Going Dutch, with a DB-DC Hybrid
Can the use of "buffers" in collectively-managed defined contribution funds offer defined benefit-like income predictability? In the Netherlands, where pensions are a passion, a team of business,...
View ArticleQLACs: The ‘Greek yogurt’ of Retirement Products?
Longevity annuities were the topic of a two-hour discussion at the Brookings Institution two weeks ago and of a RIIA/New York Life webinar this week. Having read the transcript of the first one and...
View ArticleIndexed and deferred income annuity sales shine in 3Q2014: LIMRA
Deferred income annuity (DIA) sales reached $670 million in the third quarter, 21% higher than the prior year, according to LIMRA's Secure Retirement Institute. In the first nine months of 2014, DIA...
View ArticleLife/annuity stocks struggle as low interest rates persist: A.M. Best
With an appreciation of 7.6%, Voya Financial, Inc. was the best performing life/annuity stock in the third quarter of 2014, according to A.M. Best. With a share price decline of 24.7%, Genworth...
View ArticleMetLife, Fidelity partner on new VA with return-of-premium guarantee
The annual mortality and expense risk charge for the product is 0.70% and the rider fee is 1.15%. The contract owners also pay 0.83% per year for the underlying Fidelity fund.
View ArticleWink reports on 3Q2014 indexed annuity, indexed life sales
Allianz Life led FIA sales with a market share of 26.80%, followed by American Equity Companies, Security Benefit Life, Great American Insurance Group, and Athene USA. Allianz Life’s Allianz 222...
View ArticleThe Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Fitch Ratings, Cerulli Associates and Strategic Insight.
View ArticleFinancial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
View ArticleSocial Security Maximizer
The Social Security Maximizer is an integral tool for a retirement planner's comprehensive financial planning calculations.
View ArticleWhat’s In a Brand Name? Great-West Will Find Out
By creating the new brand, “Empower,” for its US retirement business, Great-West Financial resolves the identity crisis that followed acquisitions of Putnam and JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services.
View ArticleTwo Robo-Advisors, Two Income Strategies
Two robo-advisors, Betterment.com and SigFig.com, have retirement income generating functionalities. But are they robust enough to put an advisor with retirement income training out of work? Read and...
View ArticleRIJ Goes to: the DCIIA Academic Forum
At the Academic Forum of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investors Association Monday, executives from 401(k) asset managers mingled with top retirement researchers. The venue: Goldman Sachs....
View ArticleCompetitiveness of U.S. public equity markets called 'weak'
U.S. share of global IPOs by foreign companies sits at 9.0%, continuing the trend of foreign companies avoiding U.S. equity markets. This measure remains far below the average of 26.8% from 1996 to...
View ArticleFidelity & Guaranty Life’s FIA sales doubled in fiscal 2014
Harbinger's CEO and chairman, Philip Falcone (in photo) will resign Dec. 1, to focus on HC2 Holdings and Harbinger Capital Partners. He will depart with a bonus of $20.5 million.
View ArticleThree Reasons for Gratitude Today
What should the retirement income industry feel grateful for? I can think of three things.
View ArticleA VA with a little bit of everything, from Principal
The product has a current M&E fee of 1%. Fund expense ratios range from a low of 0.65% to a high of 2.63%.
View ArticleVanguard continues to dominate fund in-flows
Vanguard funds saw inflows of $17.45 billion in October and $165.4 billion for the first ten months of 2014. YTD, Dimensional Fund Advisors was second with $24.4 billion.
View ArticleThe staid world of Dutch pensions is evolving: ABP
Government, education and civil service pension ABP, which has 2.8 million participants in a country of less than 17 million, pointed to trends in the Netherlands that may sound familiar to American...
View ArticleCanadians feel as insecure about retirement as we do
LIMRA's new report, 'Ready, Set, Retire? Not So Fast!... Revisited: A Canadian Consumer Retirement Study,' is a follow-up to two previous studies that LIMRA conducted in Canada.
View ArticleFinancial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
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