Global Atlantic Buys Forethought for Post-Goldman Growth

Global Atlantic Financial Group, the insurer divested by Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc. this year, agreed to buy closely held Forethought Financial Group Inc. to expand sales of life and retirement products.

The purchase will increase assets at Global Atlantic to more than $31 billion, the Bermuda-based insurer said today in a statement that didn’t include terms. Forethought had $6.3 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, according to its website.

Global Atlantic, led by Chief Executive Officer Allan Levine, is expanding distribution after Goldman Sachs sold a majority stake in the firm to private investors. The insurer announced in May that it would buy Aviva Plc’s U.S. life business, with $10 billion of assets, in a reinsurance deal. Read more.

Goldman Sachs Nearly Hired the Libor Scandals

Tom Hayes – the bank trader known to colleagues as Rain Man, who authorities allege was the key figure of a global interest-rate-rigging scheme.

Notwithstanding the retention campaign, Mr. Hayes joined Citigroup in late 2009. The New York-based bank quickly came to regret the hire, firing Mr. Hayes less than a year after he arrived for what it described as misconduct, Read more.

The End of Investment Banks

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced their intent to become bank holding companies on Sept. 21, 2008, in a last-ditch effort to draw on Federal Reserve funds and avoid financial oblivion.

They were the envy of Wall Street, dominating the industry's most lucrative businesses, landing headline-grabbing deals and advising companies and governments around the world on mergers, stock offerings and restructurings. Read more.

They were the envy of Wall Street, dominating the industry's most lucrative businesses, landing headline-grabbing deals and advising companies and governments around the world on mergers, stock offerings and restructurings.
Read more at http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/09/21/the-end-of-investment-banks.aspx#YUGi8pm1ytXTEu9h.99