Deals & People April 30, 2012

Genworth Financial Names Chief Investment Officer

Daniel J. Sheehan IV has been named senior vice president and chief investment officer of Genworth Financial Inc., effective April 30.

 

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Sheehan has been with Genworth since its initial public offering in 2004. Previously (since 1997), he was with its former parent, General Electric Company (GE). He held various roles, including in real estate and risk and portfolio management. In his most recent position as senior vice president of asset management, he was responsible for the overall performance of Genworth’s insurance investment portfolios, such as corporates, structured investments, real estate, private placements and trading. Sheehan was named a Genworth officer in January 2009.

He assumes the senior vice president and chief investment officer role from Ronald P. Joelson, who is leaving Genworth to join The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company as chief investment officer.

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Before joining GE and Genworth, Sheehan was a property investment officer in the real estate investments group Sun Life of Canada. Sheehan is a chartered financial analyst, and he received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard and an MBA in finance from Babson College. Sheehan will report to Michael D. Fraizer, chairman and chief executive officer.

Compliance April 27, 2012

Bipartisan Bill Seeks Expanded Oversight of Advisers

The House Financial Services Committee  introduced legislation that would authorize one or more self-regulatory organizations (SROs) for advisers.

 

 

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Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) are co-authors of the Investment Adviser Oversight Act of 2012.

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Investment advisers and broker/dealers often provide indistinguishable services to retail customers, yet only 8% of investment advisers were examined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2011 compared with 58% of broker/dealers, the Committee noted.

“The average SEC-registered investment adviser can expect to be examined less than once every 11 years. That lack of oversight, particularly in the aftermath of the Madoff scandal, is unacceptable,” Bachus said. “Bad actors will naturally flow to the place where they are least likely to be examined.  Therefore, it is essential that we augment and supplement the SEC’s oversight to dramatically increase the examination rate for investment advisers with retail customers.”

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is in favor of the bill and said in a statement, “…. the current level of IA exams is unacceptable, and SROs can help fill this untenable gap in the protection of investment advisory clients.”

But advisers may not be in favor of FINRA as a regulator. “A recent investment adviser survey found that 80% of advisers would prefer SEC oversight to handing it over to FINRA,”  said Karen Nystrom, NAPFA’s director of public policy and advocacy at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.

The legislation would amend the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to provide for the creation of National Investment Adviser Associations (NIAAs), registered with and overseen by the SEC. Advisers who conduct business with retail customers would have to become members of a registered NIAA. The SEC would have the authority to approve the registration of any NIAA.

 

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