The victims of a 2010 Ponzi scheme where the perpetrator attempted to fake his own death are the subject of a 30-minute documentary produced by the Indiana Secretary of State's Office, according to Fox 59. The documentary, Scammed: Investment Fraud Revealed, tells the stories of three major fraud cases in Indiana, including Marcus Schrenker's. Schrenker was convicted of securities fraud in 2010 and sentenced after tricking his clients into investing millions of dollars into a fund that didn't exist, spending the money on personal expenses and, when the heat drew near, trying to fake his own death by crashing his plane in Florida (he parachuted out over Alabama). He was found two days later and released from prison last year. Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson said the purpose of the documentary was to show Hoosiers how investment fraud was happening in the state and to send a warning to would-be scam artists.
So Is UBS' Wealth Management Unit for Sale, or No?
Rumor has it... | Copyright Oli Scarff, Getty Images
Though the rumor has come and gone before, the prospect of Swiss bank giant UBS offloading its wealth management unit in the Americas got another jolt earlier this week when Aite Group principal Alois Pirker, a former UBS employee, told the New York Post that the unit "could go on the block this time" and that the Swiss bank has "no interest in brokerage." The firm denies it wants to sell. By headcount, UBS deliberately remains the most focused of the remaining big four brokerage firms with over 7,100 advisors each overseeing, on average $147 million and each producing on average over $1 million in fees and commissions. The rumor came at the same time UBS said it was looking to tighten its advisory business even further by cutting recruitment and advisory ranks and increasing the payout for the top producers. The firm's focus is on increasing its share of the high-net-worth market.
New Online Retirement Readiness Tools
Accumulate and distribute.
For advisors looking for a new way to educate clients about their retirement preparations, Trust Builders has a suite of online calculators to help them out. The Paycheck Calculator, a feature of the TRAK-Online website, includes a paycheck analysis calculator to illustrate how retirement accounts funds accumulate, and a 1040 analysis calculator to help advisors identify additional sources for retirement contributions. The third, a projections calculator, gives advisors a way to show clients how much projected income they can expect in retirement. The idea is have clients give information about additional accounts not managed by the advisor to see how they impact the projection. "Clients become highly engaged when they see the cost of waiting to save and thus understand why they need to take action," explained Edward Dressel, the president of Trust Builders.
