Author: rafferty

AIG Hones Its Network Amid A Pullback

16:26 28 January in In the News by rafferty

January 17, 2014By Cyril Tuohy, InsuranceNewsNet A juggernaut has stirred. The announcement that American General was rebranding its 1,400-strong distribution arm to American International Group Financial Network (AIG) and expanding the network’s scope will likely raise eyebrows in the corporate suites of Prudential, MetLife and Northwestern Mutual. It’s a move that was a long time coming, some market observers said, and will breathe more life into the distribution network of the Houston-based life insurance giant. American General itself was added to the sprawling AIG umbrella in the wake of a 2001 acquisition. For years, American General’s 1,400 advisors – mostly captive agents – ploughed through the day selling American General’s suite of protection products like life and disability insurance, but now they are going to be selling the company’s proprietary mutual funds and retirement...

Schorsch Snaps Up J.P. Turner as Buying Spree Continues

19:46 19 January in In the News by rafferty

January 14, 2014 by Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor But being both a broker-dealer and a product distributor can be a ‘hot potato,’ says one industry expert Billionaire Nicholas Schorsch and other managers at RCS Capital Corp. (RCAP) know how to get mergers and acquisitions done before the long Martin Luther King Day weekend. The group announced plans to buy the independent broker-dealer J.P. Turner of Atlanta for $27 million, one day after reporting plans to buy Cetera Financial Group for $1.15 billion. J.P. Turner has about 400 financial advisors and 50 insurance agents, according to the latest Investment Advisor survey, vs. 6,600 advisors at Cetera. The deal “represents another important step in realizing RCAP’s strategic vision to become the leading financial-services firm focused on the direct-investment sector,” Schorsch, who is executive chairman of RCAP, said in the...

Southwest Securities could be sold to big shareholder

23:04 10 January in In the News by rafferty

By Bruce Kelly January 10, 2014 Investment News Parent company SWS Group receives $7-a-share offer from Hilltop Holdings SWS Group Inc., the parent company of Southwest Securities Inc., on Friday confirmed that its board had received a takeover bid from one of its biggest investors, Hilltop Holdings Inc. Hilltop, which owns a bank, a mortgage lender and another financial services firm, First Southwest Co., already owns 24% of SWS common stock. Its offer is to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of SWS that it doesn't already own for $7 a share, a 16% premium over the stock's closing price on Thursday. “Consistent with its fiduciary duties and in consultation with its financial and legal advisers, SWS Group's board of directors will review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in...