Wealth management

Zions Bancorp. has started an asset management unit for wealthy customers, and analysts are split on whether the timing - late to market and amid difficult market conditions - would make assets hard to amass.

Jackson National Life Insurance Co.'s sales during the first three quarters of the year rose 15% from a year earlier, to $6.1 billion, as a result of strong sales of variable annuities and institutional products.

White Mountains Advisors LLC of Hanover, N.H., has selected State Street Corp. to provide investment accounting for the general account assets of Symetra Life Insurance Co.

Bank of America Corp. is merging the Quick & Reilly brokerage unit it acquired in the FleetBoston Financial Corp. purchase into Banc of America Investment Services Inc.

ING Group NV has received a subpoena from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to provide information for his ongoing investigation into the fees paid by insurance companies to brokers.

Financial Keyosk, the insurance agency outsourcer, has signed up its first bank client since being bought by Newtek Business Services Inc.

CNA Financial Corp. announced the hiring of Larry Illion to be the senior vice president of CNA Small Business, a $650 million operation.

Genworth Financial Inc. has announced a working relationship with Harley Gordon and the Corporation for Long Term Care Certification to obtain long-term-care education and training.

Allfinanz Inc., a supplier of automated underwriting and business processing software for the life insurance industry, said it has hired Michael Scunziano to be vice president of sales, North America.

Sun Life Financial Inc. announced a partnership Tuesday with Pangburn Co. Inc., a third-party administrator of non qualified executive benefit plans that is to oversee the insurer's nonqualified deferred compensation plan program.

Phoenix Cos. Inc. said Tuesday that it had hired Christopher R. Walsh to fill the newly created post of managing director of subadvisory and retirement.

Alliant Resources Group Inc. said Tuesday that it has bought Benefit Partners LLC, which is to become part of Alliant's benefit subsidiary, Colonial Healthcare Inc. in Lanham, Md.

Reserve Management, the New York fund manager that started the nation's first money market fund, announced Tuesday that it had added Trainer, Wortham & Co. and Froley, Revy mutual funds to its complex.

Dwight Asset Management, a unit of Old Mutual PLC that specializes in fixed-income management, said Tuesday that it had promoted Jeff Norris to chief operating officer.

Ameritrade Holding Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings increased slightly despite a big decline in trading volume, it said Tuesday.

Fidelity Investments announced Tuesday that client assets in its brokerage unit grew 15% during the third quarter.

Managed accounts, products introduced to cater to high-net-worth investors, are gaining popularity as a participation-booster for the less affluent investors who are eligible to save for retirement in 401(k) programs, financial company officials and other observers say.

As expected, BlackRock Inc.'s employee incentive plan caused it a net loss for the third quarter, the New York money management company reported Monday.