Tue, May 15, 2012
NY Life launched its Guaranteed Future Income Annuity, a deferred income product, in mid-2011 and has found traction among pre-retirees who want income about 10 years later. We spoke about it with Matthew Grove, vice president of Guaranteed Lifetime Income at the mutual insurer.
Tue, May 15, 2012
None of the top five sellers of single-premium immediate annuities in 2003 were among the top five in 2011, and SPIA sales have become more concentrated among the top five sellers over the past nine years, according to data from Beacon Research.
Wed, May 09, 2012
Kelli Hueler, creator of the Income Solutions online income annuity sales platform, delivered an academic paper at the Pension Research Council's annual conference at the Wharton School last week, and provided insight into her "out of plan" income option for rollovers from 401(k) plans.
Wed, May 09, 2012
The new "contingent deferred annuity," which attaches a lifetime income guarantee to a portfolio of Vanguard exchange-traded funds, offers potentially higher payouts rates if the 10-year Treasury rate rises.
Tue, May 08, 2012
As of May 1, 2012, Nationwide’s investment lineup includes 92 variable annuity investment options and 96 variable life investment options.
Tue, May 08, 2012
The Allstate "GrowthProtector" is a savings tool and the "IncomeProtector" has a lifetime income benefit with a 7% annual deferral bonus.
Wed, May 02, 2012
Instead of tempting the client with a guaranteed rollup in the benefit base every year, Income Focus enhances the withdrawal rate. And, instead of guaranteeing that enhancement, Allianz Life makes it contingent on market gains.
Wed, Apr 18, 2012
Inflows and net flows have increased in each of the first three months of 2012, breaking a declining trend in 2011, but Inflows and net flows were down in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter of 2011.
Tue, Apr 17, 2012
Are bond yields awful? Are investors terrified of equities? Then it’s perfect weather for indexed annuities, the unpredictable but often effective knuckleballs of the annuity world. Check out these new "stacked" offerings from Security Benefit Life and Aviva.
Tue, Apr 10, 2012
DST Retirement Solutions recently introduced its Retirement Income Clearing Calculator (RICC) platform, a “middleware” solution that supports guaranteed retirement income products through traditional recordkeeping platforms.
Mon, Apr 09, 2012
Guardian Life and Protective Life have both filed prospectuses for variable annuities with 10-year/100% deferral bonuses.
Tue, Apr 03, 2012
Lincoln Financial vice president Dan Hayes described the advent of volatility management mechanisms inside today's VAs funds-of-funds as comparable to the emergence of "4G" cellphone technology.
Tue, Apr 03, 2012
At a vulnerable juncture in the evolution of their products, publicly-held VA issuers are feeling unprecedented pressure from Wall Street. That was made clear by speakers at the IRI Marketing Conference in New York this week.
Wed, Mar 28, 2012
In an effort to de-risk its book of GMIB business, Transamerica Life is offering to buy back the benefit. And one firm, Achaean Financial, wants to help insurers convert some of their living benefits to immediate variable annuities. Is this the start of a trend?
Thu, Mar 22, 2012
Here's how the wealthy buy lifetime income while giving zip to insurance companies, a pittance to the IRS and--unless they live a very long time--a sizable gift to charity.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012
An indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Britain’s Prudential plc, Jackson generated a record $22.9 billion in total sales and deposits, up 16% over 2010. Retail net flows also increased 11% over 2010 to a record $13.6 billion, the company said in a release.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012
Fourth quarter’s fixed annuity sales held up well on a period-to-period basis, declining only 1.7% to $17.3 billion. At $2.2 billion, income annuities were up 17.6%.
Wed, Mar 07, 2012
Jackson National Life's newest variable annuity contract, Elite Access, offers a variety of high-turnover alternative investment options inside a tax-deferred wrapper--and no living benefits.
Wed, Feb 29, 2012
Investors were running scared after 3Q equity market turmoil. But they didn’t flock to variable annuity guarantees for protection.
Wed, Feb 29, 2012
In this video, Mark J. Warshawsky, director of Retirement Research at Towers Watson, discusses his new book, Retirement Income (MIT Press, 2012) with RIJ editor Kerry Pechter. Their conversation focuses on the author's recommended strategy of buying a series of immediate annuities during retirement.
Wed, Feb 29, 2012
The contract, which emphasizes choice, gives investors two index options and three possible crediting methods.
Wed, Feb 29, 2012
Gavin Magor of Weiss Ratings has selected what he calls the nine best variable annuity contracts. His criteria? Low fees, no front-end loads, no surrender charges and a solid investment portfolio.
Tue, Feb 07, 2012
Under the current system, many new retirees from employer-sponsored plans fail to shop around for the best income annuity.
Tue, Feb 07, 2012
The nation's largest mutual insurer said Guaranteed Future Income is the “fastest growing annuity product solution in the company’s history.”
Wed, Feb 01, 2012
SunAmerica has also introduced a new investment portfolio – the SunAmerica Dynamic Allocation Portfolio –as an underlying investment in their variable annuity products.
Wed, Feb 01, 2012
Only field marketing organizations and agents associated with the Allianz Preferred distribution model will distribute the Allianz 365i Annuity, whose income rider costs 1.2% per year.
Tue, Jan 24, 2012
Pacific Index Choice now has an optional lifetime income benefit for 75 basis points and the Pacific Destinations VA comes in a new and cheaper share class.
Wed, Jan 11, 2012
"Going forward, I think the only sustainable product designs will be in the context of risk-levered funds,” said Steve Murphy, FSA, a senior vice president at the Cincinnati-based mutual insurer.
Wed, Jan 11, 2012
SALBs are back in the news. The RetireOne Transamerica solution is the first of what Aria Retirement Services CEO David Stone said will be several income solutions provided by Aria in partnership with major insurance carriers.
Wed, Jan 04, 2012
The Bank of Montreal will halt new sales of its BMO Lifetime Cash Flow, a retirement income product that Canadian insurers said worked a bit too much like a variable annuity. The Canadian finance minister agreed.
Tue, Dec 20, 2011
The variable annuity with a lifetime income benefit--sometimes known as an exotic put option or an embedded derivative--was a product that has come back to bite many of the companies that sold it. Was this product ever the best solution for the Boomer retirement challenge?
Wed, Dec 14, 2011
New CEO Dean Connor decided to cut Sun Life's losses in the U.S. annuity business after a third quarter that negatively impacted many U.S. annuity issuers. The Canadian firm will focus on its employee benefit and MFS Investment Management businesses in the U.S.
Wed, Dec 07, 2011
As the living benefits of variable annuities became more valuable during the financial crisis, contract owners astutely held on to them, according to a presentation by Ruark Consulting at a recent Society of Actuaries meeting in Chicago.
Wed, Nov 30, 2011
Another “very bright spot in the third quarter data was the significant increase in net cash flow, to $8.9 billion from $5.7 billion in the second quarter and $6.4 billion in the third quarter of 2010,” wrote Frank O’Connor, product manager of the VA database at Morningstar.
Wed, Nov 30, 2011
"It's an interesting environment," said Beacon Research CEO Jeremy Alexander (left). "The word is that some carriers are keeping a lid on business" because of the low rates.
Tue, Nov 29, 2011
Like the Ford Mustang in 1965, the variable annuity with a lifetime income rider seemed like the right Boomer product at the right time in 2006. Then came the Crisis. A new survey by Cogent Research and the Insured Retirement Institute looks at where the VA is today and where it's headed.
Wed, Nov 23, 2011
Variable annuity product development slowed in Q3 2011, according to the quarterly report from a vice president in Morningstar’s Insurance Solutions group.
Wed, Nov 23, 2011
VA issuers may be able to offer rich living benefits safely and inexpensively by embedding a futures-based hedging strategy inside their investment options. That's what Ohio National seems to have done. (Image by Spectrumphotofile.)
Wed, Nov 16, 2011
The Future6 Death Benefit allows for income withdrawals that do not reduce the death benefit, unlike most VA death benefits, according to Steve Kluever, vice president of product and marketing for Global Annuities at The Hartford.
Tue, Nov 15, 2011
Built for the 403(b) market, the Total Interest Annuity can be funded with contributions up to $16,500 annually or with IRA contributions or rollovers.
Wed, Nov 09, 2011
The free rider allows contract owners to withdraw up to 30% of the present value of the contract after three years to cover an emergency expense, such as uncovered medical costs.
Wed, Nov 02, 2011
Purchasers of the product can choose among three modules—Extra access, Extra care and protection, or Extra assurance.
Wed, Oct 26, 2011
Low sales of individual income annuities "should not be viewed as an indicator of underlying preferences but rather as a consequence of institutional factors about the availability and framing of annuity options,” Shlomo Benartzi and Richard Thaler asserted.
Thu, Oct 20, 2011
Three-fourths (74.7%) of bank holding companies with over $10 billion in assets earned first-half annuity commissions of $1.46 billion, constituting 95.2% of total annuity commissions reported by the banking industry.
Thu, Oct 20, 2011
The rider is issued is by Monumental Life Insurance Company, and costs 95 basis points a year in addition to the cost of the no-load VA, which ranges from 36 to 81 basis points, depending on the investment options chosen.
Wed, Oct 19, 2011
With United Technologies' recent adoption of an in-plan annuity, it now appears more likely that guaranteed income will eventually become commonplace in the defined contribution space. The Hartford, after a false start, has jumped back in that game.
Wed, Oct 12, 2011
The Accumulator Series, introduced in 1995, now has a higher deferral bonus roll-up.
Thu, Oct 06, 2011
Guest speakers Fareed Zakaria (pictured) urged more fiscal stimulus for the economy while Andrew Friedman warned of looming tax hikes at the Insured Retirement Institute's conference in Boston. "Boom Time" was the conference theme this year.
Wed, Oct 05, 2011
The study analyzed seven state retirement systems that offer a choice between DB and DC plans to find that the DB uptake rate ranged from 98% to 75%, with the balance choosing the DC plan.
Wed, Sep 28, 2011
Investors have been asking Moody's if variable annuity issuers have made their products safer, and how Moody's evaluates the safety of VA guarantees. For answers, Moody's turned to the issuers themselves.
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RIJ Publishing, 4340 Knollwood Dr., Emmaus, PA 18049, 610-965-3103
Retirement Income Journal is an online magazine dedicated to writing for and about the industry that has coalesced around the challenge of helping Americans turn their savings into secure lifetime incomes. This industry includes members of the insurance, asset management, banking, pension, structured products, reverse mortgage, information technology, financial planning and academic communities and the professional organizations that serve them.
Send editorial queries to kerry.pechter@retirementincomejournal.com.
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