Deals & People December 19, 2008

Kraus to Take Reins at AllianceBernstein

The board of directors at AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has named Peter S. Kraus Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Reported by
Kraus, 56, succeeds Lewis A. Sanders, 62, who is retiring from the firm after 40 years of service, according to the announcement.
Kraus was most recently an executive vice president, the head of global strategy and a member of the Management Committee of Merrill Lynch & Co. He previously spent 22 years with Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., where he served for seven years as co-head of the Investment Management Division and a member of the Management Committee, as well as the head of firm-wide strategy and chairman of the Strategy Committee. He also served as co-head of the Financial Institutions Group. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 1986, Kraus was an audit partner at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co.
Christopher M. “Kip” Condron, AllianceBernstein board member and CEO of AXA Financial, said, “We are thrilled to have an executive of Peter’s caliber and experience to lead AllianceBernstein. Peter has broad managerial and investment experience, having held senior positions in the financial services industry, including co-head of Goldman Sachs’s Investment Management Division. His stellar track record, wealth of expertise and a firmly-held belief in a disciplined investment process make him an ideal fit for AllianceBernstein.”
Compliance December 19, 2008

Minneapolis Profit-Sharing Plan Also Victim of Ponzi Scheme

The list of retirement plan victims of a huge Ponzi scheme authorities claim was run by Bernard Madoff continues to grow.
Reported by

The entire profit-sharing plan run by suburban Minneapolis drugmaker Upsher-Smith Laboratories was placed with Madoff’s firm.

A news report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune said Joel Green, general counsel and vice president of legal affairs at Upsher-Smith, declined to estimate how much money might be lost and how many past and current Upsher-Smith employees are affected.

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But the newspaper said that because federal regulators froze assets in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC as part of their probe of Madoff, Upsher-Smith’s employees can’t access their account balances. The firm has about 550 workers.

Former employees told reporters that most Upsher-Smith workers qualified for the profit-sharing plan and that some had built up more than $100,000 in their accounts. Employees were told that their assets were frozen and they would get further information.

The company may also suffer because members of the Evenstad family, who own a majority of Upsher-Smith’s stock, also invested with Madoff, the newspaper said. Employees speculated that those family losses could affect the company’s drug development plans.

According to the Star Tribune, Upsher-Smith said it wants to have four new drugs on the market by 2017, including a drug that helps treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

See also: “401(k) Plan Invested with Madoff’

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