Products April 22, 2009

MetLife Launches Updated Wealth Management Platform

The MetLife Broker-Dealer Group launched enhancements to its Wealth Management Services (WMS) platform, including a flexible unified managed account (UMA).
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The online investment advisory platform enables advisers to integrate a client’s accounts into a single, consolidated portfolio, MetLife said in a news release. WMS is available through all broker/dealer channels at MetLife, including MetLife Securities, New England Securities, Tower Square Securities, and Walnut Street Securities. WMS was introduced in 2005 in partnership with PNC Global Investment Servicing and Pershing, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

Available products on the platform now include:

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  • mutual fund wrap
  • custom mutual fund wrap
  • representative as portfolio manager
  • multi-discipline accounts (MDA)
  • separately managed accounts (SMA)
  • flexible UMA.

MetLife said the platform provides:

  • integrated views for multiple investment vehicles, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds, alternative investments, etc.;
  • proprietary investment research via ADVISORport Inc., a PNC company;
  • customized views and reporting that accommodate single or multiple firms and/or distribution channels, as well as multiple offices, roles, and hierarchies.

“Having flexible products and platforms for use by our advisers in meeting client needs is essential,” said Jeffrey Wilk, vice president, Broker-Dealer Investment and Advisory Product Management. “Operating with a one-size-fits-all investment/advisory product philosophy no longer works, and our WMS platform now has the flexibility to meet virtually any need.”

 

Deals & People April 22, 2009

Citi Appoints McWhinney to Head Personal Wealth Management Group

Citi announced that Deborah Doyle McWhinney will head Citi Personal Wealth Management, comprising the existing U.S. network of Citibank branch-based financial advisers and other financial planning and wealth management services.
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In this new role, McWhinney will lead Citibank’s efforts to “expand its wealth management service and premium personal banking services to provide customers with high quality, comprehensive, and customized financial advice and guidance,’ the bank said in a news release.

Citi Personal Wealth Management will offer a full array of personal wealth management and banking services to Citibank customers, Citi said.

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After retiring as president of Charles Schwab Institutional in 2007, McWhinney served as CEO and president of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Prior to that, she served on Schwab’s Management Committee; the Board of the Charles Schwab Bank, N.A.; the Charles Schwab Foundation Board; and was chairperson of the Global Risk Committee. Before joining Schwab, McWhinney was executive vice president at Visa International and spent the preceding 17 years with Bank of America Corporation.

In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed McWhinney to the Board of Directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). McWhinney is a past chairperson of the University of Montana Foundation’s Board of Trustees. In 2007, she was elected to the California Institute of Technology Board of Trustees.

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