CFA Institute tome collects seminar presentations

In celebration of the Financial Analysts Seminar’s 50th anniversary, the CFA Institute has collected 22 of the conference’s…

In celebration of the Financial Analysts Seminar’s 50th anniversary, the CFA Institute has collected 22 of the conference’s most insightful presentations in one anthology, “Global Perspectives on Investment Management: Learning from the Leaders.” The seminar, first held in 1956, is a weeklong conference held annually in July by the CFA Society of Chicago and the CFA Institute, headquartered in Charlottesville, Va.
Presentations in the anthology include those of Edward I. Altman, who explores the corporate-debt market; Ronald Layard-Liesching, who explores the role of commodities in portfolios; and Abby Joseph Cohen, who examines a global environment in flux.

Transamerica updates second-to-die VUL
Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Co. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has introduced a new version of its premium second-to-die universal life insurance policy, TransACE Survivor. Modifications include the addition of a return-of-premium death benefit option and reduced premium rates for those under 75. That option, called the Plus-Premium Option, allows beneficiaries to receive the face amount plus the premiums paid net of any refunds, partial surrenders, loans, and premiums due and unpaid, up to a maximum death benefit of four times the face amount.

ChannelMining offers tool for 529 plans
ChannelMining Solutions Inc. in Boston has launched Education Funding Services, a college savings solution. The web-based planning tool is designed to be used with the assistance of a financial adviser to develop a comprehensive plan for funding a college education.
Among other functions, it helps broker-dealers meet new mutual fund and Section 529 plan suitability requirements, including determining whether such a plan is appropriate for a client, and solving issues with choosing out-of-state 529 plans.

BlackRock launches target date portfolios
BlackRock Inc. in New York now offers the Lifecycle Prepared Portfolios, a series of nine individual portfolios with target maturity dates ranging from 2010 through 2050. They are designed specifically for defined contribution plans and the long-term retirement goals of plan participants.

Record keeper CPI begins site upgrades
CPI Qualified Plan Consultants Inc., a third-party record-keeping and administration company in Great Bend, Kan., has released the first in a series of enhancements to its plan sponsor, participant and financial adviser Internet sites
Features include a redesign of the company website, extended Spanish-language capabilities, automatic account realignment and tracking of beneficiary information.

CPA2Biz upgrades e-commerce website
CPA2Biz Inc., a subsidiary of The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in New York, has launched the next generation of its e-commerce website, cpa2biz.com. The site features many new capabilities, beginning with a prominent navigation area that allows CPAs to browse by topic, job area and product type.

Fidessa tool provides direct liquidity access
Fidessa Group PLC of London has launched the Fidessa Global DLA service in the United States.
Built using Fidessa’s latest trading architecture, it provides broker-sponsored direct liquidity access to all major U.S. venues for the buyside hedge fund community.
The Fidessa DLA service is available through direct, low-latency FIX connections or through the Fidessa Execution Management Service.

Sun Life unit deploys Scivantage Professional
Independent Financial Marketing Group Inc., a Purchase, N.Y.-based subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc. in Toronto, has deployed Scivantage Professional to deliver real-time automated account opening, trade-order-processing and account management capabilities to its network of financial institutions.
Scivantage Professional, offered by Scivantage Inc. of Jersey City, N.J., provides an integrated suite of applications to open and maintain brokerage and annuity accounts, direct mutual fund trades, and to access centralized client and account data from a single browser-based interface.