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For additional information please contact The American Worker Plans at 866-215-9300 or email us at info@theamericanworker.com. web: www.theamericanworker.comFor agent use only. Not for public distribution. Form AWP-3-7-08 1. Berkshire sells White Mountains stake for $836 mln Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:09pm EDT By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N: ) (BRKb.N: ) will sell its 16.3 percent stake in White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd (WTM.N: ) in a transaction valued at $836 million, seven years after investing in the Bermuda-based insurer, White Mountains said on Monday. Berkshire will exchange its 1.724 million shares for about $751 million of cash plus two businesses, Commercial Casualty Insurance Co and International American Group Inc, that have $435 million of assets and $58 million of adjusted shareholder equity, White Mountains said. Ray Barrette, White Mountains' chief executive, said the agreement lets the Hamilton-based company exit businesses with potentially volatile reserves, use capital more efficiently and redeem stock at a small premium to book value. The $751 million of cash is more than double the $369 million that Berkshire has said it invested in White Mountains. It would bolster Berkshire's cash stake, which ended 2007 at $44.33 billion. Buffett has said he would like to make a large acquisition. Jackie Wilson, Buffett's assistant, said Berkshire had no immediate comment. Berkshire, an insurance and investment company, initially agreed to invest $300 million in White Mountains in 2001, when the latter paid about $2.2 billion for the U.S. property and casualty operations of Britain's CGNU Group. Buffett had been a long-time friend of Jack Byrne, who was White Mountains' chief executive at the time. Byrne is credited with improving the fortunes of auto insurer Geico Corp in the 1970s, with Buffett as an investor. Berkshire now owns Geico. Barrette said "all shareholders benefited handsomely from the relationship" with Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire. "White Mountains is now a larger, more diversified business, competing actively in many areas with Berkshire Hathaway. This is a graceful, value-enhancing way to go our separate ways." White Mountains said it would have about 8.8 million shares after the transaction, which it values at $485 per share. The company's largest investor is money manager Franklin Resources Inc (BEN.N: ), which has a roughly 19.2 percent stake, according to Thomson ShareWatch. White Mountains said neither it nor Berkshire will realize a taxable gain from the transaction, which requires regulatory approvals and a ruling from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Shares of White Mountains fell $19, or 3.9 percent, to $459 in noon trading. Berkshire's Class A shares fell $405 to $133,400. (Editing by Dave Zimmerman and Gunna Dickson) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 2. Global Subprime Losses Hit $215 Billion: Japan's FSA Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:49am EDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Subprime-related losses at global financial institutions have so far totaled as much as $215 billion, with about 55 percent of that coming from the United States, the head of Japan's financial regulator said on Monday. The estimates from Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) come after JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: ) said in a report late on Friday Wall Street banks are facing a "systemic margin call" that could deplete them of up to $325 billion in capital. European losses totaled about 8 trillion yen ($78.5 billion), while Asia and Canada together accounted for about 1.4 trillion, FSA Chairman Takafumi Sato told reporters at a regular briefing. Japan's financial institutions have so far avoided the massive subprime losses taken by overseas rivals, but they have not escaped unscathed. Subprime losses at Japanese banks more than doubled to 600 billion yen in the last quarter of last year, with total exposure to subprime investments hitting 1.5 trillion yen, the FSA said last month. "Compared to overseas, Japan's subprime-related losses and exposure are relatively limited," Sato said. (Reporting by Reiji Murai; Editing by David Holmes) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 3. Citi Sees $9 Bln Writedowns At U.S. Investment Banks Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:17am (Reuters) - Citigroup forecast $9 billion of writedowns at U.S. investment banks in the first quarter of 2008, primarily driven by additional leveraged loan and mortgage-related losses. The brokerage also cut its price target on several asset managers including Calamos Asset Management Inc (CLMS.O: ) and T. Rowe Price Group (TROW.O: ). Calamos Asset's performance had deteriorated in early 2008 and Citigroup said it does not see a rapid turnaround in outflows during the year. The brokerage said though T. Rowe was one of the best-positioned asset managers to drive meaningful earnings growth, the stock had priced in the prospects and investors should wait for a better entry point to become more aggressive on the shares. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N: ) was most exposed to residential mortgage deterioration during the last week of the quarter, analyst Prashant Bhatia wrote in a note to clients on Friday. He forecast writedowns of $1.6 billion at Lehman. Bhatia also forecast writedowns of $3.2 billion at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N: ), $2.9 billion at Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N: ) and $1.2 billion at Morgan Stanley (MS.N: ). Following are the price target changes made by Citigroup: Stock Price Target Rating New Old T. Rowe Price $54 $60 Hold Calamos $20 $24 Hold Lazard (LAZ.N: ) $40 $50 Hold Och-Ziff Capital (OZM.N: ) $25 $29 Hold Franklin Resources (BEN.N: ) $102 $112 Hold Fortress Investment (FIG.N: ) $14 $19 Hold Legg Mason (LM.N: ) $85 $95 Buy Blackstone Group (BX.N: ) $30 $33 Buy (Reporting by Amulya Nagaraj and Aditi Samajpati in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan, Bernard Orr) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 4. FINRA Fines, Suspends 16 State Farm Representatives for Test-Taking Irregularities in the Firm’s Continuing Education Program Supervisors Directed or Allowed Registered Representatives of State Farm VP Management Corp. to Take “Firm Element” Proficiency Tests for Supervisors or Other Representatives WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined and suspended 16 current and former registered representatives of State Farm VP Management Corp. of Bloomington, IL, for misconduct involving FINRA’s Continuing Education requirements for registered representatives. The individual representatives received fines ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 and suspensions ranging from 30 days to six months. One representative also was barred as a principal. State Farm VP Management Corp. is engaged in the business of selling mutual funds and variable products. Nine of the sanctioned representatives were supervisors who directed or allowed subordinates to take State Farm’s “Firm Element” proficiency test for them. One was a supervisor who directed a subordinate to take the test for other registered representatives. Six of the sanctioned representatives completed the Firm Element test for their superiors. The representatives engaged in this misconduct without any authorization from State Farm. State Farm reported the misconduct to FINRA after uncovering test-taking irregularities in one of its regions and conducting a preliminary investigation. State Farm then expanded its internal investigation nationwide and provided FINRA with its findings. “The Continuing Education requirement leads to better trained and informed securities industry professionals and promotes investor protection,” said Susan L. Merrill, FINRA Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement. “In this case, while the failures by the firm’s brokers to complete the requirements are disappointing enough, it is especially troubling that supervisors directed subordinates to help them avoid this important requirement.” Since 1995, FINRA, in conjunction with other self-regulatory organizations and the Securities Industry/Regulatory Council on Continuing Education, has administered a two-part mandatory Continuing Education Program. The Continuing Education requirements consist of a Regulatory Element and a Firm Element. The Regulatory Element requires all registered persons to take computer-based training, devoted to industry rules and regulations, on the second anniversary of their initial securities registration and every three years thereafter. The Firm Element requires firms to administer appropriate training to their registered persons who have direct contact with customers, and to the registered persons’ immediate supervisors, on an ongoing basis. The training must cover topics specifically related to their business, such as new products, sales practices, risk disclosure, and new regulatory requirements and concerns. The 2005 Firm Element designed by State Farm was an internal, computer-based system. Covered representatives were required to complete a two-hour training session and then pass a proficiency test with a minimum score of 80%. In order to access the Firm Element training session and proficiency test, the participant was required to sign on to the system using a user ID and password. The subordinate representatives who took the test for their superiors signed on as the superiors for whom they were taking the test, using the superiors’ user IDs and passwords. One sanctioned representative, a former registered principal of the firm, Rebecca Sappington, was fined $10,000, barred as a principal and suspended for six months in all capacities. FINRA found that Sappington directed a subordinate to obtain the user IDs and passwords of at least four State Farm registered representatives working in her area, and complete the Firm Element program for these representatives by taking their proficiency tests. When Sappington learned that her directive had not been carried out, she instructed her subordinate to delegate the task to another person, who was an unregistered and newly hired employee of State Farm. This unregistered person then obtained the user IDs and passwords for at least four representatives, logged onto the system and completed the Firm Element program for the representatives by taking their proficiency tests. In concluding these settlements, the registered representatives neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings. The individuals agreed to the following sanctions: Series 26 Principals who directed a subordinate to take their proficiency tests: Todd Rindfuss received a $10,000 fine, a six-month suspension as a principal and a 90-day suspension in all capacities. Michael Stansbury received a $10,000 fine, a six-month suspension as a principal and a 90-day suspension in all capacities. Series 26 Principal who directed subordinates to take the test for others: Rebecca Sappington received a $10,000 fine, a bar as a principal and a six-month suspension in all capacities Series 6 Representatives who directed or allowed a subordinate to take their proficiency tests: Jeffery Coleman received a $5,000 fine and a 60-day suspension. Walter Culbreth received a $5,000 fine and a 60-day suspension. Beverly Lochard received a $5,000 fine and a 60-day suspension. William Nickum received a $5,000 fine and a 60-day suspension. Robert Olive received a $5,000 fine and a 60-day suspension. Valerie Tichy-Drummer received a $5,000 fine and a 60-day suspension. Karen Curtis received a $5,000 fine and a 60 day suspension. Series 6 Representatives who completed the proficiency tests for their superiors: Kenneth Capell received a $5,000 fine and a 30-day suspension. Mayka Hardy received a $5,000 fine and a 30-day suspension. Teresa King received a $5,000 fine and a 30-day suspension. Lori Love received a $5,000 fine and a 30-day suspension. Heather Montagne received a $5,000 fine and a 30-day suspension. John Reich received a $5,000 fine and a 30-day suspension. Investors can obtain more information about, and the disciplinary record of, any FINRA-registered broker or brokerage firm by using FINRA's BrokerCheck. FINRA makes BrokerCheck available at no charge. In 2007, members of the public used this service to conduct 6.7 million reviews of broker or firm records. Investors can access BrokerCheck at www.finra.org/brokercheck or by calling (800) 289-9999. FINRA is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. Created in 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation, FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business - from registering and educating industry participants to examining securities firms; writing rules; enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities; and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and registered firms. Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 5. Germany Plans New Raids In Tax Evasion Probe: Media Sun Mar 9, 2008 3:37pm BERLIN (Reuters) - German authorities investigating tax evasion by Germans using banks in Liechtenstein are planning a new wave of raids after Easter, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported on Sunday. After having searched around 120 homes and offices last month, investigators were planning 30 raids in the next round, the daily said in an advance report of its Monday edition. The high-profile investigation has already led to the resignation of the chief executive of mail group Deutsche Post, and threatens to ensnare other rich, high-profile Germans. International pressure has intensified on Liechtenstein to lift the cloak of secrecy from its banks. Liechtenstein has defended its secrecy rules and says it is cooperating with other countries. The affair began when, according to media reports, Germany's foreign intelligence service paid an informant around 4.2 million euros for information on the accounts of Germans who parked their money in the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein in order to evade tax. (Reporting by Kerstin Gehmlich; Editing by Jon Boyle) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 6. FBI Starts Criminal Probe Into Countrywide, Reports NY Times Sun Mar 9, 2008 6:12pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The FBI has begun a criminal inquiry into the largest U.S. mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: ), for suspected securities fraud as part of investigations into the mortgage crisis, The New York Times reported on Sunday. Citing unnamed government officials with knowledge of the case, the Times said the investigation into whether Countrywide misrepresented its financial condition and the soundness of its loans in securities filings was at an early stage and it was not clear if any charges would result. A Countrywide spokeswoman, Susan Martin, told the newspaper that "we are not aware of any such investigation." The probe was first reported on Saturday in The Wall Street Journal. The Countrywide inquiry follows a broader investigation by the FBI into 14 companies as part of a review of the practices of the mortgage industry, the Times said. A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment. Investigators had been looking at possible accounting fraud or insider trading connected to loans made to borrowers with subprime credit, the Times said. Countrywide already faces federal and state investigations of its lending practices, as well as several lawsuits by investors and mortgage holders. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting about three dozen civil investigations into how subprime loans were made and how securities were valued, the Times said. State investigations include one by the Illinois attorney general, who earlier this month subpoenaed units of Countrywide Financial and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N: ) in a probe of whether the companies violated federal lending and civil rights laws by steering minority borrowers into more expensive loans. In that probe, Countrywide said it would fully cooperate with authorities. Countrywide, drowning in a pool of bad home loans, is in the process of being acquired by Bank of America for about $4 billion. It reported a loss of about $422 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. (Reporting by Christine Kearney; editing by Todd Eastham, Richard Chang) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 7. HumanaOne Introduces New, Flexible Individual Health Insurance Plans in Nine States Individual Insurance Plans from HumanaOne Meet a Wide Range of Consumer Needs LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Humana (NYSE: HUM) today announced the introduction of a new portfolio of individual health insurance plans under its HumanaOne® brand in nine states – Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah. In 2007, Humana introduced the individual health insurance coverage options in 15 other states (listed below), where they have been popular with consumers. The variety of plans makes it easy for individuals and families to select a plan according to their own personal preferences, lifestyles and budgets. HumanaOne plans are designed specifically for self-employed entrepreneurs, small-business employees, part-time workers, students and early retirees. Humana markets HumanaOne plans through insurance agents and brokers, as well as directly to consumers. Health insurance quote applications for the plans are available online or by phone. HumanaOne’s new personal health insurance plan portfolio includes a broad spectrum of benefits – with three in-network coinsurance levels and 17 annual deductible choices – organized into three, distinct packages, for: People who are security-minded and want benefits like those provided by big employers People who want flexibility to fit their financial plan, including HSA-qualified offerings People who want a low-cost plan with a safety net “just in case” The plans can be further customized with optional benefits such as dental insurance, life insurance, and supplemental accident coverage. http://www.humana-one.com/ Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 8. A.D.A.M. to Collaborate with Google on New Health Offering Partnership will provide consumers access to health information through Google Health ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Consumers across the country will soon have easy access to A.D.A.M.’s health information through Google Health, a new product that will help consumers collect, store and manage their health information online. A.D.A.M., Inc. (Nasdaq:ADAM), one of the leading publishers of online consumer health information, announced today that it has entered into a content license agreement with Google, the world’s leading Internet search company. The A.D.A.M. content will be integrated into a feature of Google Health that allows consumers to get information from A.D.A.M. on selected diseases and medical conditions. As recently announced, Google Health is currently in a pilot program with the Cleveland Clinic and is not yet publicly available. “More Americans turn to Google as the starting point for finding information on their health than any other source, and we are excited to be providing them with A.D.A.M.’s high quality and objective content as part of the Google Health experience,” said Kevin Noland, A.D.A.M.’s president and chief executive officer. www.adam.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 9. UMB Healthcare Services’ Dennis Triplett Reacts to Health Care Trend for U.S. Manufacturers KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the dramatic rise in health care costs over the past several years, many companies are frantically searching for options that will allow them to continue to offer employees good coverage at an affordable price. While this is an issue that affects all professions, one particular industry has recently stated this as one of their most challenging issues. The January 2008 issue of Reliable Plant Magazine cited a 2006 National Association of Manufacturers survey of small and medium manufacturers that indicated 87 percent of respondents ranked escalating health care costs as their most pressing problem. Additionally, 69 percent said they had to raise their employees’ rates, and 28 percent said they would begin or increase health savings accounts (HSAs). Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 10. HUB International Acquires Flynn Insurance Forms One of the Largest Insurance Agencies in the Northern Mountain Region CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hub International Limited announced today that Hub International Mountain States Limited (HUB Mountain States) has acquired Flynn Insurance Agency (Flynn), a Montana agency with annual revenues of $6,000,000. Both Flynn and Hub Mountain States currently have offices in Great Falls, Billings and Missoula, MT. An integration of the offices in each location is being considered. With this acquisition, HUB Mountain States becomes one of the largest insurance brokers in Montana. One of Montana’s oldest and most respected insurance agencies, Flynn was started by the Flynn family in the late 1920’s. The family retained ownership until 1997 when the agency was sold internally to a group of employees. Flynn currently has 46 employees managing a diverse book of business that is primarily commercial. The agency is particularly strong in heavy construction and is one of the top two surety bond agencies in Montana. Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 11. C. V. Starr & Company (California) to Offer Contractor's Pollution Liability From Chubb SAN FRANCISCO, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- C.V. Starr & Company (California), a subsidiary of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc., and The Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB) have entered into a program agreement whereby C.V. Starr & Company (California) will begin offering contractor's pollution liability insurance coverage on behalf of Chubb. C.V. Starr & Company (California) will market and underwrite contractor's pollution liability coverage across its well established commercial and residential contractor's book of business. "We are extremely pleased to broaden our partnership with Chubb and to provide our brokers and customers in the construction industry access to quality underwriting and insurance solutions to their many needs," said Jeffrey Hafter, President of C.V. Starr & Company (California). Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 12. Darwin Introduces New Managed Care Corporate Liability Insurance Singe, Integrated Policy Provides E&O, D&O, EPL, Fiduciary, Media, Network Security and Data Privacy Coverage FARMINGTON, Conn., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc. (Darwin), (NYSE: DR) has introduced a new multi-coverage corporate liability insurance product for managed care organizations. In a single, comprehensive policy, Darwin has integrated the following coverage parts, which are critical to address managed care organizations' management and corporate liabilities: -- Professional services errors and omissions (E&O) liability -- Directors and officers (D&O) liability -- Employment practices liability (EPL) -- Fiduciary liability -- Media liability -- Network security and data privacy Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 13. Ambac Plan Unlikely to Boost Ratings-Fitch Analyst Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:02am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A $1.5 billion capital raising plan by Ambac Financial Group Inc (ABK.N: ) is unlikely to lead to a ratings upgrade for Ambac's insurance unit, Fitch Ratings analyst Thomas Abruzzo said on Friday. Fitch in January cut Ambac Assurance Corp to "AA," the third highest rating, from its top "AAA" grade. Ambac said on Friday that it sold $1.5 billion of shares and convertible debt, an effort to shore up its capital and preserve its top ratings by the other two main rating companies, Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service. Bond insurers' ratings have come under pressure after many of the companies expanded beyond their traditional business of insuring safe municipal debt, and into collateralized debt obligations. CDOs include pieces of deteriorating subprime mortgages whose values have plummeted, wreaking havoc on global credit markets. "They still don't have triple A levels of capital, even with this raise," Abruzzo said in an interview. "They need to effectively lower the downside risk on the structured finance CDOs that they have insured," which amounts to about $32 billion, he said. (Editing by Andrea Ricci) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 14. Lehman Cutting 5 Pct Of Workforce Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:26am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N: ), the Wall Street investment bank, is laying off 5 percent of its work force, or about 1,430 people, because of difficult market conditions, a person briefed on the matter said on Monday. The cuts are being made across all divisions and regions, and employees affected are being notified on Monday, the person said. Lehman employed about 28,600 people as of November 30, 2007, according to the company's most recent annual report. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Tim Dobbyn) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 15. Berkshire To Sell White Mountains Insurance Stake Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:20am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N: ) (BRKb.N: ) will sell its 16.3 percent stake in White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd (WTM.N: ) in a transaction valued at $836 million, seven years after investing in the Bermuda-based insurer, White Mountains said on Monday. Berkshire will exchange its 1.724 million shares for about $751 million of cash plus a unit that holds two businesses, Commercial Casualty Insurance Co and International American Group Inc, with $435 million of assets and $58 million of adjusted shareholder equity, White Mountains said. The transaction is valued at $485 per share, it said. Ray Barrette, White Mountains' chief executive, said the agreement lets the Hamilton-based company exit businesses with potentially volatile reserves, use capital more efficiently and redeem stock at a small premium to book value. White Mountains would have about 8.8 million shares after the transaction. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Derek Caney and Dave Zimmerman) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 16. Japan Seeks New Form Of Flu Vaccine, Investors Jump Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:26am EDT TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - A group of Japanese researchers has developed a substance that could potentially help make flu vaccines effective for multiple strains of the disease, including strains of the bird flu virus, Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases said on Monday. The substance faces a lot more testing but investors seized on media reports of it on Monday, pushing the shares of a chemical firm involved in the project, NOF Corp (4403.T: ), up nearly 21 percent. Traditional flu vaccines create antibodies which act against flu viruses, but since virus surfaces frequently mutate, different vaccines have to be made every year. The group found that when a peptide derived from the influenza virus is induced into mice, it could act against cells infected by multiple strains of influenza, including bird flu. Part of the research was reported in the Journal of Immunology in 2006, and the group presented its findings last month at Japan's National Cancer Center. The only tests so far have been on mice. The next step is to develop a vaccine that works against multiple strains of flu and is proved safe for humans, said Tetsuya Uchida, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. "It usually takes about five years to develop vaccines for clinical use. But bird flu is an emerging issue and we would like to develop this as soon as possible," Uchida said. The findings could also potentially be applied to create drugs to treat AIDS, tumours and other diseases, he said. (Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 17. Nationwide Financial Parent Offers $2.2 Billion Buyout Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:29am EDT NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co on Monday offered to buy all the publicly listed shares of Nationwide Financial Services Inc (NFS.N: ) in a $2.2 billion move to simplify the mutual company's ownership structure. Nationwide Mutual, along with other Nationwide affiliates, is offering holders of Nationwide Financial's Class A common stock $47.20 a share in cash -- a 24 percent premium over Friday's closing price of $37.93. Shares in Nationwide Financial, which provides long-term savings and retirement products, soared 25.5 percent to $47.59 on the offer. Prior to the announcement, Nationwide Financial shares had fallen 42 percent since hitting an all-time high of $65.52 in August. (Reporting by Chris Reiter, editing by Gerald E. McCormick) © Reuters 2008 All rights reservedReturn to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 18. China Pacific Insurance delays Hong Kong listing Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:29am EDT HONG KONG, March 10 (Reuters) - China Pacific Insurance (601601.SS: ) has delayed plans to raise roughly $4 billion in a Hong Kong share sale due to poor investor sentiment, sources familiar with the deal said on Monday, dealing another setback to an IPO market that has made a halting start to the year. Shanghai-listed China Pacific, the country's third-biggest life insurer, began pre-marketing a Hong Kong offering last week in a deal handled by China International Capital Corp (CICC), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: ) and UBS (UBSN.VX: ) (UBS.N: ). "They decided to wait for better market conditions," said one of the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. (US$1 = 7.1065 yuan = HK$7.7873 (Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Jean Yoon) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 19. Taiwan's Cathay Posts T$10 Billion Currency Hedging Cost Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:36am EDT .TAIPEI, March 10 (Reuters) - Cathay Financial (2882.TW: ), parent of Taiwan's top life insurer, reported currency hedging costs of T$10 billion ($326 million) in the first two months of 2008, up sharply from a year ago, as it was hit by a run-up in the Taiwan dollar, an executive said on Monday. The Taiwan dollar <TWD=TP> hit an 8-year high in midday trading in Monday. ([TP249451]) Cathay Financial said earlier it made a net loss of T$1.18 billion in February, following a T$1.985 billion loss in January. ($1=$30.68) (Reporting by Faith Hung; editing by Ken Wills) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 20. INSURANCE NEWSCAST "Pictures Of The Day" -- Sponsored By:
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21. Doral Financial Ex-Treasurer Charged with Fraud Fri Mar 7, 2008 1:01am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Doral Financial Corp (DRL.N: ) treasurer, who was a member of the family that founded the Puerto Rican lender, was indicted on Thursday for allegedly scheming to defraud investors, U.S. prosecutors said. Mario Levis, 44, corrupted the process by which Doral determined the publicly reported value of "interest-only strips" by undermining the independence of outside valuations, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan alleged. An interest-only strip is created when a mortgage is split between its interest and principal components. The scheme, which occurred between 2001 and 2005, helped to artificially inflate the company's stock price, prosecutors said. By the beginning of 2005, Doral had announced a streak of 28 quarters of record earnings based in significant part on the stated value of those assets, they said. (Additional reporting by Martha Graybow; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Braden Reddall) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 22. Wellcare Health Plans names new general counsel Learn to Trade with a FREE Guide.NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - WellCare Health Plans Inc (WCG.N: ), which is under investigation by federal and state authorities, said on Monday that it had hired a onetime assistant U.S. attorney as general counsel. WellCare said in January that General Counsel Thaddeus Bereday had resigned, along with its chief executive and chief financial officer. WellCare shares have fallen about 60 percent since the end of October, just before more than 200 federal and state agents raided the company's Tampa, Florida, headquarters. The exact nature of the probe remains unclear. (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 23. Bonds Offer Hedge For 2 Trillion Pound Pension Risks Fri Mar 7, 2008 9:10am EST EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Pension funds should issue bonds in order to protect themselves from the 2 trillion pound risk created by people living longer, pensions experts say. Increasing longevity, prompted by medical advances, is creating a massive financial headache for companies with defined-benefit pension schemes, which guarantee an income in retirement to employees until they die. Firms have been forced to pump billions of pounds into their pension schemes to pay this cost, but the Pensions Regulator has said many still have not fully recognised just how long their employees are likely to live after they leave work. © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 24. Bank Insurance News In Brief – 03/10/08 Today's Bank Insurance In Brief" Is Provided Each Week Courtesy Of Michael White Associates. To Read These Stories , Visit www.bankinsurance.com
25. INSURANCE NEWSLINK Articles Recent articles added to INSURANCE NEWSLINK, the worldwide, strategic concise intelligence database of over 30,000 articles including interviews, uniquely analysed by company, market, research, regulatory, and IT topics. Please click here for a content overview and a 15-day free review. THE TIME EFFECTIVE WAY TO STAY AHEAD
26. New Online Account Tool Puts Financial Professionals in the Driver’s Seat Retirement Dashboard at principal.com saves time, improves efficiency DES MOINES, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Retirement Dashboard, a new online account management tool from the Principal Financial Group®, helps retirement-focused financial professionals save time and work smarter with fast, tailored access to client data. Located in the Principal eFinancial ProfessionalSM (Principal eFP) Web site at www.principal.com, Retirement Dashboard gives financial professionals secure, 24/7 access to information on their qualified retirement plan clients with The Principal®. Retirement Dashboard provides access to at-a-glance client summaries to help financial professionals evaluate their book of business and determine priorities. Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 27. Amerinet Launches Generic Sourcing Program to Reduce Pharmacy Spend ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amerinet Inc., a leading national health care group purchasing organization, announced today a new generic pharmaceuticals program designed to reduce its members spend while maintaining a competitive portfolio of direct agreements with generic and branded pharmaceutical manufacturers. With the rising costs of healthcare, this new program will provide additional value on a competitive formulary of non-injectable pharmaceutical products to all acute care Amerinet members who elect to participate in the program. www.amerinet-gpo.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 28. Aegon To Renew Its Asset Management Structure AEGON Nederland will separate its European and Asian share portfolios into an alpha and a bèta portfolio. Effective from the second quarter of 2008, two new subsidiaries will be responsible for the management of these portfolios. This way AEGON expects to generate additional returns. The responsibility for the total portfolio will remain with AEGON. AEGON Nederland has already separated its US equity portfolio. Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 29. SNL Financial Publishes 2007 Statutory Insurance Data Early release of data shows continued strong profitability in the Property & Casualty, Life & Annuity and Health sectors. Charlottesville, Va. (Mar. 10, 2008) -- SNL Financial, the leading sector-focused provider of essential business intelligence to financial institutions, today made available to clients 2007 annual statutory insurance data for early-filing companies. Included with the release is detailed financial data on each filer, data by state and line of business, Schedule P loss triangle data and summary investment data, with hundreds of ratios, snapshots and analytics to facilitate analysis of this robust dataset. Importantly, SNL also intends to make consolidated insurance group data available in the coming weeks. Out of an expected 2,749 Property & Casualty (P&C) filers, SNL released data on 2,433, or 89%, along with 88% of the 819 expected Life & Annuity filers and 64% of the expected 762 Health filers. SNL's statutory insurance release includes 2007 annual data on 98 of the 100 largest P&C filers and 87 of the 100 largest Life companies based on upon year-end 2006 net premiums written. Thanks to a relatively benign year for catastrophes and favorable loss experience, P&C companies appeared to have enjoyed a net underwriting profit for the third time over the past four years. 2007 marks only the third year of underwriting profits since 1978. The average combined ratio for the early reporters was 95.0%, compared with 92.4% in 2006. Average return on equity (pre-tax operating income divided by average capital & surplus) for the group declined to 13.2% from 16.4% a year ago in part from a 7% increase in policyholders' surplus year-over-year. Results were slightly more favorable for the life industry relative to 2006. The early life reporters generated an average return on equity of 15.8% in 2007, compared with 15.6% in 2006. Early health filers reported weaker but still impressive results with an average return on average equity of 21.5%, down from 25.5% in 2006. www.SNL.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 30. RMS Comments on Windstorm Johanna The strong winds and heavy rain impacting the UK and France today are a result of a deep low pressure system crossing the UK called windstorm Johanna. There are reports of power outages, downed trees and scattered damage in southern England. As Johanna continues to track east across the UK, winds are expected to ease in the south of England for a time and then increase again on Monday afternoon/evening. The Met Office has warnings in place for Severe Gales in South West England, with gusts reaching up to 37 metres per second (120-140km/hr) in parts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The storm has coincided with spring tides in the south of England, and strong south to south-westerly winds over the Atlantic and in the Channel have built up large swells and high seas. The Environment Agency (EA) started issuing flood warnings on Sunday, 9 March and as of Monday morning, 10 March there were 7 severe flood warnings in place covering Cornwall and Devon and 58 flood warnings, mainly focused in the South of England. Particularly heavy bands of showers associated with the storm, moving east across southern areas of England could exacerbate the situation in the next 6-12 hours. www.rms.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article 31. Ameriprise Financial and MasterCard Worldwide Launch Credit, Debit Product Suite Ameriprise Financial cards and loyalty program offer premium benefits and rewards to affluent consumers MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) issued its first branded payment cards with MasterCard Worldwide today. This suite of payment cards includes the Ameriprise World Elite® MasterCard®, Ameriprise World MasterCard® and Ameriprise MasterCard® cards as well as the Ameriprise Bank Debit MasterCard®. “As America’s leader in financial planning1, we at Ameriprise Financial are focused on helping our clients achieve their financial goals,” said Joe Sweeney, president of financial planning products and services for Ameriprise Financial. “We’re confident this new suite of payment cards will be a powerful tool for clients and will help them manage both sides of their balance sheet – assets and liabilities.” www.ameriprise.com Return to Headlines - - Print Article / Read Entire Article / E-Mail Article
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