Wealth management

The National Association for Variable Annuities said Tuesday that variable annuity investor beneficiaries received death benefits of $2.8 billion more than the value of the annuities from 2001 to 2003 when the market value of the underlying investments was generally in decline.

Foundation Source, a Fairfield, Conn., provider of private foundation support services, an-nounced the hiring Tuesday of Matthew L. Cone to be its managing director for the Pacific Northwest.

Thomas A. Taylor, the president and chief executive officer of Amica Mutual Insurance Co. in Lincoln, R.I., announced his plan Tuesday to retire from the company on Feb. 10, and Amica's board said it has chosen Robert A. DiMuccio, an executive vice president and former chief financial officer and treasurer, to succeed him.

KNBT Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Keystone Nazareth Bank and Trust Co. in Bethlehem, Pa., said Tuesday that it plans to buy Oakwood Financial Corp., a full-service brokerage in Allentown, Pa.

Community Bank System Inc. in Dewitt, N.Y., reports 20% average annual revenue growth this decade in its benefits consulting business and attributes its success in the highly competitive field to focusing on a niche market typically underserved by the big providers.

Nearly four years after buying a tiny New Jersey bank, executives at the insurance giant MetLife Inc. say it is on track to meet its goals for deposit and asset growth but that their focus is on expanded distribution and integration with the insurer's other products.

Vanguard Group has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an actively managed equity fund.

Standard & Poor's said Monday that it has added an option to its Portfolio Advisor platform to give financial advisers the ability to create portfolios for their fee-based clients that include individual stocks.

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. announced the hiring Monday of Mark Rhodes as a senior managing director and executive director in the private-client services division.

American Express Financial Advisors said it began an advertising campaign Monday targeting mass-affluent investors for its financial advisory services.

Genworth Financial said Friday that it has named Kate Carey to lead its government relations office in Washington.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has announced easier access to a flexible spending account program available to customers for its group life, accident, and disability insurance.

Northern Trust Corp., the largest Chicago-based money management company, was fired Friday as custodian and index fund manager for the Illinois State Board of Investment, severing a 20-year relationship with five public pension funds.

Though banks continue to gain momentum with managed account sales, most lag in selling the more sophisticated unified managed accounts that link a collection of investment products on one platform, according to executives in Franklin Templeton's private-client group.

Principal Financial Group has announced an individual disability insurance association program to make the insurance more affordable for association members and employees of growing businesses.

Great-West Retirement Services in Greenwood Village, Colo., Thursday announced that John Farmakis has joined its record keeping entity, Financial Administrative Services Corp., as a vice president of institutional sales and relationship management.

For Huntington Bancshares the path to successful commercial insurance sales has been circuitous.

Phoenix Advisors LLC announced Wednesday that it will offer financial advisory services to municipalities and school districts as well as to state, county, and municipal authorities and special taxing districts.