Steve Wevodau

Economic Climate, Escalating Health Care Costs Make Saving for Retirement Difficult; Not Impossible - Steven Wevodau

COLUMBUS, Ohio–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Before the recent economic crisis hit Americans, the National Retirement Risk Index released by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR) last February estimated that nearly 61 percent of working Americans may not be financially prepared to retire at age 65. The rising cost of health care was one factor to blame.

The 17-point increase in the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) from the previous Index number of 44 percent – released in January 2007 – demonstrated how the surging cost of health care was significantly affecting retirement savings. But, as the nation’s economy continues to struggle, many Americans are beginning to cut back on their long-term financial plans due to rising costs of everyday necessities.

“Today’s economic environment plays a large factor in what steps people are taking to safeguard their future financial security,” said Brad Davis, vice president of marketing, Individual Investments Group at Nationwide Financial. “There is an even greater feeling of insecurity and vulnerability, especially during these demanding economic times. With more and more companies ceasing defined benefit plans and with mounting concerns about Social Security, some sources of expected post-retirement income may not be available to Americans. So, they need to take a more active and responsible role to secure their safe retirement.”

Education and online resources may help consumers plan for retirement and health care costs

To help consumers better prepare for retirement, Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: NFS - News) updated RetirAbility Check^SM to account for the rising cost of health care. This informative, interactive online experience aligns with the new NRRI data, which only Nationwide has exclusive access to because of its support of the retirement research being done by the CRR. Since its founding in 1998, the CRR is considered by many as an authoritative source of information and perspective on all major aspects of the retirement discussion.

“This latest update to RetirAbility Check is important because the rising cost of health care affects every retiree at some point in their lives,” Davis said. “Our free online site gives consumers an even more accurate picture of the impact of these rising costs, and enables them to consider this information as they prepare for retirement.

“Many in America have to rethink how they are going to make it to retirement, not just what to plan for when they finally do retire,” Davis said. “The Index also shows that the risk will rise for younger workers and low-income households. The Index number could be considerably higher once long-term care costs are taken into account, and if households do not plan judiciously. There are more reasons today to educate ourselves, and consider working with a financial professional on a plan that’s right for every individual’s circumstances.”

What is RetirAbility Check?

RetirAbility Check (www.nationwide.com/rscore/nrri1208) is an online, interactive resource that provides consumers with a basic retirement readiness score – called an R-Score^SM – to illustrate how financially prepared they are for retirement. For example, if a person’s R-Score is 56, he or she is on track to have 56 percent of what they need financially in retirement. A score of 100 is the goal.

First introduced in late 2006, RetirAbility Check uses NRRI data to determine the R-Score. In addition to updating the online site to account for rising costs of health care, additional changes were made, including updates to the user interface and the creation of an express mode to expedite the process for returning users.

“Nationwide translates the Index findings and implications into a consumer-friendly format that goes beyond the numbers to keep consumers engaged. RetirAbility Check takes the national index of retirement readiness to a personal level,” Davis said.

How RetirAbility Check works

To start, consumers input basic information such as birth year, earnings and any current retirement plan balances. During the process, an on-screen peer – similar in age and gender – guides the user and provides information, tips and facts along the way.

Once complete, the information provided is analyzed using assumptions and patterns of behavior identified by Boston College — including cost of living and medical expenses in retirement — and gives users their R-Score.

After getting their R-Score, users can learn about ways to improve their score, as well as access additional educational resources, tips and calculators geared to help them better prepare for retirement. The site also provides information about how an investment professional could help with retirement planning.

To get your own R-Score, visit www.nationwide.com/rscore/nrri1208.

About Nationwide Financial

Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: NFS - News), a publicly traded company based in Columbus, Ohio, provides a variety of financial services that help consumers invest¹ and protect their long-term assets, and offers retirement plans and services through both public- and private-sector employers.

It’s part of the Nationwide group of companies, which offers diversified insurance and financial services. The group is led by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, which is ranked No. 108 on the Fortune 500 based on 2007 revenue.² For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

RetirAbility Check is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended as advice. All investing involves market risk, including the possible loss of principle. Neither Nationwide nor any of its representatives give legal or tax advice. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor for such guidance. Nationwide, Nationwide Financial, the Nationwide framemark and On Your Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. RetirAbility Check and R-Score are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

¹ Nationwide Investment Services Corporation, member FINRA. In MI only: Nationwide Investment Svcs. Corporation.

² Fortune Magazine, April 2007

Savings Tips for Consumers

• Reduce debt. According to the Federal Reserve, consumer debt is more than $2 trillion. And according to the Fed’s 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances, the average American was carrying more than $2,000 in credit card debt alone. Try to pay off your credit cards as quickly as possible, and don’t just pay the monthly minimum. Shop around for cards with better rates.
• Control unnecessary spending. Sure that non-fat, decaf, mocha-grande-whatever tastes good but at $4 a pop, it adds up. If you bought one per day, that’s $1,460 annually. And that’s just for coffee purchases. Think about the things you buy that you can cut back on. Put that money to work for you instead.
• Have a 401(k) or similar savings program? Great! Are you withholding the bare minimum or are you “maxing” out your withholding? Consult with your plan provider to see how you might do better, what options are available and so on.
• Use online resources to help evaluate your personal financial situation. Nationwide’s RetirAbility Check^SM (www.nationwide.com/rscore/nrri1208) lets users plug in basic financial and demographic information, and returns an R-Score^SM, which is a number that tells them if they’re on track to maintain their standard of living in retirement. This engaging resource also offers personalized suggestions and tips for R-Score improvement. The R-Score is calculated using data from the National Retirement Risk Index and other metrics.
• Start the conversation about future medical costs with your doctor, your family, your investment professional and your employer. Find more information in the “Health Care” section on the Improve Your R-Score screen of RetirAbility Check.
• Seek professional help. Consider working with a licensed, qualified investment professional whose business and personal styles suit your needs.
• Start today!

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Aon Consulting Names Matt Smith as U.S. National Defined Contribution Practice Leader

POSTED BY STEVE WEVODAU

SEATTLE, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Aon Consulting Worldwide, the global human capital consulting organization of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC - News), today announced the appointment of Matt Smith as senior vice president and leader of the defined contribution practice in the U.S.

Smith will head this growing practice, serving clients with design, implementation and management strategies for defined contribution-based retirement programs. He will focus on building the practice, developing thought leadership and delivering unmatched client value.

“I am pleased to welcome Matt to the Aon Consulting team,” said Cecil Hemingway, U.S. Retirement Practice leader for Aon Consulting. “Now more than ever organizations need trusted expertise in the area of defined contribution plan design and management. Matt joins a team of experts who have significant experience and a record of success in delivering strategic retirement programs to clients of all sizes, complexities and industries.”

Smith joins Aon Consulting from Russell Investments where he led the U.S. defined contribution business since 2001. He has written and presented extensively on retirement issues, and brings 25 years of defined contribution experience to Aon Consulting.

A graduate from the University of Kansas, Smith lives and works in the Seattle area.

About Aon Consulting

Aon Consulting Worldwide is among the top global human capital consulting firms, with 2007 revenues of US $1.352 billion and more than 6,000 professionals in 117 offices worldwide. Aon Consulting is shaping the workplace of the future through benefits, talent management and rewards strategies and solutions. Aon Consulting was named the best employee benefit consulting firm by the readers of Business Insurance magazine in 2006, 2007 and 2008. For more information on Aon, please visit http://aon.mediaroom.com.

About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC - News) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. Through its 36,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Our industry-leading global resources, technical expertise and industry knowledge are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Aon was named the world’s best broker by Euromoney magazine’s 2008 Insurance Survey. In 2008, Aon ranked highest on the Business Insurance ranking of the world’s largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues. Aon also was ranked by A.M. Best as the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007 and 2008, and was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary, and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007 and 2008 by the readers of Business Insurance. Sign up to receive Aon news alerts by email or RSS feed at: http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=58.

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Nominee Notes Hunger For Health Cost Containment

POSTED BY STEVE WEVODAU

BY ALLISON BELL
NU Online News Service, Dec. 3, 2008, 3:52 p.m. EST

Thomas Daschle, the Obama nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, says public comments posted on an Obama transition team Web site show that Americans want the government to address rising health care costs.

“It’s one of the biggest issues driving the whole health care debate,” said Daschle, a former Democratic senator from South Dakota and a former Senate majority leader. “Everyone says, ‘If we don’t control costs, we haven’t solved this health care problem.’”

President-elect Barack Obama’s Health Care Policy Working Group last week asked members of the public to post their thoughts about health care on a Web page.

Members of the public responded by posting about 3,500 comments, Daschle said Tuesday in a video response to the comments.

“I spent a lot of the weekend reading the comments,” Daschle said.

Daschle, who is the head of the Obama transition team’s health care working group, and another working group member, Lauren Aronson, took note of comments that suggested the country should place more emphasis on preventive health care.

They also singled out a comment suggesting that the country should create a “Health Corps,” similar to the Peace Corps, that would provide care in underserved communities.

A look at a sampling of one page of the comments shows commenters talking about the difficulties that job changers with preexisting conditions face; the risks and benefits of making personal health information available through the Web; the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a government-run single-payer system; Americans’ reluctance to pay the true, full cost of care for all; and the difficulties a shortage of primary care physicians would pose for any attempt to create a “universal health care system.”

One commenter says the government should end private health insurance and fee-for-service payment arrangements, but also set up a program to help displaced health insurance workers find new jobs.

Another commenter, Matthew Johnson, suggests that the government could improve nutrition by taxing unhealthy foods to fund a subsidy for healthy foods.

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Desperate Times, Desperate Policies - Steve Wevodau

Nouriel Roubini 12.04.08, 12:00 AM ET

Awful news has greeted Americans in recent days: free falling consumption spending, collapsing new home sales, falling consumer confidence, very high initial claims for unemployment benefits, collapsing orders for durable goods. It is hard to get any worse than this but the next few months will serve up macro news that is even worse.

At this rate of contraction, as revealed by the latest data, it would not be surprising if fourth-quarter gross domestic product were to fall at an annualized rate of 5% to 6% and fall at a similar rate in the first half of 2009.

Equity markets shrugged off last week this awful news, due to a variety of factors: President-elect Obama choosing a first-rate economic team; a major fiscal package to be passed by Congress as soon as the new administration takes power; the bailout of Citigroup at terms that (while being a royal rip-off for the U.S. taxpayer) lead to a bailout of not only the unsecured debtors of Citi, but also of the common shareholders; and, most important, the Fed, Treasury and FDIC now moving to radical, unorthodox policy actions to deal with the credit crunch. But an awful Institute for Supply Management report this past Monday and similarly dismal news on manufacturing in the rest of the world made equity markets fall 9% and forced Fed Chairman Bernanke to announce even more unorthodox policy actions.

The threat of stag-deflation (my label for a combination of recession/stagnation and deflation) and of debt deflation has already forced the Fed into a liquidity trap. The Fed funds rate is effectively close to 0% and an informal policy of “quantitative easing” has already started as the Fed has flooded financial markets with over $2 trillion of liquidity. And as argued here last week, the Fed would be forced into more radical and unorthodox “crazy” policies to prevent deflation, debt deflation and a nasty credit crunch.

Indeed, the Fed, together with the Treasury, has started to implement some of the “crazier” policy actions that I discussed last week: a) outright purchases of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities to the tune of a whopping $600 billion; b) another $200 billion of loans to backstop the consumer and small business credit markets (credit cards, auto loans, student loans, small business loans); c) an effective policy of aggressive quantitative easing as the balance sheet of the Fed–already grown from $800 billion to over $2 trillion–will be expanded further, as most of the new bailout actions and new programs will be financed via injections of liquidity rather than an issuance of public debt. And now Bernanke is suggesting that the Fed start purchases of long-term government bonds as a way to reduce long-term market rates.

Effectively, the Fed funds rate has been abandoned as a tool of monetary policy as we are already zero-bound for the policy rate that signals a liquidity trap. The Fed is now relying on massive quantitative easing and direct purchases of private sector short-term and long-term debt to try to aggressively push down short-term and long-term market rates.

It is no wonder that, after announcing $600 billion of purchases of agency debt and MBS, the rate on 30-year mortgages has fallen overnight by 75bps. Even that radical fall in mortgage rates–the largest daily move in decades–will be of small comfort to debt-burdened households, as only those who qualify for refinancing will be able to do that, and the total average monthly savings on mortgage debt service would amount to a modest $150.

Desperate times and desperate economic news require desperate policy actions, even more desperate than any “desperate housewife” could dream of. The Treasury will be issuing, in the next two years, about $2 trillion of additional debt (on top of having to refinance and roll over another $1 trillion of maturing debt) while the Fed/Treasury/FDIC are taking on a massive amount of credit risk via outright bailouts and guarantees (TAF, TSLF, PDCF, ABCPFFFMLM, TALF, TARP, Bear Stearns, AIG, Citigroup, TALF and another half a dozen new facilities and programs).

These policies will eventually lead to much higher real interest rates on the public debt and weaken the dollar, once this tsunami of implicit and explicit public liability and monetary debt will hit the world–a world where the global supply of savings is shrinking and foreign investors start to ponder the long-term sustainability of America’s domestic and external liabilities.

POSTED BY STEVEN WEVODAU

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Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc. Announces Retirement of Co-Founder Thomas L. Blair From the Board of Directors

POSTED BY STEVEN S. WEVODAU

ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSI - News) announced today that Thomas L. Blair, the co-founder of CHSI (formerly HealthExtras, Inc.), is retiring from the Board of Directors effective December 31, 2008 in order to pursue public service opportunities, possibly in the new administration. CHSI commenced business operations on November 1, 1998 and went public one year later in 1999, thereby marking a ten year anniversary for Mr. Blair. “I have been privileged to have helped launch a second public healthcare company in my career (the first was United Payors and United Providers, NASDAQ: UP&UP, which was sold in 2000), and I am pleased to have been associated with a business that has grown from a start-up in 1998 to a national pharmacy benefits management company with a projected 2009 revenue of $3 billion,” stated Blair. Following the effective date of Thomas Blair’s retirement, all other current members of the Board of Directors, consisting of David Blair, CEO, and seven independent directors, including Edward Civera, Chairman of the Board, will remain in their current positions. Ed Civera and David Blair have been working together at Catalyst (and the previous healthcare business UP&UP) for over twelve years. David Blair has been the CEO of Catalyst for over ten years.

“I am leaving the Board of Directors at an opportune time given my age, which suggests that I start working on my obituary and not my resume,” chided Mr. Blair. “A public service opportunity would be an excellent way to round out my healthcare career,” added Mr. Blair.

About Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc. (www.chsi.com)

Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc. (formerly HealthExtras, Inc.) is built on strong, innovative principles in the management of prescription drug benefits and provides an unbiased, client-centered philosophy resulting in industry-leading client retention rates. The Company’s subsidiaries include Catalyst Rx, a full-service pharmacy benefit manager serving more than five million lives in the United States and Puerto Rico; HospiScript Services, LLC, one of the largest providers of pharmacy benefit management services to the hospice industry; and Immediate Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., a fully-integrated prescription mail service facility based out of Avon Lake, Ohio. The Company’s clients include self-insured employers including state and local governments, managed care organizations, unions, hospices, third-party administrators and individuals.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that we have identified that might materially affect our results are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 under “Item 1.A Risk Factors.” Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our business.

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United American Healthcare Corporation Announces Stock Repurchase Program

POSTED BY STEVEN WEVODAU

DETROIT, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — United American Healthcare Corporation (Nasdaq: UAHC - News), which owns and provides comprehensive healthcare management services to a managed care organization in Tennessee, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program, authorizing the Company to repurchase up to $1.0 million of its outstanding common stock.

The program allows for the Company’s common shares to be purchased in the open market at prevailing prices from time to time at the discretion of management and in accordance with applicable federal securities laws. Share repurchases under this program may be made through a variety of methods, which may include open market purchases, block trades or otherwise, or by any combination of such methods. The timing of repurchases and the exact number of shares of common stock to be purchased will depend upon market conditions and other factors. The repurchase program does not obligate the Company to repurchase any specific number of shares and may be modified or discontinued at any time. The program will be funded using the Company’s existing cash balances as well as cash generated from operations. The Company currently has 8.8 million shares of common stock outstanding.

“We are pleased to underscore our commitment to enhancing shareholder value with this share repurchase authorization,” said William C. Brooks, president and CEO of United American Healthcare. “Our management team and Board remain actively engaged in reviewing a variety of long-term strategic alternatives for the Company. In considering these options, we are currently guided by three objectives: a significant revenue contribution, positive EBITDA and long-term growth opportunities. During this review, as we have previously reported, all options are being considered, including potential acquisitions, partnerships and liquidation of the Company. As this process continues, we remain focused on enhancing value for our shareholders, and this repurchase authorization is an important step in that regard.”

About United American Healthcare Corporation

United American Healthcare Corporation (”UAHC”) is a full-service healthcare management company, pioneering the delivery of healthcare services to Medicaid recipients since 1985. UAHC owns and manages UAHC Health Plan, which is based in western Tennessee and includes the Memphis market. For more information, please visit the Company’s web site at www.uahc.com.

United American Healthcare Corporation Safe Harbor Statement

Forward-looking statements by United American Healthcare Corporation, including those in this announcement, involve known and unknown risks, which may cause actual results and corporate developments to differ materially from those expected. Factors that could cause results and developments to differ materially from expectations include, without limitation, the effects of state and federal regulations, the effects of acquisitions and divestitures, and other risks described from time to time in each of United American Healthcare’s SEC reports, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, annual reports on Form 10-K, and reports on Form 8-K.

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EdF takes on Buffett with new Constellation bid

POSTED BY STEVE S. WEVODAU

By Greg Keller, AP Business Writer

France’s EdF offers to buy half of nuclear business of U.S.-based Constellation for $4.5B

PARIS (AP) — Electricite de France SA said Wednesday it will challenge famed investor Warren Buffett’s planned takeover of U.S. wholesale power generator Constellation Energy Group Inc. by offering $4.5 billion for half of the company’s nuclear power business.

France’s state-controlled power company, which backed down from a full takeover bid for Constellation in October, said it had offered to take a 50-percent stake in Constellation’s nuclear operations through a joint venture.

Shares in EdF sank following the announcement, falling 5.6 percent to euro42.07 ($53.42) in early afternoon Paris trading amid investor fears that a bruising takeover battle may be brewing.

EdF, which owns 9.5 percent of Constellation, said the offer values the company at around $52 per share and that the price represents a 96-percent premium to a rival takeover proposal for all of Constellation by Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., which is offering $26.50 per share.

The bid is EdF’s “last chance to change minds, not of Constellation’s management, but of its investors,” said industry analyst Peter Wirtz of WestLB Research based in Dusseldorf.

He said EdF stands little chance of succeeding despite a “clearly very attractive offer” because at a time of global economic and financial upheaval, investors are more likely to be lured by MidAmerican’s complete takeover bid than by the more complex offer of EdF.

The French company’s decision to take a second run at Constellation also shows “it has no Plan B for the U.S. market,” Wirtz said.

EdF’s offer includes a $1 billion “upfront” cash infusion in Constellation, and an option to sell up to $2 billion of “non-nuclear generation assets” to the French company in a deal that could close in six to nine months.

Constellation’s nuclear business includes three nuclear power stations with five reactors located in Maryland and New York. Nuclear power accounts for 61 percent of Constellation’s total electricity generating capacity of 8,700 megawatts.

Constellation’s non-nuclear assets include coal- and natural gas-fired electric plants, as well as oil and renewable energies such as solar, geothermal and hydro power.

On Tuesday, Baltimore, Maryland-based Constellation said it likely would have filed for bankruptcy protection without an immediate $1 billion infusion from MidAmerican, a unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Constellation also warned in a U.S. regulatory filing that unstable market conditions make the deal with MidAmerican critical. MidAmerican announced in September that it offered to buy Constellation for $26.50 per share — plus the $1 billion cash injection.

EdF pulled its $35 per share offer in October and has called MidAmerican’s offer for Constellation inadequate.

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AIG, Fed to terminate some debt obligations - Steve Wevodau

AIG sets up financing entity to take on $65 billion in troubled debt securities

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — American International Group Inc. and the U.S. government are working together to relieve the giant insurer of its obligations on about $65 billion in debt, the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

AIG said a financing entity, funded by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the insurer, has purchased $46.1 billion in complex debt securities insured by AIG. As part of the deal, the insurance-type contracts, called credit-default swaps, were terminated.

The New York-based insurer also has agreements to purchase another $7.4 billion of these debt securities, called collaterized debt obligations or CDOs, bring the total to $53.5 billion.

AIG, like other financial companies and insurers, has taken losses on money it put into soured investments including CDOs, or securities backed by pools of mortgages or other assets. CDOs have plummeted in value since the credit crisis erupted a year ago.

Such investments led AIG to the brink of bankruptcy in September, subsequently forcing the government to step in with a $150 billion bailout for the company.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the financing entity was created last month as part of a broader restructuring of the federal government’s bailout of AIG.

The entity now has $15.1 billion in Fed money and $5 billion from AIG, with the Fed saying it will provide up to $30 billion. The money will be used to buy a total of roughly $64.7 billion of the debt securities at their current market price, which is far below their principal value, the filing said.

In premarket trading Wednesday, AIG shares gained 5 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to $1.92.

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Steven Wevodau: Prudential Fixed Income Management Offers Collective Investment Trusts to Retirement Plans

NEWARK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Prudential Fixed Income Management has made its nine fixed income collective trust funds available to defined contribution plans, providing individual plan participants access to institutional products through their company retirement plans. Prudential Fixed Income Management is a fixed income asset management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU - News).

“As one of the oldest and largest fixed income managers in the U.S., we are pleased to offer our institutional asset management expertise to investors through participating retirement plans for the first time,” said Shaun Byrnes, executive vice president and head of retail business for Prudential Fixed Income Management. “These funds offer participants the potential to garner the same kinds of returns defined benefit plans enjoy.”

The funds, offered within the Prudential Trust Company Collective Trust, cover a range of sectors, including enhanced index bonds, core and core plus bonds, inflation protected securities, U.S. corporate bonds, high yield bonds, bank loans, and international bonds and emerging market debt. The trust also offers growth equity, real estate and quantitative equity funds.

All nine funds trade through the National Securities Clearing Corporation, are priced daily and have multiple share classes available, including pricing designed for the rapidly growing “investment only” segment of the defined contribution market. Custody is included in all share class pricing.

Prudential Fixed Income Management is one of the largest fixed income managers in the US, with $209 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2008. Prudential Fixed Income Management or one of its predecessors has been managing proprietary fixed income portfolios since 1875 and accounts for institutional clients since 1928. In particular, the firm has managed separate accounts in these strategies for institutional investors for many years.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU - News), a financial services leader with approximately $602 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2008, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Leveraging its heritage of life insurance and asset management expertise, Prudential is focused on helping approximately 50 million individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. The company’s well-known Rock symbol is an icon of strength, stability, expertise and innovation that has stood the test of time. Prudential’s businesses offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/.

POSTED BY STEVE WEVODAU

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Former AIG CEO says company needs federal guaranty - Steven Wevodau

Former AIG CEO Greenberg questions government funding, says company needs federal guaranty

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Former American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Maurice Greenberg is questioning the U.S. government’s restructuring — and current AIG management’s handling — of a bailout plan for the troubled insurer.

In letter sent to current AIG CEO Edward Liddy on Monday, Greenberg questions details linked to the roughly $150 billion loaned to the New York-based insurer by the federal government. Among them, what counterparties are involved and the total amount drawn from specific loans.

“Investors in AIG securities need to know the answers to these questions and U.S. taxpayers should know how their tax dollars have been used,” Greenberg wrote in the letter disclosed Tuesday in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Greenberg’s questioning comes as he said he wants the U.S. government to provide a federal guaranty to AIG to help it meet counterparty collateral requirements. Collateral requirements have consumed the vast majority of the government funds given to AIG to date, Greenberg said an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

In mid-September, the Federal Reserve said it would loan AIG $85 billion to help the insurer stave off bankruptcy. The Fed added a $38 billion loan in October. The insurer was later allowed to access another $20.9 billion through the Fed’s “commercial paper” program.

But that has not been enough to shore up the company, which is so big and interconnected to other firms that its failure would devastate the economy.

Last month, the government announced new restructured financial assistance to the company.

Under the new plan, the Fed will provide $60 billion in loans, and the Treasury will provide $40 billion to buy up preferred stock. The government also will spend close to $53 billion to buy up mortgage-backed assets and other AIG contracts on debt.

Total package: $153 billion.

The $40 billion going to AIG will buy preferred shares of company stock, giving taxpayers an ownership stake. In turn, restrictions will be placed on executive pay at the firm. Last week, AIG said it would limit how much it pays its top executives, including granting a $1 salary for this year and the same for 2009 to CEO Liddy.

AIG and the federal government have faced criticism for putting taxpayer money on the hook to rescue a private financial company.

Greenberg said a guaranty would allow a large portion of the previously drawn capital from the federal credit facility to be repaid and redeployed elsewhere in the financial system with no loss to the American taxpayer. The government is providing this type of guaranty to Citigroup Inc. and should apply the same principle to AIG, he said.

Under the restructured loans, AIG gets easier terms on the Fed loans, reducing the risk it will have to sell off assets at firesale prices to pay back the government. But interest payments are still eating up too much of AIG’s capital, forcing the company into “effective liquidation,” making jobs impossible to keep and decreasing the likelihood taxpayers will be repaid, Greenberg wrote.

In morning trading, AIG shares were up 11 cents at $1.76.

POSTED BY STEVEN WEVODAU

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