Mr. Pupillo manages $2.5 billion in institutional and high-net-worth retail accounts, according to HighTower, and his signing gives the firm its first office in the Southwest. He and fellow financial advisers Brian Hein and David Brasfield, along with two other colleagues, Aaron Brasfield and Darren Evans, work in Scottsdale, Ariz. Hightower did not provide a breakdown of the team’s institutional and retail business.

“I looked at several vendor platforms to support us if we went completely independent, but none provided anything close to the comprehensive platform at HighTower, Mr. Pupillo said in a statement. We joined HighTower because it represents the very [best of breed] solutions, supporting sophisticated independent advisers and harnessing the competitive power of Wall Street for the benefit of our clients.”

Mr. Pupillo was not available for an interview.

The departure of Mr. Pupillo is a sizeable blow to Greystone and parent . A Barron’s Top 100 Adviser since 2006, Mr.

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Selecting a credit card, you have a wide choice. Of course, you want to choose a card that complements your expenses, purchases and life style. If you have some credit card debts you can use one of 0 apr balance transfer credit cards. Or, if your credit score is perfect you can apply for a rewards credit card and get a lot of benefits.

If you travel a lot and frequently stay in hotels in different locations, applying for one of hotel credit cards can be a great idea. As the name of credit cards implies, these rewards provide free accommodation at the hotel and other privileges. Full Article…

Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone behind Germany and France. It also has a very significant public debt burden and has seen many years of torpid economic growth. Growing concern that Italy would follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in needing financial support from the IMF/EU led (ironically) to yields on Italian ten-year bonds climbing above the 7% level. The crisis led to the resignation of the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi and the installation of an unelected, technocrat cabinet led by Mario Draghi.

Italy has pushed through further austerity measures and the technocrat government has survived confidence votes. This has seen the heat go out of the bond yield crisis, although yields remain at uncomfortably high levels.

Fitch’s rating agency has warned that a downgrade of Italy’s current A+ status could be imminent. This would signal the agency’s belief that the risk associated with Italian sovereign debt had risen.

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In recent years, utilities, credit card issuers and banks have made a real effort to redesign their statements so theyre easier for their customers to understand. In many cases theyve succeeded, and Im grateful.

But for some reason, my health insurer (Anthem Blue Cross) has continued to to send me the same kind of inscrutable Explanation of Benefits letter that it has sent for years. Its filled with information that is of no value to me, including machine-readable bar codes and glyphs (who are these for?the letters dont say). And the kind of information I would like to know is incomplete. For example, the letters include the members medical deductible applied to date but doesnt say what the deductible actually is, or how much is remaining.

RECOMMENDED: FREE CREDIT CHECK TOOL Credit Report Card Check your credit for free with this great tool from Credit.com. It offers expert advice on how to manage your credit. Full Article…