Great-West B-D to pay $1.5 million over retirement account failures
The Securities and Exchange Commission says the firm knew that hackers were trying to access participant accounts but didn’t report them.
May 12, 2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission has censured and imposed a $1.5 million penalty on Colorado-based GWFS Equities, a broker-dealer affiliate of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. that specializes in managing retirement accounts, for failing to file approximately 130 suspicious activity reports.
GWFS is record keeper for retirement plans with approximately 9.4 million participant accounts and more than $700 billion in assets, according to the SEC.
The SEC charged that from September 2015 through October 2018, GWFS was aware that hackers were making increasing attempts to gain access to the retirement accounts of individual plan participants.
CalSTRS CEO looks back on 20 years of triumphs and challenges
CalSTRS CEO looks back on 20 years of triumphs and challenges
Retiring CalSTRS CEO Jack Ehnes
Jack Ehnes said he thrives on challenges, and during his close to 20 years at the helm of the nation s second-largest public pension plan, there have been some doozies.
During Mr. Ehnes tenure as CEO, officials at the California State Teachers Retirement System, West Sacramento, have been tested by a funding crisis, efforts to replace public employee defined benefit plans with defined contribution plans, legislation to cut pension benefits and a worldwide pandemic.
This is Mr. Ehnes second attempt at retiring from his post at CalSTRS. He originally announced on March 5, 2020, he would be retiring in September but, at the behest of the board, Mr. Ehnes delayed his retirement to continue leading the plan through the COVID-19 pandemic. He is now slated to retire from the $291.7 billion pension fund on June 30.
Protective Life completes acquisition of Revolos companies
Updated Jan 11, 2021;
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Maynard, Cooper & Gale acted as external legal counsel for Protective.
Revolos offers finance and insurance products, including vehicle service contracts, guaranteed asset protection coverage and ancillary products serving the automotive, recreational vehicle and powersports industries. It has 3,000 dealers, agents, and financial institutions in the U.S., and has distributed more than $250 million in underwriting gains and investment income.
Protective had assets of approximately $125 billion at the close of the 2020 fiscal year.
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Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. and Great-West Capital Management, LLC (together, “Great-West”) have won a judgment that they did not violate their fiduciary duty by receiving excessive investment advisory and administrative fees from Great-West-sponsored funds.
The U.S. District Court in Colorado concluded, after a trial, that fund shareholder plaintiffs failed to prove, under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act, that:
the fees were so disproportionately large that they bore no reasonable relationship to the services rendered and could not have been the product of arm’s length bargaining; and
Seventh Circuit Vacates and Remands Class Certification in Securities Fraud Action
Carpenters Pension Tr. Fund for N. Cal. v. Allstate Co., No. 19-1830 (7th Cir. July 16, 2020)
In a securities fraud case against Allstate Corporation, the Seventh Circuit vacated certification of a plaintiff class for legal error and remanded the case for further consideration.
In early 2013, Allstate announced it would be “softening” underwriting standards for its auto insurance business in an effort to attract new customers and increase profitability, but it acknowledged the softer standards held the risk of increasing auto claims frequency. The company’s CEO said the company would monitor claims frequency and adjust business practices as necessary. Two years later, Allstate announced that the growth strategy had indeed increased claims frequency and that it would be retightening underwriting standards. Its stock immediately dropped by more than 10 percent.