Des Moines Register Staff Blogs » Finance & Insurance

Storm-related insurance claims at 1,075 and counting

Victor Epstein — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:33:56 +0000

Claims adjusters are already beginning to tabulate the damage from the tornadoes, heavy rains, lightning and hailstorms that have peppered the Midwest since Wednesday. The tally of claims had already reached the 1,075 mark Monday afternoon with many more expected after a huge tornado ripped through the southern part of Oklahoma City and the suburb [...]

Veridian confirms Fed seizure of bitcoin account

Victor Epstein — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:54:22 +0000

Veridian Credit Union confirmed the federal seizure of a Dwolla account on Tuesday that had been used to transfer funds into and out of the world’s largest exchange for the fledgling online currency called “bitcoin.” The Waterloo-based credit union and Des Moines-based electronic payments network were ordered to halt activity in the account, which was [...]

Net income up 14% at Bankers Trust

Victor Epstein — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:23:49 +0000

Bankers Trust, the state’s largest privately owned financial institution, reported Friday that its net income grew by 14 percent in the first quarter to $6.13 million on a year-over-year basis. That figure represents the combined earnings of its Des Moines-based charter bank company and its smaller Cedar Rapids-based bank charter. Bankers Trust opened a new [...]

Dwolla halts transactions with “bitcoin” online currency exchange

Victor Epstein — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:31:06 +0000

Dwolla, a Des Moines-based payments network, has been drawn into a legal squabble between the U.S. federal government and the largest global exchange for a fledgling virtual currency called “bitcoin,” which involves allegations of unlicensed money transfers. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security secured a federal court order May 9 halting transfers between Dwolla and [...]

Iowa’s unemployment rate in April drops to 4.7 percent, despite adding no new jobs

Donnelle Eller — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:30:02 +0000

Iowa’s unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7 percent in April from 4.9 percent in March, a new unemployment report shows, even though the state showed no new job growth. It’s the lowest unemployment rate since December 2008, about when the national recession hit the state and Iowa’s unemployment rate was 4.2 percent. Iowa is moving [...]

U.S. retirement age increasing

Victor Epstein — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:58:34 +0000

Americans are working longer and retiring later, with the trend toward longer careers poised to continue, according to a new survey from the Washington, D.C.-based Gallup research organization. The average age at which current U.S. retirees say they actually retired is now 61, up from 59 a decade ago and 57 in the early 1990s. [...]

Foreign Workers: U.S. most desired destination

Victor Epstein — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:21:21 +0000

The United States remained the No. 1 destination for workers who were either laboring abroad or planning to do so last year, according to the fourth annual survey of global professionals by the Hydrogen recruiting firm. Twenty-four percent of the 2,146 respondents cited the U.S. as their No. 1 choice in the survey released Wednesday, [...]

Principal Financial Group executive Scott Cahill dies unexpectedly

Victor Epstein — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:43:03 +0000

Scott Cahill, a 46-year-old assistant vice president for corporate real estate at Principal Financial Group, died unexpectedly Sunday at Iowa Methodist West Hospital. The Waukee resident is survived by his wife of 18 years, Susan, and their daughters, Cassi, 17; Emily, 14; and Sarah, 11. Cahill coached the girls in soccer, basketball and softball. Cahill [...]

Principal shares post highest closing price since 2008

Victor Epstein — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:59:58 +0000

Shares of Principal Financial Group gained 72 cents Tuesday to close at a more than four-year high of $37.87 on The New York Stock Exchange. The Des Moines-based financial services provider has been on a tear since it announced its $1.51 billion purchase of AFP Cuprum S.A., Chile’s premier pension provider, on Oct. 8. The [...]

Survey: Many Americans financially illiterate about credit scores

Victor Epstein — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:22:32 +0000

Roughly 40 percent of adult Americans don’t know that credit card issuers and mortgage lenders use credit scores in their loan approval and pricing decisions, according to a new survey by the Consumer Federation of American and VantageScore Solutions that sheds light on the problem of financial illiteracy in America. A similar number erroneously believe [...]

Survey: Americans underestimate retirement health expenses

Victor Epstein — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:22:30 +0000

An annual survey from West Des Moines-based Aviva USA and the Mayo Clinic found that nine out of ten Americans underestimate how much they’re going to spend on out-of-pocket health care expenses in their retirement, when the vast majority will be covered by Medicare. That’s how many expect to spend less than 20 percent of [...]

Wells Fargo: labor market would be better if more workers quit

Victor Epstein — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:44:27 +0000

Know what’s really good for the labor market? When workers have enough confidence in the future to voluntarily leave a job. That hasn’t happened a whole lot since the start of the 18-month-long Great Recession in December 2007, according to the monthly “quit rate” compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The unwillingness of [...]

U.S. mortgage delinquencies up, foreclosures down in first quarter

Victor Epstein — Thu, 09 May 2013 22:53:18 +0000

Fewer U.S. homes entered the foreclosure process in the first three months of this year, but delinquency rates were up, as the housing and labor markets continued their slow and uneven recovery from the Great Recession. The combined percentage of U.S. mortgages that were delinquent or in foreclosure fell to 10.3 percent in the first [...]

Wasendorf son says inmate-dad is dead to him

Victor Epstein — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:53:44 +0000

Russell Wasendorf Jr., the son of the architect of the largest financial fraud in Iowa history, told Reuters in a story published today that he felt betrayed by his father and did not plan to visit him in jail. The former Cedar Falls resident, who now lives in Orlando, Fla., made the comments in one [...]

EMC earnings declined in first quarter

Victor Epstein — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:03:36 +0000

Operating income at EMC Insurance Group fell 6.6 percent to $12.54 million in the first quarter, or 97 cents a share, as a decline in investment returns more than offset higher fees and smaller payouts for disasters and bad weather. Analysts had expected 96 cents. Net income shrank 26 percent to $14.27 million, or $1.10 [...]

Increase in U.S. traffic deaths could impact insurance rates

Victor Epstein — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:10:34 +0000

For the first time in a long time, more people died on American roads last year than the year before. The increase could impact auto insurance rates if it’s sustained.

Nationwide Mutual earnings up 52%

Victor Epstein — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:00:51 +0000

Operating earnings at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. surged 52 percent to $417 million in the first quarter from $274 million the same period a year earlier as higher rates and an increase in the value of the policies it sold offset losses from a March hailstorm. Net income fell 4.7 percent to $484 million in [...]

Jump in U.S. job creation spurs stock market rally

Victor Epstein — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:06:19 +0000

U.S. job creation surged past economist expectations in April, adding 165,000 new positions to non-farm payrolls and revising the numbers for the prior two months upward by another 114,000. The strong payroll report helped push the unemployment rate down a tick to a four-year-low of 7.5 percent and comes at a time when some other [...]

Wasendorf asset recovery effort winding down

Victor Epstein — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:00:18 +0000

The court-appointed receiver charged with identifying and recovering the assets of disgraced financier Russell Wasendorf’s sprawling business empire says his team’s work is winding down after 10 months. Michael Eidelman is flying to Bucharest on Sunday to see if he can salvage anything from Avrig 35 Group, a Romanian real estate development venture Wasendorf co-founded [...]

FBL operating earnings rose 16% in first quarter

Victor Epstein — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:19:15 +0000

Operating earnings at FBL Financial Group, which does business under the Farm Bureau Financial Services brand, rose 16 percent to $23.1 million in the first quarter on a year-over-year basis. FBL beat analyst estimates with operating earnings of 89 cents a share in the first quarter, compared with 64 cents a year earlier. Analysts expected [...]

Aviva USA life insurance unit to be dealt to Global Atlantic

Victor Epstein — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:56:26 +0000

New York financier Leon Black’s private equity fund reached a deal Wednesday to sell the life insurance arm of West Des Moines-based Aviva USA to Global Atlantic Financial Group for an undisclosed sum. The announcement comes just hours after Global Atlantic completed its separation from the Goldman Sachs Group – another Wall Street firm with [...]

American Equity earnings exceed analyst estimates

Victor Epstein — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:14:33 +0000

American Equity Investment Life reported that its operating income rose 12.4 percent to $33.5 million, or 49 cents a share, in the first quarter from the same period of 2012. The West Des Moines-based insurer beat analyst expectations of 44 cents a share as it found new homes for its idled assets. Net income rose [...]

Bankers Trust snags HR veteran from Aviva USA

Victor Epstein — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:33:13 +0000

The cherry-picking has officially begun. Bankers Trust, the state’s largest privately owned financial institution, has lured away human resources specialist Jennifer Bryant from Aviva USA, which is being sold to the Apollo Global Management private equity fund. Bryant will serve as a senior vice president for human resources at the Des Moines-based bank, beginning May [...]

Global Atlantic reinsurance unit completes separation from Goldman Sachs

Victor Epstein — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:16:58 +0000

Global Atlantic Financial Group, a global financial services holding company, completed its separation from The Goldman Sachs Group today after a successful private placement. Global Atlantic has $1.75 billion of equity and a global shareholder base of over 1,000 investors. Goldman Sachs will continue to hold a minority share of its former reinsurance arm, which [...]

West Bank ranks 61st among U.S. community banks

Victor Epstein — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:23:38 +0000

West Bancorporation Inc., the parent company of West Bank, topped all Iowa-based banks in an American Banker report released Tuesday. The report ranks the top 200 community banks in the U.S. Three other Iowa-based banks also made the cut. The banks were judged on their average return on equity the past three years. Return on [...]

Understanding gasoline’s role in personal spending

Victor Epstein — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:51:06 +0000

Today’s Associated Press report on personal spending erroneously implies that the 3.2 percent year-over-year increase recorded in the first quarter was partly due to lower gasoline prices. Not true. If anything, lower gasoline prices reduce consumer spending. Here’s why… Money spent on pricey gasoline and money spent on cheap gasoline both count as consumer spending. [...]

Internet sales tax debate heats up

Victor Epstein — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:30:13 +0000

The debate over a proposal to add state and local sales tax to Internet purchases has been delayed in Washington, D.C., but is generating considerable attention in Iowa. The so-called Internet Sales Bill would allow states to reach outside their borders to force retailers to begin collecting sales tax for them for first time since [...]

PFG operating earnings up 8.4% to $233 million in 1st quarter

Victor Epstein — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:25:02 +0000

Operating earnings at Principal Financial Group rose 8.4 percent to $233.3 million in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier. The gain at the Des Moines-based insurance and investment management firm was largely due to improved sales, higher fees and a larger than expected contribution from its latest acquisition. Operating earnings, which [...]

Nationwide Mutual names new president of farm insurance biz

Victor Epstein — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:11:18 +0000

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., the fifth-largest employer in the Des Moines area, has named Terrance Williams as the new president and chief operating officer of its farm insurance business. He previously served as the parent company’s senior regional vice president for its Central Plains and Southern States regions. Williams has a bachelor’s degree in insurance [...]

Bankers Trust opening new branches in Ames and WDM

Victor Epstein — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:28:32 +0000

Bankers Trust, the largest Iowa-based bank, is opening new branches in Ames and West Des Moines, which will boost its total number of branches to 15. Fourteen of those locations are in Iowa. The other is in Phoenix. “Bankers Trust has experienced continued growth even during some of the most difficult financial times in generations,” [...]

West Bank earnings steady in first quarter

Victor Epstein — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:13:00 +0000

Net income was virtually unchanged on a year-over-year basis at West Bancorporation Inc., the parent company of West Bank, which reported earnings of $3.95 million in the first quarter, or 23 cents per share. That compares with earnings of $3.98 million during the same period of 2012 for the West Des Moines-based bank. The company’s [...]

Actuaries get sexier in new career standings, reporters falter

Victor Epstein — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:22:03 +0000

If you’re one of the 480 actuaries who make their living in Iowa you have every reason to strut today after the release of CareerCast.com’s 25th annual list of the best and worst jobs in the United States. You finished first out of 200. Guess who finished dead last: newspaper reporters. Iowa is a big [...]

Delta Dental of Iowa chooses new CEO

Lynn Hicks — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:01:51 +0000

Iowa’s largest provider of dental benefits has chosen a new leader from the credit union industry. The board of directors of Delta Dental of Iowa has selected Jeff Russell as president and CEO, effective May 3. He succeeds Donn Hutchins, 63, who announced his retirement in November after 13 years in the nonprofit’s top spot. Russell, 41, [...]

Wells Fargo building $100 million expansion in West Des Moines

Victor Epstein — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:17:08 +0000

Wells Fargo & Co. became the latest financial company to expand its operations in the Des Moines area today when it began work on a $100 million addition to its existing Jordan Creek campus. The bank’s mortgage subsidiary is headquartered in the area and executives at the largest U.S. bank, mortgage lender and mortgage servicer [...]

Bankers Trust CEO: Immigration bill’s a starting point

Victor Epstein — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 23:25:34 +0000

“This bill is a beginning and the road ahead is going to be bumpy,” said Suku Radia, president and CEO of Des Moines-based Bankers Trust. “My sense, based on a cursory review, is that the bill is more of a truce between the two parties. Now, let’s get busy and develop a real vision.”

IPERS shares in $500 million Bank of America settlement

Victor Epstein — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 21:48:04 +0000

The Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System will share in a $500 million settlement announced Wednesday with the mortgage unit of Bank of America, formerly known as Countrywide Financial, which is intended to resolve allegations that it exaggerated the value of residential mortgage-backed securities. Bank of America purchased the troubled mortgage lender for $4.1 billion in [...]

Experts talk globalization, forecast better times for U.S. workers

Victor Epstein — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 03:06:12 +0000

Three economic and financial experts forecast an improvement in U.S. employment in the coming years as the globalization of national economies continues to lift overseas wages, blunting the advantages U.S. companies derive from off-shoring. Bob Baur, chief global economist of Principal Global Investors; Jim McCaughan, chief executive officer of Principal Global Investors; and Drake University [...]

Insurance Hall of Fame gains Voss and four others

Victor Epstein — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:24:53 +0000

Former Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss headlines the latest group of five Iowans to be inducted into the state’s Insurance Hall of Fame. Clark Bening, Susan Haack, Richard Keith and Merle “Bud” Ross will also be honored at the 17th annual induction ceremony on May 22 at Drake University. Bening, who died in January, is [...]

Wells Fargo posts record profit despite weaker mortgage activity

Victor Epstein — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:44:26 +0000

Lower expenses helped Wells Fargo & Co. beat analyst estimates to post record earnings in the first quarter, despite weaker mortgage originations and applications. The largest U.S. mortgage lender reported net income for the three months ended March 31 at $5.17 billion, or 92 cents per share – up 22 percent from the same period [...]

Principal shares surge to 52-week high

Victor Epstein — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:49:34 +0000

Principal Financial Group reached another 52-week high Wednesday, when its stock rose 72 cents to close at $34.81, after hitting one Tuesday. The Des Moines-based financial services provider’s average daily trading volume has been 1.76 million shares the past three months as investors have responded favorably to Chief Executive Officer Larry Zimpleman’s plan to offset [...]

Athene CEO says up to 50 jobs could be lost at Aviva Investors

Victor Epstein — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:17:07 +0000

Jim Belardi, chief executive officer of Athene Holding Limited, says that its planned acquisition of Aviva USA could lead to the loss of as many as 50 jobs at Aviva Investors after the deal is consummated in the third quarter. Belardi said Aviva Investors has more than 140 people and Athene is keeping 90 to [...]

Claims management company hiring 130 in Iowa City area

Victor Epstein — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:35:20 +0000

Need a job? Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., is hiring. The claims management company is seeking more than 130 employees for its new facility in Coralville, Iowa. Sedgwick has already hired 70 workers for the office, which is located just outside Iowa City, and is now under construction. The company is seeking customer service representatives, [...]

Hostess asset auction includes three Iowa properties

Victor Epstein — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:56:36 +0000

A real estate company working with bankrupt Hostess Brands Inc. is looking to sell three Iowa properties with more than 20,000 square feet of space as part of the ongoing auction of the company’s assets. Two of the sites are in Waterloo and a third is in Mason City. Northbrook, Ill.-based Hilco Real Estate LLC, [...]

WDM-based Qualified Plan Consultants acquires Pension Plan Services

Victor Epstein — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:52:32 +0000

A West Des Moines-based pension advisory firm is expanding its Midwest presence. Qualified Plan Consultants LLC, which specializes in 401k defined contribution pension plans, announced the March 31 acquisition of Pension Plan Services Inc. on Tuesday. The combined company will have 25 employees. Qualified Plan Consultants, which was co-founded by Mick Fouts and Tom Lastuvka [...]

Fed defines nonbank financial companies

Victor Epstein — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:51:57 +0000

The U.S. Federal Reserve officially approved a definition for the oversight of nonbank financial companies on Wednesday, adopting language from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that includes any company with 85 percent or more of its revenues or assets related to financial activities. The distinction is increasingly important in a global [...]

Aviva wins United Way award

Lynn Hicks — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:22:04 +0000

Aviva USA received the Spirit of Central Iowa award at today’s United Way of Central Iowa Live United luncheon. The award is the local United Way’s highest honor, presented to one organization each year for excellence in giving, advocating and volunteering. West Des Moines-based Aviva USA employs 1,400 people locally, who have waited with uncertainty [...]

Iowa Attorney General backs federal consumer financial protection nominee

Daniel Finney — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:06:34 +0000

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller openly supported the nomination of Richard Cordray to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau was created in 2011 as a watchdog agency to protect homeowners and credit card holders from abuses of predatory lenders. President Barack Obama appointed Cordray to lead the agency in January 2012 while the [...]

Iowa Community Development awards $38 million in tax credits

Victor Epstein — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:07:20 +0000

Iowa Community Development announced Thursday that it’s awarding $38 million in federal new market tax credits to two projects. Iowa Premium Beef, which is trying to restart and expand the shuttered Iowa Quality Beef processing plant in Tama, will receive $20 million. The investment group behind the venture includes Bruce Rastetter of Alden, a controversial [...]

Iowa economic indicators mixed in January

Victor Epstein — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:32:05 +0000

An index used to forecast the direction of Iowa’s economy showed marginal improvement in January as stock gains were offset by declines in new manufacturing orders and future livestock profit expectations. Six of the eight components of the Iowa Leading Indicators Index made positive contributions to the headline number in January, which edged up to 106.1 from [...]

Survey: U.S. workers take dimmer view of retirement prospects

Victor Epstein — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 05:01:12 +0000

High debt, rising health care costs and eroding job security helped foster record pessimism in the 23rd annual retirement confidence survey released Tuesday, which painted a picture of a beleaguered U.S. labor force struggling for basic financial survival rather than saving for the future. The share of workers who described themselves as being “not at [...]