Loading
Bond firm named by USA Today to top five
USA Today selected the Core Fund managed by Wertz York, a Tampa-based investment advisory firm, as one of the top five bond funds in the country.
The publication recognized the Core Fund's “top record for the past five years and below-average expenses,” naming it a “star performer.”
Since its inception in 2000, Wertz York, focusing on short-term government bond mutual funds often utilized by public entities, has managed $2 billion in Florida public funds. Mitchell P. York and M. Brent Wertz are the firm's principals.
Palm Harbor attorney awarded multi-million dollar settlement
David Linesch, an attorney with Palm Harbor's The Linesch Firm who represented plaintiff Debra Maul, received a $16.3-million settlement in a Medicare fraud case against the Ameritox laboratory in Baltimore.
Maul, a former senior sales rep with Ameritox, accused the company of paying physicians for each patient urine sample collected and sent to Ameritox for testing, plus improper use of collectors in physicians' offices. According to the case, filed in 2007, Maul reported her concerns while she was still employed by Ameritox.
“[Her] integrity serves as an example of what one can do when they find themselves in this circumstance,” Linesch says. “Medical companies engaging in fraudulent activity have an unfair advantage over companies who work hard to do the right thing. We hope this case encourages others to report practices they believe to be fraudulent.”
The Linesch Firm specializes in employment law and whistleblower cases.
Urbanski named Global-Med CEO, subsidiary seeks new patents
Sarasota-based Global-Med Technologies Group Inc. has appointed M.G. Urbanski, formerly principal partner for Sarasota Venture Group, as chairman and CEO.
He was previously one of the first three executives at Alphatec in the early '90s, and designed a majority of its early product portfolio. HealthPoint Capital later acquired Alphatec for more than $80 million. Urbanski then created an entire spinal product portfolio for Advanced Technologies in San Francisco, which was sold to an interim device company and ultimately became the basis for what is now DePuy Spine. He then helped found Kinetikos Medical Inc. in San Diego, serving as executive vice president before starting his own device company. He holds 38 patents and more than 44 FDA clearances.
Also, Sarasota-based Mosaic Medical Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Global-Med, plans to file three patent applications in the fourth quarter relating to the stem-cell extraction instrument Bio-Aug FX and ReSumo, a non-fusion replacement spinal disc.
“[We] will continue to grow our research and development capabilities within Mosaic to advance the company's new product requirements,” Urbanski said in a press release.
Mosaic also hired Eric Vandermeulen as its clinical research manager and Mike Dempsey as technical compliance manager.
Global-Med Technologies Group is a private holding group focused on the orthopaedic and musculoskeletal device sector.
Walter Investment Management offers shares in $135-million trust
Tampa-based Walter Investment Management Corp. will sponsor and offer $135 million in principal secured private residential mortgage-backed notes being issued by Mid-State Capital Trust 2010-1.
The notes will be backed by U.S. residential mortgage loans, building and installment sale contracts, promissory notes, related mortgages and other agreements.
The trust expects to sell about $56 million and $78 million in principal Class-A and Class-M notes, respectively.
The Class-A and Class-M notes are expected to have initial interest rates of 3.5% and 5.25% per year, and to mature in December of 2045. The purpose of the offering, planned to close on Nov. 30, is to fund the company's growth plans.
Walter Investment Management Corp. is an asset manager, mortgage servicer and portfolio owner specializing in less-than-prime, non-conforming and other credit-challenged mortgage assets. It currently has $1.8 billion of assets under management and annual revenues of $180 million.
Raymond James Tax Credit Fund closes $200-million fund
Raymond James Tax Credit Funds, which handles low-income housing tax credit, recently closed Raymond James Tax Credit Fund 36 LLC, a $200-million LIHTC fund of 25 projects in 13 states. Each of the projects—in San Jose, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Washington, D.C., Houston and New York City—is targeted to low-income families.
RJTCF partnered with 14 investors in the fund, including financial institutions and insurance companies.
“We are pleased that Fund 36 will provide capital to develop 2,457 affordable units,” Raymond James Tax Credit Funds Executive Vice President Steve Kropf said in a press release.
“The positive impact on low-income communities across the country will be felt for years to come,” Kropf said.
A sponsor of affordable housing since 1969, Raymond James Tax Credit Funds has raised more than $2.8 billion in equity for more than 1,200 tax-credit projects in 45 states. The closing of Fund 36 marks its 57th tax credit fund.
Ex-WellPoint CEO hired as HealthPlan Holdings chairman
HealthPlan Holdings Inc. of Tampa has appointed John Watts, Jr., previously president and CEO of WellPoint Inc.'s commercial and consumer segments, to be its chairman.
Prior to WellPoint, he was president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield Georgia.
HealthPlan provides outsourcing solutions to insurers in the individual, small business, union trust and voluntary benefits markets. Founded in 1970, it was acquired by private equity firm Water Street in 2008, and currently serves the Ameritas Group, CIGNA, Coventry Health Care, Freelancers Union, Humana Inc. and Nationwide.
WCI Communities pays off $300-million debt
Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities retired its $300 million senior term loan, 15 months after the account was first opened, reducing its total debt by 68%.
The company will now shift its focus to “re-establishing and growing its homebuilding operation and returning the company to profitability,” officials said in a press release.
President and CEO David Fry said improving the firm's capital structure is one way WCI can improve. “While the Florida real estate market has not materially improved,” he added, “we have maintained our focus on right-sizing our balance sheet and establishing a strong foundation for future growth.”
The developer will focus on the operations of five new properties: Pelican Preserve in Fort Myers; Venetian Golf & River Club in Venice; Marquesa Royale at Tiburon; Manchester Square in Naples; and Heron Bay in Coral Springs.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
