Darla Mercado

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NEWS REGULATION AND LEGISLATION AUG 26, 2009
Nuveen, Merrill and Citi slapped with suit over auction rate losses

A 77-year-old retired securities attorney and his wife are taking Nuveen Investments Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Citigroup and others to court over $2 million in losses they claim to have suffered from investing in auction rate securities.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 26, 2009
Widow files arbitration claim against Ameriprise over VA sale to elderly spouse

A widow yesterday filed an arbitration claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. against Ameriprise Financial Services Inc., alleging that a broker there failed to properly advise her aged husband on a variable annuity purchase and botched a beneficiary designation.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 25, 2009
Hancock luring indies, ramps rep count up to nearly 2,000

Though rep recruitment is up at the John Hancock Financial Network since the firm decided to embrace the independent adviser channel, recruiters remain skeptical as to whether independents will continue to flock to the company.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 25, 2009
Variable annuities sales show signs of life

Variable annuities, whose sales and asset levels slumped during the market downturn, showed signs of a comeback in the second quarter, according to data from the Insured Retirement Institute.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 24, 2009
Individual and variable annuity sales tumbled in 2Q, LIMRA reports

Total individual-annuity sales tumbled during the second quarter as carriers' new business slowed and fixed-annuity interest rates fell, although sales for all fixed annuities fared better, according to data from LIMRA.

NEWS REGULATION AND LEGISLATION AUG 24, 2009
No suit for you: Judge throws out $1B case against AIG

A federal judge in Chicago last week threw out a $1 billion lawsuit that accused AIG of committing fraud against insurance carriers in a workers' compensation pool.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 23, 2009
Phoenix unveils policy dubbed 'first-to-die'

A new life insurance product from The Phoenix Cos. Inc. covers two lives under one policy, providing a death benefit for a spouse or business partner.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 23, 2009
Advisers at peace with NAIC proposal for more annuity rules

Although members of the insurance industry and some broker-dealer executives are butting heads with state regulators on tougher annuity regulation, financial advisers cheered the proposed use of Finra-esque suitability layers for all annuity sales.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 23, 2009
Falling fixed-income values seen hurting insurers, survey finds

The declining value of fixed-income portfolios in a climate of rising interest rates will hinder life insurers' performance over the next two years.

RETIREMENT LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES AUG 20, 2009
Rep. Henry Waxman asks Genworth, Guardian Life and MetLife for details on executives' pay

Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, is asking executives at Genworth Financial Inc., The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and MetLife Inc. to produce details on executives' pay.