Sentinel Fills Sales Management Positions

Sentinel Investments, the investment management arm of National Life Group, said it has filled several key roles in its distribution channel.

The positions at Sentinel Financial Services Company, distributor of the Sentinel Funds, are aimed to reflect is commitment to financial advisers as well as its expansions at both wirehouses and independent dealers, the company said.

“I am pleased to see the expansion of our distribution team into key regions of the country where Sentinel clearly has significant opportunities to build strong relationships with financial advisers,” said Jim Cronin, president of Sentinel Financial Services Company, in a release.

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Jamie Atkinson joined the firm as senior vice president, Eastern Division sales manager. Atkinson most recently served as senior vice president of Business Development at LCM Group, a provider of hedge fund investment vehicles. Prior to LCM, Atkinson served as senior vice president, National Sales Manager at Heritage Asset Management—the mutual fund arm of Raymond James. He has also held senior sales positions at SEI, Alliance Capital, and Bank of America.

Marcus Kempton joined Sentinel as regional vice president for the Heartland region, responsible for sales of Sentinel investment products in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska. Prior to joining Sentinel, he was a regional vice president with MetLife in the same region.

Timothy Dolan joined Sentinel as regional vice president for the Metro New York region, responsible for sales of Sentinel investment products in Northern New Jersey, New York City, Westchester County, and Long Island. He joins Sentinel from Banc of America Investment Services, where he was most recently Market Sales Manager for the firm’s New York branch. Prior to Banc of America, Dolan spent six years with Morgan Stanley.

William Connerly joined Sentinel as regional vice president for the South Central region, responsible for sales of Sentinel investment products in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Connerly most recently served as vice president with Morgan Stanley’s Consulting Services Group in the Southwest region.

Michael Glatkowski joined Sentinel as regional vice president for the North Central region, responsible for sales of Sentinel investment products in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Glatkowski joins Sentinel from Heartland Advisors where he headed up the firm’s sales and marketing efforts as vice president of Sales & National Accounts.

Jerrod DeShaw joined Sentinel as vice president, Key Accounts manager and will be responsible for developing and strengthening key account relationships with dealer firms. DeShaw joins Sentinel from John Hancock Funds, where he held a similar position within the Key Accounts team.

In addition to new appointments, two Sentinel announced two promotions. Peter Hebert was promoted to senior vice president, director of Retirement and Subadvisory Services. He joined Sentinel in February 2007 and is responsible for Sentinel’s efforts within the investment-only defined contribution (IODC) and subadvisory channels.

J. Lee Madden, Jr., was promoted to vice president, Investment Strategy. He has been an integral part of the firm’s distribution strategy focused on gatekeepers and Fund Selection Units at key dealer firms.


NY Next to Target UBS

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against UBS AG over its role in the sale of auction-rate securities, Bloomberg reported.

Just as Massachusetts securities regulator William Galvin did in June (see UBS Securities Faces Charges of Fraud by Mass. Authority), Cuomo alleged the Zurich-based bank committed fraud, misleading investors by its marketing of the long-term securities as money market-like instruments that were easy to buy and sell. He also said the bank continued selling the debt even as the market unraveled and top bank executives unloaded $21 million in personal auction-rate holdings.

In the wake of the Massachusetts charges, UBS AG announced a plan to buy back as much as $3.5 billion of auction-rate preferred shares (see UBS Agrees to Repay Investors of Risky Securities).

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In response to the suit by Cuomo UBS spokeswoman Karina Byrne said the bank “categorically rejects any claim that the firm engaged in a widespread campaign” to shift auction-rate debt off its books and into client accounts, and that “While UBS does not believe that there was illegal conduct by any employee, we have found cases of poor judgment by certain individuals and are evaluating appropriate disciplinary measures for these individuals,” according to Bloomberg.

In other actions, the Texas State Securities Board this week filed a notice of hearing to suspend UBS’s state license, Bloomberg repored.

The market for these securities relied on weekly and monthly auctions run by brokerage firms, and the market failed when, starting in February, the auctions attracted only sellers and no buyers. Cuomo earlier this year subpoenaed 18 banks that sold auction-rate securities.

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