In Brief

TSCPA FINANCIAL EDUCATION WEB SITE GARNERS AWARDThe Texas Society of CPAs received an Award of Excellence in the 2007 Associations Advance America Awards competition. The TSCPA received the award for its consumer financial education Web site, www.valueyourmoney.org. The site gives users access to free personal finance information for 11 specific stages in life, such as high school, couples and marriage, life crises, and retirement and estate planning. Resources available online include worksheets, quizzes, podcasts, a personal finance calendar, and materials for companies to use in educating employees about money matters.

The AAA program is a national competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership in Washington, D.C.

CALCPA LAUNCHES FINANCIAL PODCASTS

The California Society of CPAs has launched Financial Empowerment, a series of financial literacy podcasts.

Each CalCPA podcast provides tips on how to handle everyday money-management issues. The podcasts are accessible at www.calcpa.org/financialempowerment, through the iTunes Store, or through Podcast Alley at www.podcastalley.com/.

MORNINGSTAR READYING FINANCIAL PUB

Financial researcher and rater Morningstar is gearing up to launch its first publication written for advisors. Titled Morningstar Advisor, the free magazine will debut in April 2007.

The company said that the publication will be sent to Morningstar's financial advisor clients each quarter, and will focus on topics related to investment research, portfolio construction and industry perspectives. It will initially be sent to a controlled circulation of approximately 50,000.

Each issue will also include:

* A series of articles that study a relevant investing topic to give advisors insight into the topic and to help them create investing ideas for their clients;

* Profiles of fund portfolio managers who are emerging as industry leaders;

* A quarterly summary of mutual fund news, including manager changes, and fund openings and closings; and,

* A investment analysis section that provides readers with several Morningstar picks, including stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and variable annuities.

AMERIPRISE REACHES SETTLEMENT IN MASS.

Regulators in Massachusetts and financial services conglomerate Ameriprise Financial have reached a settlement of understanding stemming from the company's loss of a laptop computer last year. Under the agreement, Ameriprise agreed to hire an independent consultant to review policies and procedures for employees' and contractors' use of laptop computers that contain sensitive personal or financial information of Ameriprise clients.

In January, Minneapolis-based Ameriprise revealed that it had notified more than 200,000 people that personal data had been stored on a laptop that was stolen from an employee's car.

Ameriprise also agreed to pay $25,000 for the cost of the investigation.

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