Wealth management

Citizens and Hanover Insurance Cos. said Monday that it has named Debra Richardson the regional vice president in Texas for Hanover Insurance Co.

Bank of New York Co. Inc. said Monday that it has established an office in Sydney through its subsidiary BNY Securities Australia Ltd. with the purpose of expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. in Novato, Calif., said Monday that it will offer identity theft restoration services nationally, including access to a personal counselor who can help identity theft victims.

Merlin Securities, a New York broker-dealer specializing in prime brokerage, announced Monday that it had hired Eric Morgan to be a managing director of sales and trading in California.

Kensington Investment Group said Monday that it had bought Victory Real Estate Fund.

Dale Jansen, the head of Union Bank of California’s insurance subsidiary, says he is again looking for agencies to buy after UBOC Insurance paused from dealmaking last year while integrating the four agencies it had bought in the preceding 26 months.

JPMorgan Asset Management's managed account business topped $5 billion of assets under management at Feb. 28, the company said on Monday.

AIM Investments has unveiled a plan to widen the scope of a real estate fund to be offered on a limited basis to certain investors for investments that would take effect at the close of business April 29.

Northern Trust Corp.'s wealth management arm has announced that its assets under administration topped $100 billion by Dec. 31.

Dreyfus Corp., Mellon Financial Corp.'s mutual fund subsidiary, said that Thomas F. Eggers would rejoin the New York company as president on April 1.

Aegon has announced its receipt of a license to sell life insurance to residents of the Czech Republic.

Legg Mason, a Baltimore asset management company, said it had hired Sam Peters to be a senior vice president in its Legg Mason Capital Management subsidiary.

BW Insurance Agency Inc., a Fargo, N.D., subsidiary of San Francisco's Bank of the West, says it will seek agency deals in six states - Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, New Mexico, and Nevada - where it now has no offices but could help fill out its parent's footprint.

Columbia Management, the primary investment management arm of Bank of America Corp., has announced the hiring of Stephen C. Peacher to be its chief investment officer of taxable fixed-income.

Putnam Investments said Wednesday it had promoted two executives to lead its U.S. and European high-yield investment groups.

Midwood Financial Services — an Encino, Calif., annuities distributor — says it has found a wealth of new assets by distributing index annuities through channels that include banks.

Two regulators announced Wednesday that they had fined a Citigroup unit $26 million in all for failing to disclose information to its mutual fund customers, and one regulator also fined units of American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. a total of $15 million.

A.M. Best Co. said it has affirmed the financial strength rating of A-plus-plus for Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. of Toronto and various John Hancock Life Insurance and Manulife subsidiaries in the United States.