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Mon. Apr. 30, 2012 Blackstone feeds ETF frenzy expanding to loans: credit markets Exchange-traded funds, after amassing $28 billion of junk bonds in five years, are expanding into leveraged loans as demand rises for investments that protect against inflation. Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest private-equity firm, is partnering with Boston-based State Street Corp. to create an ETF for speculative-grade loans, according to a regulatory filing. Invesco Ltd., which attracted $158 million to its 14-month-old loan ETF in the first quarter, started its second fund in Canada this month, a separate filing shows.	Advertisement
Liberty Mutual leaps to 2nd in JD Power auto insurance poll Liberty Mutual improved dramatically in a nationwide customer satisfaction survey released Monday. The Boston insurance giant finished second among major auto insurers in the J.D. Power and Associates survey, up from fifth in 2011. The J.D. Power survey also found that only one in four customers shopped for a new auto insurer in the past 12 months, the lowest shopping rate in five years.
AAA: Mass. gas prices drop another 3 cents a gallon Massachusetts gas prices averaged $3.829 a gallon in the latest weekly survey from AAA, down 3 cents a gallon from the previous week’s average, AAA Southern New England said today. The current national average for gas is $3.81 a gallon. A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $3.94 a gallon. AAA’s weekly surveys focus on self-serve, regular unleaded gas.
Hood adds new flavors to its ice cream line-ups Hood, the regional dairy brand headquartered in Lynnfield, is unveiling new ice cream flavors, including Peanut Butter Cup and Down East Double Fudge Brownie, as the weather heats up and ice cream season looms. Besides Red Sox Novelties, Hood markets two ice cream lines --- Hood Classic and New England Creamery. Both lines are sold in major grocery stores across the region.
First Republic Bank opens office in Boston’s Post Office Square First Republic Bank, a bank that caters to a wealthy clientele, announced Monday the opening of an office at One Post Office Square in Downtown Boston. First Republic said its Post Office Square location will provide lending, deposit, and wealth management services to individuals, businesses, foundations, and nonprofits. First Republic added that its new location is part of a broader expansion. In May, First Republic plans to open a new office in Wellesley.
Former football star Doug Flutie will help Eastern Bank salute local nonprofits Plans call for former football star Doug Flutie to be on hand for an Eastern Bank event Monday that will honor Massachusetts nonprofits. During the event at Cambridge College in Cambridge, Flutie and Eastern Bank chairman and chief executive Richard Holbrook will play host to 98 community-based organizations that earned grants totaling more than $1.1 million from the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation.
Hologic agrees to buy Gen-Probe for $3.7b Bedford-based Hologic Inc., a developer and maker of diagnostic products and medical imaging systems designed primarily for women, has agreed to buy Gen-Probe Inc. for $3.7 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed later this year. The agreement calls for Hologic to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Gen-Probe for $82.75 per share, which represents a roughly 20 percent premium to Friday’s closing price. In late Monday morning trading, Hologic shares were down about 9 percent.
MIT’s Amy Finkelstein wins John Bates Clark Medal in Economics Amy Finkelstein, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the winner of the John Bates Clark Medal awarded annually to an economist under the age of 40, the American Economic Association said in a statement today.
Liberty Mutual’s Edmund F. “Ted” Kelly says “accounting issue” overstated his annual earnings Liberty Mutual chairman Edmund F. “Ted” Kelly, under fire for receiving $50 million a year from the Boston insurance giant, said Friday that an “accounting issue” made his compensation appear larger than it is.
Even with steep pay cut, TJX Cos. chief executive earned $11 million for 2012 fiscal year TJX Cos. chief executive Carol Meyrowitz’s compensation dropped by more than 50 percent in fiscal year 2012, to $11 million. The decline of nearly $12 million was due to significantly smaller stock and option awards, according to documents filed by the Framingham retail discounter with securities regulators. Meyrowitz, who runs the T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods chains, earned $708,954 in stock option awards in 2012, compared with about $13.5 million in stock in 2011.
Developer pleads guilty to mortgage scam involving Massachusetts condo sales A developer pleaded guilty in US District Court for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme related to multiple condominiums sales in Massachusetts. Robert H. Odimegwu, 43, was convicted Thursday in federal court after admitting to 17 counts of wire fraud and money laundering related to the scheme, the US Attorney’s Office said. He faces decades in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of wire fraud and money laundering, the US Attorneys office said. His sentencing is scheduled for July 26.
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