Wealth management

The new head of cross-selling at Acordia Inc. says that expanding this effort with parent Wells Fargo & Co. is a top priority for the Chicago insurance agency.

Century Bank and Trust Co. in Boston has announced an investment management agreement with BlackRock Financial Management Inc. for Century's securities portfolio.

Wachovia's corporate and institutional trust division in Charlotte, N.C., said Monday that it has hired Richard Scott to be a managing director of sales for institutional trust.

Scudder Investments in Chicago introduced Scudder Pathway Growth Plus Portfolio on Monday, the latest entry in the Pathway Series of fund-of-funds products that use asset allocation strategies.

MassMutual Retirement Services in Springfield, Mass., announced a participant communications model Monday that is intended to help motivate employees to enroll in their companies' retirement plans and to allocate their investments.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.'s new head of individual life insurance distribution sees a lot of opportunities for the product in the bank channel but says major growth will take time.

Sun Life Financial Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, have announced that their boards of directors approved, subject to regulatory approvals, a reorganization that would transfer most of the latter's asset management businesses, including its U.S. annuities business, to a newly incorporated unit.

AIM Investments in Houston said it has hired Brian C. Lee to be the director of sales strategy and planning for AIM Distributors Inc., the fund company's retail marketing subsidiary.

Principal Financial Group in Des Moines has announced two tools designed to give retirees more flexibility and control over how they spend their life's savings.

Zacks Investment Research said Friday that it has teamed up with AdvisoryWorld to create a managed account solution for 401(k) plan sponsors and their employees that offers both professional investment management through Zacks and guidelines to help employees invest as much as needed to retire comfortably.

MassMutual Financial Group in Springfield, Mass., has announced a Web enrollment feature for its Strategic Edge group universal and group variable universal life insurance products.

Nationwide Financial Services Inc. in Columbus, Ohio, said Thursday that it is now offering both standard and enhanced riders on its lineup of variable annuities to New York State residents.

U.S. Bancorp Asset Management's chief investment officer said he expects the firm to double its assets under management over the next five years despite its slow growth in flat market conditions since its parent's 2001 megamerger with Firstar Corp.

Several companies have been formed to offer insurance outsourcing services to banks, but InBank Services LLC is taking the opposite route - this newly formed company hopes to supply insurers the means to offer private-label bank products.

Affiliated Managers Group Inc. has announced that Sean M. Healey, its president and chief operating officer, will become president and chief executive officer on Jan. 1.

The New York-based life insurer MetLife Inc. has said it intends to repurchase $1 billion of its common stock as part of a larger buyback program.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a rule requiring for the first time that hedge fund advisers be registered and submit to SEC examinations.

Independent Financial Marketing Group Inc. in Purchase, N.Y., said Wednesday that Frieda Lewis was promoted to president of IFMG Securities Inc., its registered broker-dealer.

Acadian Asset Management, a subsidiary of the global financial services group Old Mutual PLC, announced Wednesday that it had hired Scott P. Dias to be chief compliance officer, a newly created post.