Deals & People February 5, 2010

UBS Reshuffles Wealth Management Americas

UBS Wealth Management Americas is reportedly reorganizing the existing three divisions of its U.S. retail brokerage into two divisions.
Reported by

The reorganized unit will be broken up into an East Division, headed by David McWilliams, and a Western Division, headed by Michael Schweitzer, according to Dow Jones, citing an internal memo from Bob Mulholland, head of UBS’ Wealth Management Advisor Group. McWilliams and Schweitzer previously ran the three divisions.

Mulholland, a 25-year Merrill veteran, stepped into his role last month after being brought aboard by Robert McCann, CEO of UBS Wealth Management Americas (see “McCann Names Former Merrill Exec to Head UBS Advisory Group”).

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In the memo, Bob Mulholland, head of the Wealth Management Advisor Group, also announced the appointment of Jason Chandler as head of private wealth management, replacing John Straus, who will become head of strategic client relationships. Paul Santucci was named COO of the group.

Diane Frimmel, previously COO of Wealth Management Americas, will now serve as head of the emerging affluent segment. Santucci will take over her COO role in the Wealth Management Advisor Group and Tom Naratil will temporarily fulfill the COO role of Wealth Management Americas.

Mulholland also named Bill Carrol as national sales manager, replacing Mara Glassel, according to the news report.

Products February 4, 2010

Nuveen Introduces Online Roth Conversion Resources

Nuveen Investments announced its online 2010 Roth IRA Conversion Center is now available to advisers and investors.
Reported by

An announcement said the resource center brings together the expertise of Nuveen Investments’ Retirement Markets, Wealth Management, and Mutual Funds teams to lay out an educational plan-of-action for advisers preparing their clients for the 2010 Roth IRA Conversion option.

The Roth IRA Conversion Center features two white papers, “Roth IRA Conversion: New Opportunities for Affluent Investors,” an examination of the Roth IRA program, crafted for advisers by Nuveen’s Wealth Management Services, which discusses Conversion Tax Liability, Partial Conversion, and Recharacterization option; and “Weighing the Roth Conversion Opportunity,” a briefing paper addressing who should consider converting as well as a traditional IRA and Roth IRA comparison tool.

There is also an IRA Strategies Brochure that explores how IRAs can contribute to an investor’s larger retirement plan.

In addition to the printed material available on the site, there is a video series that provides both an overview to the 2010 Roth IRS Conversion Option as well as two issue-specific discussions that both advisers and investors should consider.

The three videos included in this series, according to the firm, are: “The Roth IRA Conversion Opportunity,” “Recharacterization Feature of Roth IRA Conversions,” and “Asset Location Strategies in Retirement Accounts.”

The site is available at www.nuveen.com/Retirement/Default.aspx.

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