in PrivacyGuard, a credit monitoring and reporting service.

Columbia Management Group, the investment management arm of Bank of America Corp., announced Monday that it had hired J. Scott Hamilton to be a vice president and senior Taft-Hartley sales and service representative.

Wilmington Trust Corp. entered the insurance market for the first time last week; the Delaware wealth manager signed a definitive agreement to buy a South Carolina captive-insurance management company.

HBOS PLC, Britain's fourth-largest bank by assets, agreed Friday to buy MLP AG's life insurance units for about $326.7 million to tap rising demand in Germany.

Prudential Financial Inc.'s American Skandia division proposed paying a $95 million fine Friday to settle charges of market timing brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Fitch Ratings said Friday that it had assigned an A-minus rating to MetLife Inc.'s issuance of $1.8 billion of common equity units that are intended to help fund its purchase of Travelers Life and Annuity from Citigroup Inc.

The new head of OppenheimerFunds Services says the mutual fund arm of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. will not distance itself from its parent as the Springfield, Mass., insurer faces heavy scrutiny from state regulators in the wake of its CEO's recent firing.

Hedge fund assets grew 0.9% in May, according to the Van Global Hedge Fund Index released on Thursday.

Hancock Bank in Gulfport, Miss., has, with its agreement this week to buy a second insurance agency, joined the throng of banks that are aiming to boost fee income by enlarging their insurance businesses.

Hewitt Associates Inc., a global human resources services company, said Thursday that its chief financial officer, Dan A. DeCanniere, has resigned.

Davidson Investment Advisors said Wednesday that it had hired an executive from Safeco to be a senior portfolio manager.

E-Trade Financial Corp. said Wednesday that average daily client trading declined 2.8% last month.

South Financial Group, a $14.7 billion-asset bank holding company in Greenville, S.C., plans to expand its insurance business swiftly through acquisitions and cross-selling, the unit’s head says.

SBLI USA Mutual Life Insurance Co. Inc. said it has started a single-premium, tax-deferred annuity with a one-year interest rate guarantee, plus additional one-year renewal rates.

Mellon Financial Corp. announced Wednesday that it promoted Leon Busch to run a recently purchased financing and accounting outsourcing company in Texas.

Bank of America Corp. announced Wednesday that it had hired Stanley Jablonowski from Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. to be a property and casualty insurance executive of Fleet Insurance Services, a nonbank subsidiary in Cranford, N.J.

Banks have reason to be concerned, based on recent sales data, about the annuity products that have been so popular for them.

Cigna HealthCare announced Tuesday that it will add six portfolios from three mutual fund families to its health savings account platform.

Charles Schwab Corp. expects recent changes aimed at boosting its two-year-old retail bank to begin to bear fruit late this year, chief financial officer Christopher V. Dodds said Tuesday.