Products November 8, 2007

John Hancock Program Helps Advisers Capture Rollover Assets

John Hancock now offers a program designed to help 401(k) plan advisers capture and retain rollover assets when participants leave 401(k) plans.
Reported by

The “Rollover Rewards’ program is designed to direct qualified participants back to the adviser of record on the plan, a press release said. In addition to referring qualified participants back to the plan adviser, John Hancock said it will build a call center to help smaller-balance participants with their rollovers.

The call center will assist those investors who would like to self-direct their rollover IRA using John Hancock mutual funds.

“Everyone tells advisers they need to make rollovers a bigger part of their business but few firms actually help them,’ said David Longfritz, Senior Vice President and General Manager, John Hancock Retirement Income & Rollover Solutions (RIRS), in the release. “Our new program is particularly exciting for plan advisers in that we will help them benefit from business beyond plan sales. Because we cast a broader net with this program, we can identify assets that may be leaving plans before the advisers are aware of it, and can help those advisors retain the assets within their system.’

The program is available only to participants in 401(k) plans provided by John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (RPS). Jim Brockelman, Executive Vice President, National Sales, with John Hancock RPS, said in the release: “We are confident that plan sponsors will appreciate what is effectively an outsourced educational resource for their terminating employees.’

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation. More information can be found at www.manulife.com.

Compliance November 8, 2007

Former UBS Broker Faces Fraud Suit over Hedge Fund

A U.S. hedge fund run by a former UBS AG broker is facing fraud claims in an arbitration complaint filed by investors.
Reported by

Reuters reports that a hedge fund run by Sample & Cross Capital Management lost 75% of its value in a single day of trading.

Sample & Cross Capital Management was formed by former UBS employees Matthew Sample and J. David Cross, who ran the fund, and suffered heavy losses in August. Sample and Cross told investors in an August 17 letter: “It is with great sadness that we are announcing the closing of the Vega Opportunity Fund…The recent unprecedented market gyrations in the past month required that we take protective action to stem further losses in our strategy.’

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Investor losses from soured option trades by the Vega Opportunity Fund could approach $100 million, according to securities lawyer Andrew Stoltmann, who is representing some investors, the news report said.

The complaint filed late last month with the American Arbitration Association accuses Sample and Cross of violating the antifraud provisions of Illinois securities law, saying Sample and Cross marketed the hedge fund’s strategy as seeking capital preservation, according to Reuters.

«