Net VA flow ebbs to $1.5 billion in 3Q 2013: Morningstar
“Shifts in market share this year have been massive,” writes Morningstar VA analyst Frank O’Connor in his third quarter and year-to-date sales report, issued yesterday.
View ArticleA model for investing Social Security funds in stocks
An act of Congress in 2001 allowed the Railroad Retirement fund to start investing in equities, and the fund has encountered and overcome some significant risks associated with equity management since...
View ArticleAllianz Life launches Signature 7 FIA, a companion to Core Income 7
The Signature 7 offers a monthly sum crediting strategy and a spread of 1.7% on the Barclays U.S. Dynamic Balance Index. Any return above 1.7% will be credited to the policy on the anniversary in this...
View ArticleIndexed annuity sales soar in 3Q 2013
Allianz Life prevailed as the leading issuer of indexed annuities with a 12.91% market share, while Security Benefit Life and American Equity maintained their positions as the second and third-ranked...
View ArticleAsia’s appetite for alternatives on the rise: Cerulli
"Managers that start engaging institutions early, even when the latter are not ready to allocate to alternatives, will stand a better chance of winning mandates when an institution is ready to...
View ArticleQuote of the Week
"The most common qualification of the economic forecaster is not in knowing, but in not knowing that he does not know. His greatest advantage is that all predictions, right or wrong, are soon...
View ArticleFinancial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
View ArticleIn Finland: Saunas are Hot, Retirement is Cool
Finnish people love their saunas and their nation's retirement system, which features a basic tax-funded pension, a compulsory collectively-managed DC plan for private-sector workers, and a government...
View ArticleFINRA Talks a Good Game
FINRA's recent report on conflicts of interest at brokerages laid bare some dingy practices. Some say it's a move to burnish FINRA's credentials as a candidate for regulator of all brokers and...
View ArticleThe Hangover
Publicly held annuity issuers could be handicapped in the future by lingering liabilities, and should have foreseen the impact of IRA money flowing into VAs starting in 2002, says one analyst. Others...
View ArticleThe Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from New York Life, MassMutual, Towers Watson, Jackson National, Fidelity Investments and Guardian Life.
View ArticleDoes threat of layoffs make workers work harder?
A new study by economists at Stanford and the University of Utah suggests that less-productive workers start working harder when local unemployment rates go up.
View ArticleHarbinger details annuity sales results for fiscal 2013
On Nov. 1, Harbinger unit Fidelity & Guaranty Life announced it would leave Maryland and relocate to Iowa for that state’s “deep insurance talent pool, sophisticated regulatory approach to indexed...
View ArticleWhen unemployment goes up, so does number of ‘partially-retired’
High inflation also "discourages full-time work and encourages partial and full retirement,” according to a trio of researchers from UC-Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the Social Security...
View ArticleFirst you’re retired, then you’re not
"As retirement evolves into a more flexible yet complicated life stage, financial services providers could benefit from understanding the multiple stages of retirement better," says SRI...
View ArticleVA Issuers Limit Inflows in 3Q: Morningstar
During 3Q 2013, carriers filed 84 annuity product changes. AXA Equitable made a buyout offer, several carriers limited new payments to contracts, and Jackson National made living benefits available on...
View ArticleUse These Maps to Find Boomer Wealth
Recent surveys of plan participants and IRA owners from Cerulli Associates and the Investment Company Institute shed light on a pivotal question: Which type of account will most Boomers draw their...
View ArticleFour Fallacies of the Second Great Depression
The statement, 'The more the government borrows, the more it has to pay for its borrowing,' is sometimes true and sometimes false, writes this economist and author.
View ArticleFinancial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
View ArticleThe Hangover
Publicly held annuity issuers could be handicapped in the future by lingering liabilities, and should have foreseen the impact of IRA money flowing into VAs starting in 2002, says one analyst. Others...
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