Standard & Poor's is enhancing its index offerings, and S&P's new additions are aimed at evaluating the performance of specific sub-industries within the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). The five new indices from S&P include the Banks Select Industry Index, Capital Markets Select Industry Index, Insurance Select Industry Index, Mortgage Finance Select Industry Index, and the Regional Banks Select Industry Index. Additionally, the Software & Services Select Industry Index will launch in late September.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors is expanding into insurance, with the recent launch of its new subsidiary, Wingspan Insurance Services, which targets minimization of portfolio risks for servicers and investors.

Realtors and financial professionals are gaining a high-end concierge through Guaranteed Home Mortgage Company Inc.'s initiation of a new, customized service that seeks to give participants an edge.

Charter Financial Corporation is growing, via its acquisition of The First National Bank of Florida. Conducting the deal through its wholly owned subsidiary, CharterBank, Charter structured an agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to assume all deposits as well as the majority of assets of the Milton, Florida-based bank. The First National Bank of Florida was officially declared closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC was named as its receiver.

Complex financial evaluation is nothing new for the Federal Reserve, but federal regulators exploring Capital One Financial Corp.'s potential acquisition of ING Groep NV's online banking platform, ING Direct USA, are applying extreme examination to the transaction. According to the Fed, Capital One's proposed purchase of ING's U.S. web-based banking business could create a financial institution so enormous and complicated that it could affect the broader marketplace, and the Fed has issued a two-page letter asking for responses to critical queries.

Churchill Mortgage Corp. is promoting from within, naming Doug Walker as its vice president of sales support. Walker has been employed with Churchill for more than a decade, and his new role will encompass lender support for home loan specialists in all branches of the financial institution.

Technology provided a big boost for Bank of Idaho giving the company an estimated 67 percent increase in loan officer productivity. Utilizing Mortgagebot to integrate point-of-sale transactions, Bank of Idaho has shortened its average closing time for mortgage loans by 22 percent.

On of the country├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós largest independent mortgage companies, Mortgage Master, Inc., has opened its first office in Manhattan. MMI cites the city├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós relatively resilient housing market as the catalyst behind its recent expansion in New York. The Manhattan branch will serve the Tri-State area, which includes Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, and Massachusetts-based MMI holds licenses in all three states.

Promoting from within, SunTrust Mortgage Inc. is set to strengthen its internal structure. Both Debi Minton and Jeff Calvert were recently named as assistant vice presidents with the Georgia-based financial institution. Minton, hired by SunTrust in April, boasts more than 23 years of finance-related experience, and additionally, she├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós spent over eight years within the mortgage lending space, prior to her promotion.

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company has added a loan officer to its mid-Atlantic, southeast, and southwest regions with the hiring of Scott Heath. Based in the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Atlanta office, Heath will serve as an originator of commercial, mortgage-backed loans for securitization by newly-formed Liberty Island Group.