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Hope The Lows Will Hold

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:43:00 GMT

Good morning. Investors are hoping that last week's lows are going to hold and premarket futures are pointing to a positive open. A large batch of earnings reports (see MER, C, & NOK, UNH, BAX, UTX, EBAY), a better than expected CPI reading and falling jobless claims have set the positive tone in addition to rumors that we're going to see more global rate cuts and more interventions sooner rather than later. The credit markets are showing [More...]

Daily Mail, London, Market Report Column

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:46:00 GMT

Aug. 14--Having already spent around £100m on several international soccer stars in an effort to make premiership club Manchester City a European footballing giant, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is now believed to be about to splash out billions of pounds investing in the UK property market.
Al Nahyan, with the help of Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim -- now on Man City's board and one of the best-known businessman in the Middle East -- is rumoured to be interested in British Land and/or Land Securities.
Both were the focus of much speculative attention yesterday.

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Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:49:00 GMT

Jul. 15--A further bout of consolidation may be under way before long in the European insurance sector.
Shares in insurer RSA were quick out of the blocks today with a rise of 3.2p to 120.8p on turnover of more than 17 million shares following a mutter that it has attracted the attention of Assicurazioni Generali, Italy's biggest financial services supplier.
City speculators say the Italian group may be lining up an offer of 140p a share for RSA, which at the close of business last night had a market tag of almost £4 billion.

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Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column - Mar 19 2009 8:55PM

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:50:00 GMT

Mar. 19--Stock-market bears, who have been selling the life assurers aggressively short in recent weeks, claiming they would be the next casualties of the banking crisis, were feeling the pain today as their shares soared.
Those fears stemmed from Aviva's decision to carry on paying a dividend despite worries it could not afford to.
The City warmed to the news from the Pru, which included a boardroom reshuffle, and the shares leapt 66p to 317 3/4p, putting them among the best blue-chip performers.

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Financial Mail, London, Lisa Buckingham Column

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:51:00 GMT

Mar. 15--Corporate governance activists may be able to hold their heads high, but as Hector Sants, boss of the Financial Services Authority, pointed out last week they are few and far between.
Most just went along for the ride -- often encouraging behaviour, such as over-stretching the balance sheet, that has brought the sector to within a whisker of destruction.
Rightly, Sants called for better surveillance by investors and a broader sense of responsibility.

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Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column - Feb 27 2009 1:56PM

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:50:00 GMT

Feb. 26--Banks led the way on the stock market today, with more than half a billion shares in Royal Bank of Scotland changing hands, adding more than £2 billion to its value, even though it reported a record £24.1 billion loss.
RBS was followed by Lloyds Banking Group, up 14.1p to 71.5p on hefty turnover of more than 120 million shares.
The two banks are expected to dump a total of £500 billion of toxic assets into the Government's proposed asset protection scheme, which it is hoped will leave them to start with a clean sheet.

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Daily Mail, London, Alex Brummer Column - Feb 18 2009 4:01PM

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:56:00 GMT

Feb. 18--The bonus issue has been a huge distraction for the government as it has sought to stabilise the banking system.
So it will come as something of a relief that the government and Royal Bank of Scotland have managed to reach a pact which could serve as a model for the part-nationalised banks.
After all, RBS made a colossal loss of £28bn last year (with goodwill writedowns) and one must seriously question whether any cash bonuses are deserved at all.

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Insurance Sector Suffers £1.6bn Loss

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:49:00 GMT

Feb. 17--The insurance sector saw more than £1.6bn wiped off its value as the banking crisis begins to infect the wider financial sector.
Fears that Lloyds Banking Group could follow Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley into full government ownership raised concerns that insurers might be left holding worthless debt securities sold by the banking sector.
Deutsche Bank estimates that the banking industry has issued £27bn of bond securities known as Tier 1 debt, which is sold to buffer a bank's capital position.

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Daily Mail, London, Market Report Column - Dec 26 2008 11:51AM

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Dec. 24--BAH, HUMBUG!
TO 'BIG SIX' PRICES: ROCK bottom oil prices have slashed wholesale gas and electricity costs but energy suppliers have so far steadfastly refused to pass on the cuts to customers.
Industry regulator Ofgem didn't do pensioners any favours either when it said that price cuts will not be expected from the "big six" energy suppliers until, in some cases, April or May.

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Kurdish Diplomat Will Speak Friday: QUBAD TALABANI: U.S. Presence in Iraq of Vital Importance.

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:52:00 GMT

Nov. 10--His dad is the president of Iraq.
And if his Kurdish homeland in northern Iraq were a country, 30-year-old Qubad Talabani would be its ambassador.
Instead Talabani, who'll visit Anchorage on Friday to address an Alaska World Affairs Council luncheon about his nation's future, carries the title of "representative to the United States" for the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq.

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Evening Standard, London, Simon English Column

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:49:00 GMT

Oct. 21--A sign of how deep the levels of denial still run in the banking industry came in phone calls last week from people who are, er, influential in the sector.
Building societies aren't perfect, but none of them have gone bust at our expense.
When two recently feared they might be in some difficulty -- Derby and Cheshire -- Nationwide took them over with a minimum of fuss, seamlessly, to protect savers.

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National Planning Holdings, Inc.® Announces Second Quarter Results

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:47:00 GMT

National Planning Holdings, Inc. (NPH®), one of the nation's largest independent broker-dealer networks1, booked revenue of more than $148 million in the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 9.1 percent over the prior quarter.
The network also generated total sales of nearly $3.5 billion during the second quarter, up 1.4 percent from the first quarter.
The growth in representative count represents a 2.3-percent increase over the prior quarter.

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Lynn Niedermeier Retires As President & CEO of INVEST Financial

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:20:00 GMT

INVEST Financial Corporation® (INVEST) today announced that Lynn Niedermeier has decided to retire and will resign her position as president and CEO of the firm.
Ms. Niedermeier has served as INVEST's president and CEO since 2001.
"I am fortunate to have worked with a talented group of individuals who shared my vision for INVEST and helped build an innovative company that is a leader in the industry," said Niedermeier.

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Rob Devey appointed Chief Executive, Prudential UK

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:57:00 GMT

LONDON -- -- 07/02/09 --[More...]

National Planning Holdings, Inc.® Announces First Quarter Results

Mon, 18 May 2009 16:29:00 GMT

National Planning Holdings, Inc. (NPHSM), one of the nation's largest independent broker-dealer networks1, booked revenue of more than $136 million and generated more than $3.4 billion in total sales during the first quarter of 2009.
NPH also grew its roster of registered representatives by more than 13 percent over the prior year period, bringing the total number of financial advisors affiliated with the network's four independent firms to a record high of 3,456.
We have been able to navigate these rough waters by focusing on the core competencies of the network -- improving advisor efficiency, delivering a robust technology platform and providing value-added services for reps," said Jim Livingston, president and CEO of National Planning Holdings, Inc. "Advisors have taken notice of our continued efforts to address their needs, as evidenced by the significant growth in our representative base, which reached an all-time high this quarter.

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National Planning Holdings, Inc.® Announces First Quarter Results

Mon, 18 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT

National Planning Holdings, Inc. (NPHSM), one of the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer networks1, booked revenue of more than $136 million and generated more than $3.4 billion in total sales during the first quarter of 2009. NPH also grew its roster of registered representatives by more than 13 percent over the prior year period, bringing the total number of financial advisors affiliated with the network’s four independent firms to a record high of 3,456.[More...]

Jackson's First Quarter Annuity Sales Rise 8% to $2.6 Billion

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:27:00 GMT

Jackson National Life Insurance Company® (Jackson®) generated $2.6 billion in annuity sales during the first quarter of 2009, up 8 percent over the prior year period. First quarter 2009 annuity net flows (total premium minus surrenders, exchanges and annuitizations) of $1.0 billion were 21-percent higher than the same period in 2008, due in part to an 81-percent year-over-year increase in traditional fixed annuity sales. Jackson's first quarter retail sales and deposits1 totaled $2.7 billion, in line with retail sales and deposits in the first quarter of 2008.[More...]

Prudential-Appointment of Chief Financial Officer

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:15:00 GMT

LONDON -- -- 04/27/09 --[More...]

Curian Capital Introduces Tactical Advantage Strategy

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:38:00 GMT

Curian Capital, LLC (www.Curian.com), a registered investment advisor that provides a fee-based separately managed account (SMA) platform to financial professionals, today announced that it has expanded its Custom Style Portfolios with the addition of the Curian Tactical Advantage Strategy. The new strategy uses a dynamic asset allocation approach that seeks to capture opportunities for growth while actively managing risk within the portfolio.[More...]

Prudential plc 2008 Full Year Results - Amendment

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:08:00 GMT

LONDON, UK -- -- 03/19/09 --[More...]

Jackson® Reports 2008 IFRS Revenue of $4.5 Billion; Strong Core Operating Earnings Offset By Investment Writedowns

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:48:00 GMT

Jackson National Life Insurance Company® (Jackson) generated $4.5 billion of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)1 revenue in 2008 and achieved the second-best sales performance in the company's history.
Jackson's IFRS pretax operating income was $761 million2; however, net earnings were negatively impacted by $1.0 billion in net realized losses on investments, which were the primary driver of an IFRS net loss of $1.0 billion in 2008.
"Under challenging economic conditions, Jackson delivered strong sales and good pretax operating income," said Clark Manning, Jackson's president and chief executive officer.

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