VA 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 ArticleRetiremEntrepreneur: Lou Harvey
Louis S. Harvey is president and CEO of Dalbar, Inc., a Boston-based research firm that performs a variety of evaluations and quality ratings of financial services practices and communications.
View ArticleThe Ghost of VA Contracts Past
Insurers and asset managers love managed-vol funds and VA portfolios, whose sales are climbing. But in a low-vol bull market, advisors wonder about their value.
View ArticleNationwide Ties New VA Income Rider to Managed-Vol Funds
For its deferral bonus, the "Income Capture" GLWB offers a simple interest rate credit of 3% plus the nominal rate of the monthly 10-year Treasury constant maturity (currently 2.86%).
View ArticleDeconstructing Warren
In new research, three quants from AQR Capital Management have tried to explain exactly why Warren Buffett has been so successful. They neglect to mention that he made the mother of all market-timing...
View Article"Empathy for Geeks"
Annuity product manager and actuary Lance Poole of Protective Life gives a "TED talk" in which he explains how even actuaries can learn empathy with customers and demonstrates that empathetic...
View ArticleSo far, fee disclosure hasn’t moved the fee-awareness dial
Fee disclosure regulations that were established in 2012 brought greater transparency to the retirement industry. But LIMRA finds they’ve had little effect.
View ArticleGreat-West Financial launches low-cost VA with income rider
The contract has two sleeves, one for investment and the other for income. Only money designated for the income sleeve is subject to the lifetime income benefit rider, a Great-West release said.
View ArticleEverybody wants to be a wealth manager
"Advisers are more likely to set an asset minimum (43%) than to have a definition of their ideal client," according to results of a survey by the Financial Planning Association and Advisor Impact.
View ArticleFinancial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
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 ArticleRetiremEntrepreneur: Lou Harvey
Louis S. Harvey is president and CEO of Dalbar, Inc., a Boston-based research firm that performs a variety of evaluations and quality ratings of financial services practices and communications.
View ArticleThe Ghost of VA Contracts Past
Insurers and asset managers love managed-vol funds and VA portfolios, whose sales are climbing. But in a low-vol bull market, advisors wonder about their value.
View ArticleIs There a Retirement Crisis or Not?
Two recent reports from different organizations paint very different portraits of retirement readiness in the U.S.
View ArticleWhat Fools These Mortals Be
E*Trade, TD Ameritrade and Merrill Edge all dangle a $600 signing bonus to people who open new brokerage accounts with cash--lots and lots of cash, it turns out.
View ArticleRetiremEntrepreneur: Robert Klein
West Coast CFP, CPA and RICP Robert Klein has jumped on the retirement bandwagon, recasting his business as the Retirement Income Center, becoming a MarketWatch RetireMentor and putting fixed indexed...
View ArticleCzechmate: New government will end auto-enrolled DC plan
The Czech experiment with a voluntary, auto-enrolled national defined contribution plan (a "second pillar" plan to supplement the primary pay-as-you-go plan) will end. Balances will be rolled into the...
View ArticleTime, money, age and advice: They’re all connected
At any given life stage, a new research paper says, people tend to manage their investments in one of three ways: by doing nothing (“inertia”), by doing it themselves (“self-management”) or by...
View ArticleW&S FGD introduces managed-risk investment strategy to GLWB rider
By using the managed-volatility funds, VA contract owners can get a lifetime withdrawal benefit rider without having to put at least 30% of their assets in fixed income investments.
View ArticleFitch sees stability for life insurers in 2014
Overall, Fitch’s near-term outlook for the life insurance industry was “stable,” assuming no major interest rate spikes, no international crises and a continuation of the weak recovery, modest GDP...
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