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American College Opens Enrollment for New Tax Certification

Other contributors include Sophia Duffy, a tax attorney and associate professor of business planning at the American College; Michael Finke, professor and Frank M. Engle Chair of Economic Security at the American College; Alan Gassman, a tax attorney and partner at Gassman, Crotty and Denicolo; Michael Kitces, founder of Kitces.com and head of planning strategy at Buckingham Wealth Partners; and Ed Slott, the tax and IRA expert at the helm of Ed Slott and Co. “Working on the project for the last year and a half side-by-side [with] some of the best minds in the business, along with the incredible team at the College, has been truly rewarding,” Levine wrote Monday on LinkedIn. “I’m absolutely thrilled to finally be able to share the fruits of that labor with our community.” Participating professionals should be able to complete the coursework within a year, and the program is offered on a 100% virtual basis. Pictured: Jeff Levine

SIGNAL Underwriting Improves Broker Offering with FIRST Pay-enabled Payment Solutions 0

SIGNAL Underwriting Improves Broker Offering with FIRST Pay-enabled Payment Solutions

Toronto, ON (Oct. 29, 2024) – FIRST Insurance Funding of Canada (FIRST Canada), the leading provider of payment solutions, is pleased to announce the successful integration of FIRST Pay™ with SIGNAL Underwriting Inc. SIGNAL Underwriting can now generate Customized Payment Options Forms directly from their Policy Management Platform, with FIRST Pay’s suite of APIs. This advancement automates the presentment of payment plans and financing quotes, which can seamlessly be included with the policy proposal. This comprehensive package offers SIGNAL brokers a comprehensive solution to present clients, with the insurance they need and flexible payment solutions. “We are pleased to integrate FIRST Canada’s financing options for our broker partners, which respects the brokers’ workflow,” stated Alexander Blair-Johns, CEO, Class Underwriter at SIGNAL. “This is another example of how we are making it easier to do business with SIGNAL.” By integrating FIRST Pay™, SIGNAL Underwriting simplifies and elevates the insurance purchasing experience, further establishing their leadership in the MGA space. FIRST Pay™ is FIRST Canada’s powerful suite of real-time APIs, which automates and streamlines the insurance payment process, empowering MGAs like SIGNAL Underwriting, Carriers, and brokers to provide a comprehensive insurance offering, including payment plans. About FIRST Insurance Funding of Canada FIRST...

Vexcel Collects High-Resolution Aerial Imagery After Hurricane Milton 0

Vexcel Collects High-Resolution Aerial Imagery After Hurricane Milton

Now Available: Detailed Imagery and Property Damage Assessments Covering Nearly 20% of Florida and 4.43 million buildings Centennial, CO (Oct. 23, 2024) – Vexcel has completed a wide-scale, multi-day aerial imagery collection in response to Hurricane Milton, covering nearly 20% of Florida. As part of its post-disaster Gray Sky Program, the collection includes high-resolution ortho and multispectral imagery across all areas, with oblique imagery captured in select urban locations. Every property in the Hurricane Milton Gray Sky collection features a comprehensive damage assessment along with timestamped before-and-after imagery for comparison. This enables insurers, emergency managers, and government agencies to assess the storm’s impact with greater efficiency. The collection spans more than 33,000 square kilometers—approximately 20% of Florida—helping response and recovery needs. Across this collection, nearly 4.43 million structures were analyzed for damage. Areas Captured Key cities in the Florida collection include: Anna Maria, Bradenton, Clearwater, Daytona Beach, Fort Meade, Fort Myers, Homosassa Springs, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Largo, Longboat Key, Melbourne, Naples, Orlando, Port St. Lucie, Sarasota, Sebring, Siesta Key, Spring Hill, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Town ‘n’ Country. Swift Response to Collect Imagery Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm on October 9. Within 16 hours, Vexcel mobilized its...

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SEC Says JPMorgan Chase Settles Five Enforcement Cases, to Pay $151M

Article 0 Comments JPMorgan Chase will pay $151 million to settle five U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement cases, including accusations that the largest U.S. bank made misleading disclosures to brokerage customers, the regulator said on Thursday. The settlements include $61 million of civil fines and $90 million of reimbursements to customers. JPMorgan did not admit or deny wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlements. “JPMorgan’s conduct across multiple business lines violated various laws designed to protect investors from the risks of self-dealing and conflicts of interest,” Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director of the SEC enforcement division, said in a statement. In the largest settlement, JPMorgan will pay a $10 million civil fine and reimburse $90 million to customers who invested in “conduit” products. These products pooled customer money to invest in private equity or hedge funds that would later distribute shares of companies that went public. The SEC said JPMorgan did not disclose it had complete discretion over when to sell and the number of shares to be sold. It said this exposed customers to market risk, including when prices fell because the bank sometimes took months to sell shares. JPMorgan was separately fined $45 million for failing to fully disclose...

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15 Views on What to Drink on Election Night

Amy Mundwiler National director of wine and beverage, Maple and Ash, Chicago Win or lose: “I will be drinking Champagne. Specifically, Drappier Carte d’Or. If I’m celebrating, I want Champagne. If I need to cheer myself up, I want Champagne. Why Drappier Carte d’Or? It’s my favorite. It’s delicious and affordable, and based on the news these days, we’re probably gonna need more than one bottle. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” Andra “AJ” Johnson; managing partner, Serenata DC, Washington If it’s a win: “Tres leches Ramos fizz … the sweet taste of success. I chose this cocktail because, if we win, it’s cause for celebration, but also it took a lot of hard work to get here. The Fizz in any variation is a lot of ‘shaking things up’ in order to get the desired result. But once you get it and master it, there’s no better feeling.” If it’s a loss: “Corpse reviver variation … death to us all.” Sam Bogue; beverage director, Flour + Water Hospitality Group, San Francisco If it’s a win: “It will be a trip or two directly to my cellar at home. I have an old bottle of Jacques Puffeney Arbois [an aromatic white from the Jura] that I have been waiting for a special moment to enjoy. It...

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Bond Yields End Week Higher as Market Preps for Trio of Risks

Late in New York trading, yields hovered near session highs, with the two-year up 3.5 basis points to top 4.20%. The moves were larger for longer-dated benchmarks, with both 10- and 30-year yields up nearly 10 basis points. Yields had climbed roughly 60 basis points throughout October, causing a Bloomberg gauge of the debt to post its worst monthly loss since 2022. Leading into Friday’s data, traders in the options markets had been hedging against a deeper selloff in Treasuries and liquidating positions in anticipation of next week’s risk events. Volatility has been rising as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump face off in a tight race for the White House on Nov. 5. The ICE BofA Move Index, a closely watched gauge of U.S. bond-market volatility, closed at its highest this year this week, showing that traders are paying up to protect against increased turbulence. The Fed meets on Nov. 7, just two days after the vote. “Clearly, there is risk next week in terms of uncertainty around the election,” said Roger Hallam, global head of rates at Vanguard. And the recent string of firmer data mean “the outcomes for Fed policy next year also widen — and that feeds into relative market...

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Race for Private-Credit ETFs to Face SEC Scrutiny

The disclosures, she said, don’t indicate whether that treatment applies to all or only a portion of the assets held in the fund. SEC staff typically ask issuers for additional disclosures on their products. But for the private-credit ETFs, the agency may push for more details on how the firms will navigate conflicts of interest and how they select the underlying private credit assets. Many of those assets will be comprised of collateralized-loan obligations, a $1.3 trillion market that repackages leveraged loans into securities of varying risk and size. The agency will home in on whether any conflicts can be addressed through simple disclosures, or if they need to be resolved, said Val Dahiya, a partner at the law firm Morrison Foerster and a former branch chief in the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets. If they can’t be addressed, the agency is more likely to deny the proposals, she said. Apollo plans to source some of the private credit assets wrapped into an ETF, provide valuations for those assets and offer intraday trading liquidity for those assets, according to the SEC filing. The money manager has pledged to purchase a certain amount of the asset-backed and corporate finance investments...

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Delta-8 Hemp, Medical Marijuana Industries to Face Off in Texas Legislative Session

Article 0 Comments Jack Stinnett got life-changing news in 2020 when he learned the lump that appeared on the side of his neck was tongue and mouth cancer. He and his wife Karen quickly enrolled him at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he underwent five and a half rounds of chemotherapy and 33 treatments of radiation. During this time, Stinnett, a Marble Falls resident, went from a reasonably healthy 60-year-old who rode his bicycle more than 60 miles daily to losing more than 100 pounds after losing his appetite and sense of taste. Then, Stinnett qualified for a medical marijuana prescription for the nerve pain he received from the cancer treatments and found the relief he needed. “It helped with my appetite and sleep. This Compassionate Care Act, in my opinion, helps like no other,” he said. “We just need politicians to get out of the way.” Stories like this point to the successes of Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, but it is facing its worst existential crisis since its inception in 2015. Strict rules on who is eligible, what products can be sold, and where they can be stored have limited the program’s impact, while unregulated hemp products...

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People Moves: Marsh Promotes Lang, Aronson, Rouse in Placement Strategy; Chubb Expands Merna’s Role to Include Multinational Clients

Article 0 Comments Marsh Makes Global Senior Leadership Appointments Christopher Lang Marsh, a business of Marsh McLennan, named Christopher Lang as digital leader, Marsh Specialty and Global Placement. In this newly created role, Lang leads Marsh’s digital global insurance placement strategy. Dan Aronson Lang has spent the last 30 years at Marsh in various placement leadership roles, most recently serving as global placement leader in the U.S. and Canada. He is based in New York. Mike Rouse Succeeding Lang are Marsh veterans, Daniel Aronson, U.S. casualty practice leader, and Michael Rouse, U.S. property practice leader. As co-global placement leaders for the region, Aronson and Rouse drive all elements of Marsh’s global placement strategy in the U.S. and Canada. They will continue to be based in New York and serve in their respective casualty and property leadership roles. Chubb Expands Merna’s Role to Include Multinational Clients Chubb Limited said it expanded the role of Matt Merna to include delivering risk management solutions to major multinational clients located overseas. Merna, who currently oversees Chubb’s retail commercial property and casualty insurance businesses for large accounts in the U.S. and Canada, now assists Chubb’s overseas teams in the design, structure and implementation of large,...

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What to Know About Investing in Private Credit

ETFs The Virtus Private Strategy Credit ETF (VPC) is the only exchange-traded fund dedicated solely to tracking private credit. There are other ETFs with a portion of their portfolio held in private equity. The fund carries an expense ratio of 9.72% and has a 12-month yield of 10.52%, according to Morningstar. The fund’s five-year annualized trailing return as of Oct. 29 was 7.95%. The ETF tracks the Indxx Private Credit Index, which provides passive exposure to private credit instruments that are exchange listed. Investing Platforms Several investing platforms, such as Yieldstreet, offer access to both accredited and non-accredited investors to a number of alternative portfolios such as art, collectibles and private credit. For non-accredited investors at Yieldstreet, the minimum investment is generally $10,000. Accredited investors can typically open an account and invest in one or more of their funds. There is a lockup period on the investment during which the investor cannot access their investment. Benefits of Private Credit Private credit can be a valid alternative investment strategy for a portion of clients’ portfolios. Here are some positive features: Low correlation and diversification: Private credit as an asset class has a generally low correlation to traditional assets like stocks and...