News Round Up

Reports of Aetna's sale greatly exaggerated, US goes decimal, AMP Private Capital invests in UK.

Saturday, July 8th 2000, 12:00AM

Reports of Aetna health's sales to Tower health appear to be greatly exaggerated.

The Sunday Star Times reported Tower was buying Aetna for $71.75 million, however it has subsequently emerged that the paper was set up by a bogus press release.

Aetna is wholly owned by its US parent company Aetna International.

Meanwhile Tower Health is planning a major relaunch of its products and services to the broker market. (For details see the Diary section).

Managing director Jim Minto says Tower Health besides new products, the company will showcase new terms and conditions, new adviser agreements, and a new way for advisers to deal with a carrier.

US gets rid of fractions

The New York Stock Exchange will be running a trial in September where the prices of seven stocks will quoted in decimals, rather than fractions.

US financial markets have always traded in halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, and smaller fractions. Equity prices are quoted to the nearest sixteenth.

The NZSE has been working towards pricing in decimals since 1997, however progress has been slowed because the Nasdaq was not ready to change.

Decimal pricing will be better for investors as it will provide greater transparency and it will, in the trial, reduce the spread from 6.25 cents to 1 cent.

A final decision on what the spread is under decimal pricing won't be known until after the pilot period as some companies are pushing for a 5 cent spread.

AMP Private Capital invests in UK

The United Kingdom-based Prism Group Holdings Limited (Prism) has secured an investment of $5 million from AMP Private Capital and Caltech Capital Partners in a third round equity raising to fund the next stage of growth.

Prism is one of the world’s leading suppliers of integrated MIS software and web press monitoring equipment for the printing and packaging industry, with 125 employees and six offices in the New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

AMP and Caltech are Prism’s second institutional shareholder, following St George Bank and Nanyang Ventures who invested in 1998.

AMP Private Capital is New Zealand’s largest private capital investment operation and has invested over NZ$100 million in private capital investments over the past 18 months.

« AMPAM complements index management with active management

Get your tax questions answered online »

Special Offers