Short Interests: Scandals’ Impact on Schwab roster

Remember when business titans were oracles, and anyone inside Washington’s beltway was mucking up the works? The tide has turned.

Charles Schwab & Co.’s 2002 IMPACT Conference is taking on more of an air of a political convention than an investment conference.

Not only is it being held in our nation’s capital, but the list of speakers released Thursday reveals that virtually none of its featured speakers are from the business world.

Keynote speakers include Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state, and Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser. In another keynote session, CNN anchorwoman Judy Woodruff will speak.

Also scheduled to speak are Charles R. Schwab and David “Bull” Baker, a retired general who is managing director of the Schwab Washington Research Group.

Musical legend and humanitarian Harry Belafonte will speak on social reform in light of world affairs.

In addition, there will be 40 educational sessions hosted by, yes, investment professionals.

One’s firing, one’s hiring

Schwab and Advent Software Inc. occasionally may tussle for greater control of independent advisers, but the San Francisco firms are not after the same employees.

Schwab spent last week in the media spotlight, explaining the significance of laying off hundreds of workers. But Wednesday, Advent – along with Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. – was the subject of a local TV news feature looking at those few firms still aggressively hiring in the Bay area. An Advent spokeswoman says that most of the recruiting is of software engineers.

Rich taking it to the bank

Banks may be beneficiaries of the bear market as more high-income investors express interest in protection products such as variable and fixed annuities and life insurance, according to a survey sponsored by Nationwide Financial Services Inc. in Columbus, Ohio.

The 2002 Nationwide Financial Survey found that the incidence of high-income professionals using banks for financial planning has more than doubled since last year to 18%, from 7%. The majority, 53%, say they would consult a bank first for fixed-rate products, and they also expressed growing interest in products with protection features, which may be a cross-selling opportunity for banks.

“High-income clients are looking for plans that include protection coupled with their pursuit of performance,” says Matthew Riebel, president of Nationwide Financial Institutions Distributors Agency Inc. “And more and more of these clients are coming to banks for guidance and solutions. This is a tremendous opportunity for banks to increase their share of the market.”

The survey of 500 investors who make at least $150,000 a year found that their positive impression of equity products had decreased by as much as 10 percentage points from last year’s survey, while their impression of products with protection features had increased by 10 percentage points. The survey was conducted by Greenwald & Associates Inc., a Washington polling firm.