You guys are great investigators - can you check my company out?

[rpgamerd00d]

I hope this is the right forum, I checked the research forum rules, and that seems more about politics.

Anyway, I was just curious about my own company, since I know nothing about them. Maybe someone with some spare time can check them out for me, just so I know if they are Red or Blue, any scandals, etc?

We were just bought by Blackstone, previous we were UICI.

Thanks for checking for me, I have no idea how to do it myself or I would.

Note: I have no reason for this other than plain curiousity. Company seems ok to me.

[Stephanie]

1. try Google

[crispini]

2. Teach a man to fish....

www.google.com
www.opensecrets.org

Start there.

[Hello_Kitty]

3. Try Open Secrets

www.opensecrets.com

I tried looking up the name Blackstone but there are several companies with that name so I don't know which one is yours. This site should tell you what you need to know.

[Hello_Kitty]

Oops...It's opensecrets.org. Sorry

[rpgamerd00d]

8. I found this on its Chairman, Pete Peterson

http://opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=Peterson%2C+pete&txtState=NY&txtZip=&txtEmploy=&txtCand=&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&Order=N

Seems mostly Dems, with a Repub here and there (McCain).

[MadisonProgressive]

10. He's definately a democrat

[acmejack]

4. What is the complete company name?

There are quite a few Blackstones.

[rpgamerd00d]

5. The Blackstone Group

[acmejack]

7. Yeah, I got on it after I looked at UCIC

Oh, Pete Peterson's Blackstone Group, I remember them! This is a very well documented source:

"New York, NY October 17, 2000: Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, the global real estate investment and management arm of The Blackstone Group, L.P., announced today that it has purchased, from Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, the participating mortgage secured by 7 World Trade Center, a commercial office complex controlled by real estate developer Larry Silverstein"

"But before the building can rise further than the substation, major financing issues have to be resolved by Larry Silverstein, who controls the long-term lease on 7 World Trade Center as well as the World Trade Center complex. The good news for Mr. Silverstein is that the company that insured 7 World Trade, Industrial Risk Insurers, has indicated that it will make a full payment under its $861 million policy. But it's not clear whether Mr. Silverstein can use those proceeds to start building without first reaching an agreement with the mortgage holder on 7 World Trade Center, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors." (source)

"When Enron executives started dumping stock, and the warning signs that Enron was in deep trouble were everyone except on the evening news, Winokur and Rubin called Peter Fisher, the current undersecretary of the Treasury to determine the practicality of artificially supporting Enron’s credit rating in order to enable Enron to borrow enough money to stave off bankruptcy. Fisher, a former New York Fed governor, called his former boss, Peter G. Peterson, the New York Fed chairman —and the current chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations. Peterson was also a top Enron financial advisor through his own company, Blackstone Group. Peterson was also against the idea of artificially supporting a phony credit rating for Enron."

http://www.serendipity.li/wot/blackstone_group.html

On edit: Political Friends

http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=2387&name=Blackstone-Group,-LP

[Justitia]

6. Well, UICI is the target of a multi-state investigation....

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_41/b3954056.htm

The investigation details are towards the bottom of the article, along with some industry employees comments you might find interesting.

That's a start, I guess.

[sui generis]

9. UICI?

ha ha hahahhaha

I did a contract for them about a thousand years ago.

They were very uptight - as a consultant they told me that if I were ever more than five minutes late more than twice, ever, it was grounds for termination of the contract but they wouldn't pay for being there early.

I worked a brazillian hours a week, ran a team of five crack codeheads to get mainframe data talking to financials, intercompany data, and build client-server apps, and learned all your dirdy birdy little secrets.

For instance, w-a-y back then there was a high risk "blacklist" used to adjust statistical risk profiles in existing coverage and to deny coverage to new applicants that was passed around (acquired illegally I presume from the Medical Information Bureau) and there was talk at incorporating these as automated "blackbox" checks into the policy software, but "inside" issues kept them from leaving a paper trail of using that list.

Things that make you go hmmmmm. I thought Aegon bought you guys after I left. After one hellish 72 hour cutover weekend on bonus software implementation that coincided with my contract renewal I refused the renewal and walked. The veep I reported to threatened me physically, told me I'd never work in the industry again, snapped the diskette in half that I gave him of the code backups and documentation and punched his fist through a wall. Just a teensy bit high strung.

I have no regrets - except that I can't get those heartbeats back.