In the News

PFS Reps Stand To Pick Up Stock

00:00 01 April in In the News by rafferty

by Darla Mercado and featured in Investment News April, 2010: Registered representatives at PFS Investments Inc. will pick up some extra pay from the firm's public offering, according to a prospectus filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PFS is the broker-dealer of Primerica Inc., the unit that was spun off of Citigroup Inc. in an initial public offering Thursday. The filing, which was submitted yesterday, indicates that Primerica will distribute about 5 million shares in common stock to certain employees, including officers and sales force leaders. Of that, some 255,836 shares will be issued when the restricted stock awards held by employees and sales reps under the Citi Stock Award Program and the Citi Capital Accumulation Program for PFS reps are converted into Primerica equity awards. The unit brought in some $314 million in...

Open VA Platform at Ameriprise May Be Less Than Open

00:00 01 March in In the News by rafferty

by Bruce Kelly and featured in Investment News March, 2010: Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s plan to open its brokerage platform to outside variable annuities falls short of the open architecture favored by other independent broker-dealers. The move, which is expected to occur by the end of the second quarter, is apparently aimed in part at boosting Ameriprise's ability to recruit independent-contractor registered representatives and financial advisers. Such advisers are often big sellers of variable annuities and consider the in-vestment options available to them carefully before changing firms. But Ameriprise's shift to openness comes with strings attached, which may curb an adviser's desire to sell variable annuities from outside providers. For example, the roughly 9,000 Ameriprise advisers affected by the plan won't be allowed to contact wholesalers from such VA giants as Axa Equitable Life Insurance Co.,...

Progessive, GunnAllen March to Altar

00:00 01 January in In the News by rafferty

by Bruce kelly and featured in Investment News January, 2010: The big unknown surrounding Progressive Asset Management Inc.'s announcement last week that it is buying GunnAllen Financial Inc. is whether the socially conscious investment firm will acquire only GunnAllen's 700 reps and their assets or the legal entity of the independent broker-dealer. The fine points of the Progressive/GunnAllen marriage are important because the broker-dealer carries with it a history of legal disputes with customers stemming from the activities of Frank Blue-stein, a rogue broker who allegedly steered clients to a Ponzi scheme that went bust in 2007. GunnAllen also has had recent legal problems stemming from the blowup of private placements. “We believe [the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.] is closely watching the [merger] situation,” said Scott Silver, an attorney with Blum & Silver...