Wealth management

Tompkins Trustco Inc. in Ithaca, N.Y., said Monday that its subsidiary, Tompkins Insurance Agencies Inc., had bought Banfield & Associates Inc., an insurance agency in Ithaca.

S&T Bank in Indiana, Pa., announced Monday that it had acquired Bennett Associates Inc. and Cowher-Nehrig & Co., (the Bennett Group), two multiline insurance agencies in Cambria County, Pa.

Small-cap stocks outperformed large-cap equities for a sixth consecutive year in 2004, according to the small-cap Russell 2000 Index.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said Thursday that it had supported model legislation for disclosure requirements that would ensure people could understand how brokers are compensated for selling insurance products.

MetLife Inc. in New York has announced the appointment of Catherine A. Rein to be the chief administrative officer, overseeing its human resources, audit, information technology, corporate ethics and compliance, corporate real estate, corporate procurement, and call center functions.

Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Ala., has named Fred B. Stone to take office today as chairman and chief executive officer of its Rebsamen Insurance agency in Little Rock, Ark.

Alternative investment products will be in demand in the New Year as markets improve and both individual and institutional investors look to diversify their portfolios.

VantisLife Insurance Co. in East Hartford, Conn., announced a distribution agreement Wednesday with Pentagon Federal Credit Union and the Credit Union Service Organization, CUSO Financial Service LP, which provides broker-dealer services to Pentagon Federal members.

A statement jointly issued this month by the four bank regulatory agencies alerts bank managements to significant issues raised by purchase of separate-account, bank-owned life insurance.

Pacific Select Distributors, a unit of Pacific Life Insurance Co. and the holding company for its broker-dealers, has made an equity investment in Advanced Financial Solutions, a new broker-dealer and registered investment adviser that offers investment programs exclusively to community banks.

Mutual funds had stronger net inflows in November than in the month before or the year earlier, Financial Research Corp. has reported.

Jefferson-Pilot Corp. in Greensboro, N.C., announced Tuesday that chairman David A. Stonecipher plans to retire from that post Friday.

MetLife Inc. has announced plans to buy the insurance arm of SK Group, a Korean conglomerate.

Adviser confidence declined in December, according to Monday's Advisor Confidence Index from AdvisorBenchmarking Inc.

Banks continue to make substantial progress in building their life insurance business, producing $1.60 of life insurance revenue per bank customer household in 2003, up 31% from the previous year.

KMG America Corp. in Minneapolis has announced the hirings of Tom Sass as a senior vice president of underwriting and risk management and Paul Moore and Paul Kraemer as senior vice presidents of sales.

Sales of unified managed accounts will continue to grow in 2005 as banks keep unveiling platforms for the product in an effort to develop new assets from existing customers.