Deals & People November 6, 2007

Hartford Names New Fund Family Chief

The Hartford Financial Services Group has named Keith Sloane to the newly created position of senior vice president to lead the company’s mutual fund and 529 businesses.
Reported by
Sloane joins The Hartford’s Retail Products Group team after spending 12 years at Wachovia Securities where he was most recently Managing Director of Product Marketing, a Hartford news release said.
According to the announcement, Sloane led the Wachovia mutual fund business as well as marketing and product efforts for a range of financial products, including 529 college savings plans. Prior to joining Wachovia Securities, Sloane worked at PaineWebber for eleven years.
Along with the Sloane appointment, Hartford also announced its mutual fund family has surpassed $50 billion in assets under management as of October 1, 2007, doubling in less than three years and up 38% from just one year ago.
“We have great ambitions for our mutual fund business and believe we have the momentum, products, and talent to continue to expand our position in the industry,’ said Rob Arena, senior vice president for the Retail Products Group at The Hartford, in the announcement.
Products November 5, 2007

PowerShares Powers Up Three More ETFs

PowerShares Capital Management LLC has announced three new additions to its family of fixed-income ETFs.
Reported by
The new offerings include a tax-free variable rate demand obligations (VRDO) portfolio, as well as high-quality preferred and U.S. dollar denominated high-yield corporate bond portfolios. These new PowerShares ETF portfolios are expected to begin trading on the American Stock Exchange on November 15.
The anticipated ticker symbols and portfolio names are:
  • PVI – PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio
  • PGX – PowerShares Preferred Portfolio
  • PHB – PowerShares High Yield Corporate Bond Portfolio
According to a press release, product information on PowerShares’ three new fixed-income ETF portfolios are as follows:
The PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio (PVI) seeks to replicate the Thomson Municipal Market Data VRDO Index. This index is designed to track the performance of a pool of short-term, tax-exempt variable rate demand obligations issued by municipalities in the United States. The rules-based index is rebalanced quarterly, and excludes issues subject to alternative minimum tax (AMT).
The PowerShares Preferred Portfolio seeks to replicate the Merrill Lynch Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index. This index is designed to replicate the total return of a diversified group of high-quality preferred securities. The rules-based index is rebalanced monthly and selects U.S. dollar-dominated, investment-grade preferred securities, with fixed dividend rates.

The PowerShares High Yield Corporate Bond Portfolio seeks to replicate the Wachovia High Yield Bond Index. This index measures potential returns of high-yield corporate bonds rated below investment grade by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch, issued by U.S. or foreign private issuers that are payable in U.S. dollars. The index methodology evaluates securities quarterly using an equal-weighting methodology, and requires the securities have a minimum of five years to maturity, minimum par values and fixed interest rates.

PowerShares Capital Management LLC has a family of over 100 domestic and international exchange-traded funds. With franchise assets of approximately $35 billion, PowerShares ETFs trade on all three U.S. stock exchanges.

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More information is at http://www.powershares.com

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