SunAmerica Financial Group Inc., a life insurance and retirement services company headquartered in Woodland Hills, announced a series of moves last week designed to streamline its business and bolster management.
The company, a subsidiary of New York insurance giant American International Group Inc., has reorganized its distribution network; launched a new division; and announced that Mary Jane Fortin, former chief executive of Houston’s American General Life Cos., was appointed chief financial officer.
The new distribution network, SunAmerica Financial Group Distributors, will be responsible for sales and account management across the company’s various subsidiaries, including Valic and Western National. Stephen Maginn was named president of the network.
SunAmerica also launched an institutional markets division that will handle structured settlements and other business lines.
“Our new organizational structure will enable us to better serve our broad network of distribution partners as we work together to help even more Americans plan for and achieve financial and retirement security,” Jay Wintrob, SunAmerica’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Slow Start
Oaktree Capital Group LLC may be one of the world’s preeminent investment firms, but that didn’t impress Wall Street.
And the inauspicious public debut of the downtown L.A. asset manager could be an ominous sign for other financial companies looking to go public, such as Washington, D.C., investment firm Carlyle Group.
Oaktree raised less than expected in its initial public offering and declined in its first trading day – a sign that the IPO market remains volatile even for relatively strong companies, analysts said.
Oaktree had hoped to raise more than $500 million, but only managed to bring in $380 million in the offering. The firm cut the number of shares in the offering from 11.3 million to 8.8 million, and priced the shares at $43, the low end of its projected range.
The stock, which started trading April 12 on the New York Stock Exchange, fell more than 5 percent in early trading before ending its first day at $42.39 a share, off 1.4 percent.
Oaktree, which specializes in distressed debt investing, was founded in 1995 by several ex-employees of downtown L.A.-based TCW Group Inc., including Howard Marks and Bruce Karsh.
SBA Aid
The Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Center Network helped local small businesses get access to $70 million in capital during 2011, according to data released last week.
The network, a group of eight centers under the U.S. Small Business Administration designed to assist startups, said it helped 315 small businesses find the capital, which helped grow their sales by $104 million.
“These numbers represent the spirit of entrepreneurship and businesses flourishing with success,” Victor Parker, the SBA L.A. district director, said in a statement.
C-Suite News
Intrepid Investment Bankers LLC, a middle-market investment banking firm in Brentwood, has hired Brien Rowe, Marvin Padilla and Philippe Faraut as managing directors in the firm’s consumer products division. … Kinecta Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Manhattan Beach, has appointed Keith Sultemeier as chief executive. Roger Ballard, who had served as chief executive of both Kinecta and NuVision Federal Credit Union for the past two years in anticipation of a planned merger, will return to the top post of NuVision now that the institutions cancelled the deal. … Northern Trust Corp., headquartered in Chicago, announced that Michele Havens was appointed personal financial services president in the L.A. region. … Bank of Santa Clarita announced that James Hicken will no longer serve as president and chief executive. No reason was given for his departure. Frank Di Tomaso, the bank’s chairman, will fill the roles on an interim basis. … Financial giant Barclays PLC, based in London, announced the hiring of two professionals in its L.A. office. Matthew Celenza was hired as a managing director in the wealth and investment management division; Larry DiGioia was hired as a director in the same unit. … Concert Wealth Management, an investment advisory firm in San Jose, has hired Myles Pritchard as a managing director in the L.A. office. … CastleOak Securities LP, a boutique investment bank in New York, has hired Omar Buttari and Kevin Ghomashchi as managing directors in fixed income sales and trading in the newly established L.A. office. … Prepaid debit-card provider Green Dot Corp., based in Monrovia, has hired Ralph Calvano as senior vice president of processing. … Pan American Bank in Los Angeles has hired César Rosas as vice president of finance.
Staff reporter Richard Clough can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 251.
