Prudential Group Insurance names senior VP

Prudential Group Insurance, a business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) appointed Michelle Crecca as senior vice president of Strategy and chief marketing officer.

In her newly created role, Crecca will be responsible for integrating strategy, marketing and communications functions while increasing visibility and understanding of the brand and value proposition among key stakeholders.

Crecca most recently served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer with Webster Financial Corporation, a publicly traded Top 35 bank. Prior to her career at Webster, Crecca spent seven years with Citigroup, progressing through various marketing, line of business and product and channel management roles.

Crecca earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with honors from Northwestern University and a MBA in finance and international business from The Stern School of Business at New York University.

Crecca currently sits on the board of trustees for the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, an educational nonprofit devoted to celebrating the achievements of women and girls.  She is also a former member of the American Heart Association’s Board of Directors in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Crecca reports to Lori Fouché, chief executive officer, Prudential Group Insurance, and is based in Roseland, N.J.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) launched Elite Index II cost-effective universal life insurance with simplified guarantees, an optional chronic illness accelerated benefit rider, increased cap rates (now at 13 percent), and higher participation rates (now at 70 percent), which provide greater opportunity for growth in a well-performing market.

Elite Index II is offered with the Accelerated Access Solution, a rider that provides policy holders the option to accelerate the death benefit, income tax free (based on current tax laws), in the event of a chronic illness if all applicable criteria are met. 

With Elite Index II, clients can choose from among three interest-crediting accounts to fit individual needs:

• A declared interest account with a 2 percent guaranteed minimum annual interest rate;
• A choice between two index interest accounts with interest crediting linked to the S&P 500 with a minimum annual guaranteed interest rate of 0.25 percent, regardless of index performance; and
• A Choice Loan option, which allows Elite Index II policy holders to access their funds, but also have the loan collateral eligible for index interest.

Conning Inc. reached a definitive agreement with Brookfield Investment Management Inc. to acquire certain assets of Brookfield’s Core Fixed Income Insurance Business.  Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Upon completion of the transaction, insurance clients – including property/casualty and reinsurance companies – will be managed under the Conning brand, with full access to the firm’s state-of-the-art insurance-focused asset management platform, insurance research, and risk management capabilities. There will be no change to the investment team overseeing client relationships.

The team joining Conning, in a newly formed Manhattan investment office – led by Joseph Syage and Dominick Bonanno – will integrate with Conning’s U.S. portfolio management group.

Led by Representative Rob Damron, the Kentucky legislature unanimously passes policy conversion disclosure mandate into a Long Term Care Benefit by a vote of 38-0. This consumer protection and tax payer savings measure now goes to Governor Steve Beshear to sign into law.

The Kentucky bill calls for: