Deals & People October 11, 2011

New RIA Firm Opens in Rochester, N.Y.

Lori Van Dusen has founded LVW Advisors (LVW), a Rochester, New York-based independent registered investment adviser (RIA), which will join the Focus Financial Partners network. 
Reported by

Launched on October 10, LVW will focus on developing customized investment management solutions and comprehensive wealth plans for institutional investors, ultra high-net-worth individuals, and family offices.  

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For the past three years, Van Dusen has been the co-head of Convergent Wealth Advisors’ Institutional Group, where she served on the Executive and Investment Committees. Prior to that, she was Managing Director with CitiGroup/Smith Barney Institutional Consulting, which is where she began her investment career in 1986.  

In anticipation of the launch, the LVW team has added to its staff, which has collectively been working together with Van Dusen for over a decade. In addition to Van Dusen, the leadership team will include Richard ‘Rick’ Van Kuren who has 20 years of experience in the industry and 15 years with Van Dusen.

According to the announcement, Van Dusen has been recognized as a pioneer in the consulting and wealth management industry for over two decades, having received many industry accolades throughout her career. Most recently, she was ranked #3 on the 2011 list of Women Financial Advisors by Barron’s with assets under advisory listed at $4.9 billion.   

Van Dusen has ranked among America’s Top 100 Financial Advisors in Barron’s for the past eight consecutive years. She was also named in 2010 as the Non-profit Consultant of the Year by Institutional Investor’s Foundation & Endowment Money Management. 

Van Dusen received her Masters of Education degree from Harvard University and graduated Magna cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ithaca College. She holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation, administered by Investment Management Consultants Association and taught in conjunction with The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.   

Products October 11, 2011

Morningstar Expands Analytics to Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities

Morningstar's structured credit ratings business is introducing a residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) ratings and surveillance analytics service.
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The service, RMBS Ratings and Analytics, will provide institutional investors with analytics, Morningstar’s monthly DealView Credit Analysis, and timely letter ratings on thousands of secondary market RMBS transactions. The service will be focused toward the investor community, and will improve market transparency, ratings stability, and especially the timeliness of surveillance reviews and ratings updates.    

Each Morningstar RMBS rating will undergo a rating review every month, which will allow the analysis to quickly reflect market changes. In addition to Morningstar’s monthly DealView analysis and letter ratings, the new service will feature an interactive statistical model with investor-driven assumption capabilities, updated performance data, default probabilities, and loss severity projections.    

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“Before the recent credit crisis, the traditional rating agencies considered a transaction to be performing normally unless it broke an ‘exception’ threshold, in which case it would then be subject to a full surveillance review. In today’s dynamic post-crisis mortgage world, the passive surveillance routine of the past is no longer acceptable. Investors are demanding a surveillance process that is proactive, timely, and transparent,” said Robert Dobilas, President of Morningstar’s structured credit ratings business.

Investors interested in scheduling a demonstration of RMBS Ratings and Analytics can contact Morningstar at 800-299-1665 or ratingagency@morningstar.com.

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