UBS Bulks Up Equity Compensation Unit

Karen Damaso has joined UBS Wealth Management America to support new business development initiatives in the equity compensation services division.

Based in New Jersey, Damaso will focus on driving corporate client sales with key prospects in collaboration with financial advisers. She will report to Michael Barry, head of the business.

Damaso joins UBS with more than 16 years of corporate sales experience and seven years of corporate equity compensation experience. Her previous roles include director of sales at Equity Methods, a pioneer of FAS 123R/ASC 718 software and provider of consulting services for the valuation and expensing of share-based awards. She has also been director of sales at Bank of American Merrill Lynch.

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At both firms, Damaso helped corporate clients solve complex equity valuation and financial reporting compliance challenges.  Prior to joining Equity Methods, Damaso held various sales leadership roles for corporate financial services and tax consulting firms, as well as start-up technology ventures. 

Damaso holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana.

UBS Wealth Management Americas is a division of UBS AG.

American Independence Unveils Risk-Managed ETF

American Independence Financial Services LLC rolled out the Risk-Managed Allocation Fund, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that seeks long-term growth and is available in three share classes.

Stock tickers for the shares of the global asset-allocation strategy, designed to appeal to investors concerned about volatility, are AARMX  (A shares); ACRMX  (C shares); and RMAIX (I shares). The fund’s subadviser is JAForlines,  an asset manager specializing in risk-managed, ETF-based global allocation investment solutions. The fund will be marketed to financial intermediaries throughout the U.S.

The Risk-Managed Allocation Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation while providing lower-than-average risk. The fund is an actively managed, multi-asset class portfolio that uses ETFs to take advantage of market trends globally. It will invest in fixed income, equities and alternatives, including commodities, real estate and currencies, across the U.S., Europe, Asia and emerging markets. The fund also has the capability to move to cash in times of extreme market duress.

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The fund offers agile management, a broad array of asset classes and a global ETF focus for investors who are concerned about volatility and the dangers of single-asset class investing, said John Pileggi, managing partner of American Independence.

According to John A. Forlines III, chairman and chief investment officer of JAForlines, an investment strategy must look at opportunities globally and across asset classes, in order to achieve long-term growth and minimize losses. The fund actively manages risk through investment in efficient index vehicles, Forlines said, a reflection of the firm’s core investment philosophy.

American Independence  is a New York investment advisory firm, and manager of mutual funds and separate accounts.

 

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