MANILA, Philippines - Pru Life UK, the Philippine life insurance arm of London-based Prudential plc, showed a 33% growth in 2011, boosted by increased sales.

In a statement, Pru Life UK said its total gross premium income in 2011 reached P10.4 billion, from P 7.8 billion in 2010. Total gross premium income is the premium income earned (first year, single and renewal years), gross of reinsurance, for the period.

"Our improved performance was brought about by recruiting more financial advisers and increased productivity. We recruited over 1,000 agents in 2011. Furthermore, there was significant growth in the business brought to us by brokers," Pru Life UK President and CEO Antonio De Rosas said, in a statement.

De Rosas also attributed the companys continued growth to its aggressive recruitment strategy, training and coaching programs for financial advisers. The company also launched innovative products such as the Pru Link Exact Protector, a revamped version of one of Pru Life UKs bestselling unit-linked or investment-linked products, the PruLink Exact Plus.

Meanwhile, Prudential plc said its Asian life insurance business became the single largest contributor to the group International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) operating profit, accounting for 34% in 2011.

Asian life insurance excluding Taiwan has grown from 12 per cent of Group IFRS operating profit in 2007 to 34 per cent in 2011. The nominal amount has nearly trebled in three years from 257 million to 709 million, said Prudential plc Group Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam. The heart of our strategy remains Asia, where our positive momentum has been maintained in 2011, with total IFRS operating profit up 30 per cent and a cash remittance to the Group of 206 million. Asia is generating both growth and cash and our focus on the fast-growing markets of Southeast Asia continues to pay off, he said.

Prudential plc, through Prudential Corporation Asia, has life insurance operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, India, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Korea.

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Pru Life UK income jumps 33% in 2011

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Former Olmsted Falls High School coach Pat Donahue is not the least bit surprised his former star player, Steve Gansey, is the head coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League at the age of 26.

"He was always a student of the game," said Donahue, who is teaching but no longer coaching at Olmsted Falls. "He was always interested in how the game was played, why things were done. Steve was the kind of kid who was always into basketball. He was one of the guys willing to work on his game. He always wanted to put more time in. He has taken that right to the coaching ranks."

Gansey returns to Ohio on Wednesday night when the Mad Ants, 11-31, visit the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers' D-League team that is 24-18.

"I knew I was going to be a head coach at some time in my life," Gansey said. "If I said I knew it was going to be at 26, I'd be lying to you. It's a great opportunity, and I'm having so much fun."

After starring at Olmsted Falls, Gansey played at Cleveland State. When Mike Garland was fired, he transferred to Ashland and played for Roger Lyons. He'd already figured out his playing career wasn't going to last much longer, and he wanted to have fun and experience the college life.

He got an internship at Priority Sports and Entertainment in Chicago, run by agent Mark Bartelstein, who represented Steve's older brother Mike Gansey, now a seasonal assistant in basketball operations with the Cavs. A stint at USA Basketball followed before Gansey took a job as an unpaid volunteer to long-time Fort Wayne head coach Joey Meyer two years ago. He was promoted to the first chair last year when former Cav Vitaly Potapenko took a job with the Indiana Pacers. Then he took over for Meyer, the former DePaul coach, when the team started 5-10 this season.

"The best part is that I'm in the head coach's shoes," he said. "You don't really know how you're going to do things until you put on those shoes and become that guy. It's a lot different sitting six inches to the left or the right.

As young as I am, anything that I'm going to endure in my life in the next couple years, I have this to look back on. I will make mistakes, but hopefully not the same mistakes. It has been a great learning experience and a great opportunity.

I would like some more time and some more opportunity to work with these guys. I just wish our season wasn't ending here pretty soon."

Gansey is drawing on everything he learned from Donahue, Garland, Lyons and Meyer. Donahue, he said, taught him how to compete.

Link:
Olmsted Falls star Steve Gansey enjoying D-League coaching stint at age 26

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ixo9PdkJCs

19-03-2012 23:00 This was really hard today. Brought the intensity, but I am going to add a bit of weight next time to my V Bar rows.

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Get Your Swole On 2.0 Lower Half - Video

Health network to be part of hockey arena complex

A major name is making the move to downtown Allentown and the city's new hockey arena complex.

Lehigh Valley Health Network announced Tuesday afternoon it will locate a new sports medicine and fitness center on the site.

LVHN will also be a major sponsor at the arena, with highly visible advertising inside and out.

The move could potentially create hundreds of new jobs, but overhanging the announcement was a lawsuit that could delay the arena project.

"It is a real, real exciting day, I think, for the city of Allentown," said Mayor Ed Pawlowski, D-Allentown.

Lehigh Valley Health Network is signing on as sponsors and the minor league Phantoms' official team doctors, but the big announcement is the new sports medicine center that will occupy five floors of an adjoining office tower.

The facility is slated to offer outpatient rehab for sports injuries, screening programs for concussions, and fitness facilties for adults and youth athletes.

"You have to believe, and when you see that big gap down here, you begin to believe," said Dr. Ronald Swinfard, LVHN president and CEO.

Swinfard suggested the new venture could create hundreds of new jobs, although an exact number is not yet known.

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Health network to be part of hockey arena complex

The Lehigh Valley Health Network will partner with the Phantoms hockey team and operate a sports medicine and fitness center out of the Allentown arena complex under construction in Center City.

The health network will be the anchor tenant of a seven-story, 200,000-square-foot office complex that was added to plans for the hockey arena earlier this month.

From there, they will serve as the official health care provider for the Philadelphia Flyers' minor league hockey affiliate, in addition to operating the fitness center, officials announced today.

He added later, "We believe enhancing the health and wellness of this area is our contribution to this revitalization."

A developer has yet to be announced for the seven-floor, 180-room hotel also added to the hockey arena plan. Mayor Ed Pawlowski said future developer announcements will be made in upcoming months.

Lehigh Valley Health Network will occupy five of the office building's seven floors. Swinfard said the lease is still being finalized, but will likely span five or 10 years.

As the official health care provider for the Phantoms, LVHN doctors will work with Flyers physicians to provide both rehabilitation and preventative health to Phantoms players, said Rob Brooks, co-owner of the Phantoms.

The fitness center will be open to the public and offer outpatient rehabilitation and screening to diagnose and treat concussions and brain injuries, Swinfard said.

It will also include a sports performance program for all ages, as well as a medical fitness center for the community and for Phantoms team members, he said.

***

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Lehigh Valley Health Network announces future presence at Allentown hockey arena

By Gary Dinges

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

A new website launched by an Austin marketing firm lets consumers call out businesses that are allegedly making bogus health and fitness claims on packaging and in their advertisements.

EnviroMedia Social Marketing with the help of a nationally known team of advisers has rolled out LeanwashingIndex.com, a follow-up to its GreenwashingIndex.com site, which monitors companies' environmental claims. The firm said it will make no money from the site.

The term "leanwashing" is a variation on whitewashing, said EnviroMedia co-founder and Leanwashing Index co-creator Valerie Davis, with "lean" referring, in part, to the weight loss many products promise.

Consumers pick the ads featured and then rate them on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 designating promises believed to be "authentic" and 5 for those considered "bogus."

"With pizza considered a vegetable for school lunches ... we know consumers need something now to help them scrutinize some of the bogus health claims that abound in food and product advertising," Davis said.

A study conducted last year by Nielsen Global Research showed 59 percent of consumers said they were often unable to make sense of nutritional facts on food packaging.

Many also said they were skeptical of health claims companies make.

Companies whose ads are rated can either post comments on the site or email site administrators with responses.

Originally posted here:
New website lets consumers rate products' health, fitness claims

BERKELEY -- A fourth group of young people have completed a program that teaches health and fitness, conflict resolution, personal safety, drug and drinking laws, and other criminal justice issues.

The Police and Life Academy for Youth (PLAY) program started in September 2010 with a $25,000 grant from the Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund at UC Berkeley. A $20,000 from the same source last September kept the program alive.

About 70 teens have completed the 11-week program since it began 18 months ago, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. More than a dozen will graduate from the most recent session on Wednesday.

The graduation is at 5 p.m. at the Ronald T. Tsukamoto Public Safety Building, 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley.

PLAY is a partnership between the University of California Police Department, the Berkeley Police Department, the Berkeley Boosters/Police Activities League and the Berkeley Unified School District. It is free for students. More information is available at http://www.berkeleyboosters.org.

Continued here:
Teens graduate from program that teaches them about criminal justice

Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan has told MPs she needs more money if her office is to increase the financial literacy of Maori and Pacific Islanders.

The Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income, which operates the Sorted.org website, was urged to extend its coverage to lower socio-economic groups at Wednesday's hearing of parliament's social services committee.

Since it was established in 1993, the commission has predominately focused on improving the financial literacy of middle income New Zealanders.

"We don't have the facilities or the money that would be required to target some of these groups," Ms Crossan said.

"We are aware that what we are doing is for the general population - we are targeting some smaller areas but we don't have a lot of the resources. We can't work alone."

She said the commission has no specific strategy to target Maori and Pacific Islanders. She acknowledged a relationship with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs would be an important pathway to developing one.

"We have talked with iwi - we want them to get into a long-term strategy," Ms Crossan said.

"What we have had to do is to alert them to the fact that the resources are there - we can help you but we can't do it."

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Retirement Commissioner wants more money

3/20/2012 12:57 PM ET

By Annie Mueller, Investopedia

It's hard to think of retirement when you're still young, but smart moves now can make sure your older self will be financially secure.

You want to not only have enough money to live comfortably when you retire, you also want a little bit more. Maybe you want enough to travel, start that side business you always talked about or purchase your dream home since you'll have time to enjoy it. Whatever your retirement dreams are, maximizing your retirement income can help.

Here are some ways to do just that:

You've no doubt heard of the benefits of compound interest. The key is that the sooner you start saving, the sooner you start gaining the interest and the sooner that interest can start compounding. Two years makes a difference, but five or 10 years makes an even bigger difference in the amount you end up with upon retirement. If you're on a tight budget, you can still stash at least a little bit away in a retirement account. Have a set amount automatically deducted from your paycheck, so you're not tempted to spend it. You're investing in your own future. (Are you saving enough for retirement? Find out with MSN Money's calculator.)

This one isn't always possible, but if you happen to have a nice lump sum of money come into your possession, consider using it as the base of your retirement fund. Graduations and weddings often result in gifts of cash, so use these as the seed of your retirement account for increased compound interest and a larger return when you retire.

Continued here:
Maximize retirement income

Regardless of how old you are, it's never too early to start thinking about retirement. It will be here much sooner than you think and if you find yourself unprepared, there may be no way to make up for the lack of preparation in the past.

If you're close to retirement and not sure if now is the right time, you have a unique set of questions to ask yourself before saying goodbye to the life you've lived for decades. Whether you're young or old, there are questions you need to answer before you have a clear picture of what retirement means for you.

Do I Have Enough Money?The "magic number" question is the question that we all ask, and getting a useful answer is often difficult. The long held wisdom is that you should have enough money to provide 80% of the income you were earning right before retirement. Some studies show that retirees spend less than when they were younger making the eighty percent rule too high, but other studies seem to show that less money is spent because retirees are forced to live on less due to shortfalls in retirement savings.

There is one fact not in dispute: Saving as much as possible now will better position you for retirement later. It doesn't have to be in a formal retirement account either. Fund your 401(k) to its maximum extent and start an IRA. Other savings can be in an investment or savings account. Rather than trying to find a magic number, save and invest more in your working years.

Should I Keep Working?The traditional retirement age is 65, but that number has slowly risen to 69 according to recent studies by SunAmerica. A variety of reasons have factored in to this but the largest may be the loss of retirement savings as a result of the 2008 and 2009 recession. If you have a shortfall in your retirement accounts or you're in relative good health and could live longer than the amount of money you have to live on, working longer may be required.

There are also non-financial reasons. Some people have a live-to-work mentality where staying at home and taking part in recreational activities isn't healthy for them. If you enjoy working and have the means to do so, working longer can help you reach your savings goals while also keeping your mind and body healthier. Remember that some retirement accounts require that you begin taking payments at a certain age so consulting with a financial planner is well advised.

Is Working an Option?Forty one percent of people reaching retirement age cite medical problems as holding them back from working any longer. If you're far away from retirement age, it would be dangerous to rely on working past 60 to shore up your retirement goals. There's a better than average chance that you'll have the opportunity to work longer, but money decisions should never be made with hope as part of the reasoning.

What Would You Like to Do?If you want to work after retirement, position yourself now to be able to do that. What types of jobs would you like to do as a retiree and how can you train for those now? Would you like to be a writer? A consultant? A counselor? Less physically demanding jobs that allow you to work on your own schedule might allow you to achieve a lifestyle of both retirement and still earning a living even if minor health problems do become an issue.

The Bottom LineAlthough we hear all the time how we should plan for our retirement, an alarming amount of people have done very little to plan for the golden years. If that's you, now is the time to come up with a plan and start funding those goals.

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Ask Yourself These Retirement Questions Before It's Too Late