Products January 26, 2009

Prudential Hosts Webinar to Help Individuals Rebuild Savings

Prudential is hosting a Webinar called "Conversations About Retirement..What Do I Do Now?" Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
Reported by

A Prudential news release said its free Webinar features retirement specialists who will address The Four Pillars of U.S. Retirement. Prudential said the Webinar is open to anyone interested in learning tips and understanding the choices and tools that are available to help rebuild their retirement savings.

As some pre-retirees are facing a new reality with significant declines in their 401(k) plans as a result of the recent stock market meltdown, they want to know, “What do I do now?’

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Prudential said Americans are seeking professional guidance as they face significantly reduced retirement nest eggs and the prospect of a smaller retirement income stream.

“Traditionally, retirement security has been thought of in terms of the three-legged stool—that is, Social Security, workplace-provided programs and personal savings,” said Christine Marcks, president of Prudential Retirement, in the release. “At Prudential, we’ve added a fourth pillar, Retirement Choices, to capture the lifestyle and financial considerations that impact retirement security and take on even greater significance in difficult market conditions.”

During Tuesday’s Webinar, Prudential said the panel of retirement specialists will provide insights into strategies Americans can employ with respect to each of The Four Pillars:

  • Social Security: James Mahaney, vice president, Institutional Income Innovation at Prudential Retirement
  • Workplace-provided programs: James Kalamarides, senior vice president, Retirement Solutions at Prudential Retirement
  • Personal savings: Lynette Khalfani-Cox, “The Money Coach,’ personal finance expert
  • Retirement Choices: Jean Cheng Setzfand, director of Financial Security at AARP.

James Cornell, senior vice president at Prudential Retirement, will moderate the discussion.

Interested individuals can participate by visiting www.prudential.com and clicking on the Conversations About Retirement banner to sign up.

Compliance January 26, 2009

Mass. Broker Allegedly Scammed Investors out of $2M

A Massachusetts broker might lose his registration and be forced to repay losses for allegedly stealing more than $2 million by selling clients phony investments.
Reported by

According to a complaint filed by the Enforcement Section of the Massachusetts Securities Division, Gregg Thomas Rennie was registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an agent of six broker/dealer firms and a licensed insurance producer. However, he is not currently registered to sell securities or offer investment advice in the Commonwealth. He even served as a talk show host on a radio program titled “Your Money Radio,’ which aired in the Boston area.

Beginning in at least 2007, the Quincy-based broker orchestrated an elaborate scheme to defraud Massachusetts investors, the complaint said. He used a combination of legitimate investment offerings and fictitious bank accounts bearing the same or similar name.

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Rennie lured investors by offering annual returns of as much as 13%. He was eventually able to obtain amounts likely in excess of $2 million from investors, according to the documents. Rennie also leveraged the name recognition of a Boston-based firm by pitching legitimate-sounding opportunities such as “Olde Boston Capital Fund,’ “Old Boston Capital II, LLC,’ and “Boston Capital II, LLC’ to unsuspecting investors. Rennie would open bank accounts bearing the name of the investment fund, but apparently keep them under his control.

Like other investment frauds of late, Rennie’s activity was unearthed when investors began to ask to draw on funds during the economic downturn. Rennie encouraged investors to abandon withdrawal attempts and became evasive, even stopping communication with some investors. His most recent employing broker/dealer firm terminated his registration as an agent as of January 13, the complaint said.

Among other things, the Massachusetts Securities Division requests that the Director of Hearing officer give up all profits from the alleged wrongdoing and revoke his registration.

The complaint is available here.

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