Wealth management

Alliance Capital Management LP reported Tuesday that preliminary assets under management rose about $9 billion last month, to $488 billion at Sept. 30, due to market appreciation and strong relative performance in its investment services.

In the wake of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s purchase of Bank One Corp., executives at American Century Investments are confident their fund company will be able to grab new business and other opportunities as it offers its products and services throughout the now bigger bank.

ING Group and Allianz Group said Friday that ING Canada has agreed to buy Allianz's property and casualty insurance operations in Canada.

Robert DeChellis has been hired to be the executive vice president of Travelers Life and Annuity's retail annuities division, responsible for expanding its distribution network.

Hub International Ltd. has promoted William M. Tormey to lead its practice for all U.S.-based personal lines insurance, a newly created post.

Peter Presperin, the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., has left the company to pursue new opportunities.

Aon Corp. of Chicago sold its claims administration business, Cambridge Integrated Services Group Inc., to Scandent Group in Singapore, it was announced Wednesday.

Fox-Pitt, Kelton has announced the hiring of John Nadel as a vice president and senior analyst for its U.S. life insurance team.

Ameritrade Inc. plans to introduce an online investment platform at the end of this month that will use exchange-traded funds to attract assets from long-term, mass-affluent investors.

Wausau Insurance customers can now get automatic claim alerts by e-mail, along with electronic features available on myServices, Wausau's secure Internet site, the company said.

Old Mutual Asset Management, the U.S. asset management group of Old Mutual PLC in London, has started a family of four asset-allocation funds featuring management strategies from Old Mutual's U.S. subsidiaries.

A second insurance agency acquisition in two years has given Northeast Bancorp six new offices, increased revenue and premiums, and will help Northeast’s insurance operation achieve scale, according to its president and chief executive officer, Jim Delamater.

Woronoco Bancorp Inc. of Westfield, Mass., has acquired Colton Agency Inc., which is also based in Westfield.

MassMutual Financial Group's retirement services division has enhanced its online administrative services to make it easier for plan sponsors to submit payroll information, improve communication, and simplify yearend processing.

After seven consecutive months of aggressive investing, millionaires took a slightly more cautious approach last month, according to a study released Wednesday.

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 6 — The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. today announced that it plans to report an after-tax charge of approximately $42 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, related to the BlackRock Long-Term Retention and Incentive Plan in its third quarter 2004 results. This charge takes into account the value of awards granted to date and the applicable service period.

Developing a body of road-tested compliance practices remained the problem for fund families large and small as they met Tuesday's deadline to appoint chief compliance officers.

Zurich Financial Services, the big Swiss insurance company, said Tuesday that it has named Gary Kaplan chief underwriting officer for its Zurich North America Commercial unit in Schaumburg, Ill., and head of its technical center.