Products August 6, 2009

MSSB Expands Unlimited FDIC Insurance Program

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney announced that clients can access unlimited Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance on cash held through its Bank Deposit Programs.

Reported by

Unlimited FDIC insurance has been available to legacy Morgan Stanley clients since February and is now also available to legacy Smith Barney clients, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney said.

“This program has helped financial advisers attract significant new assets and keep cash ready to invest as market opportunities arise,” said Cece Sutton, head of Retail Banking for Morgan Stanley.

Under the FDIC’s Transaction Account Guarantee Program (TAGP), funds held through the Bank Deposit Programs are eligible for unlimited FDIC insurance. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney pays supplemental FDIC insurance premiums in order to insure these deposits for its clients.

The program is available to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney clients who have $2 million or more in deposits per account.



Products August 6, 2009

iShares Offers SMA Comparison Tools

iShares introduced three free separately managed account (SMA) Web tools for financial professionals and their clients.

Reported by

The Web tools—iShares’ Asset Class Illustrator (ACI), Correlation Calculator (CC), and Core Satellite Portfolio Builder (CSPB)—provide “apple-to-apple” comparisons with SMAs versus iShares ETFs, stocks, and mutual funds, according to iShares. The tools also compare standard deviation, active risk, active return, cumulative returns, and asset correlations.

The data feed includes more than 1300 companies and over 7600 funds, according to iShares.

The new tools are available here.




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