Annuity issuers are making a concerted effort to implement and promote paperless document delivery services.
A growing number of 401(k) plan sponsors, retirees, record keepers and regulators want retirees to stay in their plans well into, or even straight through, retirement, PIMCO has found.
TIAA-CREF’s TC Listens website is an innovative new medium for obtaining client feedback online.
TIPS can preserve purchasing power, provide systematic income and offer the assurance of a government guarantee for retirees depending on income from their investments.
With variable annuity sales down, firms are intensifying online product marketing campaigns to reach more prospective investors.
Annuity issuers are reaching out to non-English-speaking investors through websites written in Spanish and Asian languages, according to Corporate Insight.
PIMCO and its Allianz affiliates recently sponsored a new study, “Behavioral Finance and the Post-Retirement Crisis.” PIMCO Retirement Product Manager Tom Streiff explains how the study’s findings can foster the development of successful retirement income products.
A growing number of annuity issuers are using creative approaches on Twitter to reach new audiences online.
Many firms have launched engaging online sales campaigns focusing on the Roth IRA conversion opportunities that will be available in 2010.
Annuity firms introduced enhanced online security measures in 2009, but they remain laggards in the financial service industry.
The annuity industry has been slow to adopt social media. But given the industry’s target audiences, does it matter? Download an excerpt from the report "Social Media: Trends and Tactics in the Financial Services Industry."
Our latest research shows that dynamic displays, such as Flash interfaces, offer firms engaging new ways to present and market online educational content to advisors.
Industry Views are special reports that are sponsored and independent from RIJ's editorial content.
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
“If we want to study whether a ‘fiduciary duty’ is better for consumers, then we should also study if grass is green, if water is wet, and if deserts are dry.” Luke Dean, professor of finance, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ.
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
FIA issuers face the "discipline of the market" when resetting their crediting formulas each year, writes David Babbel of the Wharton School.
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
Surprisingly few retirees use the ‘open market option,’ which allows them to transfer their money at retirement from the asset management company where they accumulated their savings to another provider with a higher annuity rate.
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
The top sellers of fixed annuities were New York Life, Allianz Life, Aviva USA, Western National Life (AIG), and American Equity Investment Life.
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. (EST) on September 14 and 15, 2010 in the Labor Department’s main auditorium, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW in Washington, D.C.
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
The ad will air on major broadcast and cable outlets during coverage of professional Grand Slam tennis in the U.S.
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
In September, The Hartford is launching a series of forums for advisors that will unveil new research on retirement plan sponsors’ and participants’ evolving needs, and new approaches in meeting them.
Wed, Aug 25, 2010
As a country, the U.S. owes its bondholders almost $13.4 trillion. As individuals, Americans owe about $11.2 trillion. Unlike the national debt, however, household debt recently fell--for the first time in four years.
Wed, Aug 25, 2010
Participants in 14 pension funds in the Netherlands are facing benefit cuts in the wake of the financial crisis.
Wed, Aug 25, 2010
The account combines Investors Capital Advisory Services’ series of asset allocation models with a stand-alone living benefit that offers investors a guaranteed 5% lifetime income stream.
Wed, Aug 25, 2010
The glide path for Retirement Choices portfolios features a lower allocation to equities and slopes down at a faster pace than it does for the Retirement Living portfolios.
Tue, Aug 24, 2010
... Because the fall conference season is about to begin. It starts after school opens and ends by Thanksgiving.
Wed, Aug 18, 2010
A new report designed to help employers reduce their exposure to fiduciary liability lawsuits appears to reflect an increasingly adversarial relationship between plan sponsors and plan participants.
Tue, Aug 17, 2010
"With CD rates at 1% and fixed annuities crediting a mere 3.65% on average, it is no wonder that this was the second-highest quarter in terms of indexed annuity sales,” said Sheryl J. Moore, president and CEO of AnnuitySpecs.com.
Tue, Aug 17, 2010
"VA sales jumped more than $3 billion in the second quarter,” said Joe Montminy, assistant vice president for LIMRA's annuity research.
Tue, Aug 17, 2010
The acquisition accelerates Broadridge’s e-strategy while strengthening its industry-leading compliance communication capabilities, the company said in a release.
Tue, Aug 17, 2010
Morningstar and Strategic Insights both reported mutual fund and ETF flows for July, but the numbers didn't match. If you know why not, please write and tell us.
Wed, Aug 11, 2010
The nation’s largest mutual life insurer announced a record $870 million worth of income annuity sales in the first half of 2010, along with gains in life insurance, long-term care insurance, mutual fund sales.
Wed, Aug 11, 2010
“Five years ago we started translating long term care costs into square feet of real estate, to highlight the heavy burden of paying for care,” said Denise Gott, chairman of LTC Financial Partners LLC.
Wed, Aug 11, 2010
The problem is that the demographic group that is selling homes and investments—the postwar BabyBoom generation—will be larger than the group that will be buying the assets.
Wed, Aug 11, 2010
PIMCO's $239 billion Total Return Fund, which Gross manages, has returned 13% in the past year, beating 71% of its peers, according to Bloomberg.
Wed, Aug 11, 2010
Assets in target date mutual funds grew 9.8 percent in the first quarter. Lifecycle mutual funds managed $281 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2010, up from $256 billion at year-end 2009.
Wed, Aug 04, 2010
Newkirk Products, Inc., has agreed to distribute NewRiver’s Prospectus Express product in the 401(k) and 403(b) markets via Newkirk’s Fund Central platform.
Wed, Aug 04, 2010
"The absence of standards for sharing necessary information among the insurance product providers and unaffiliated record keepers [is] an impediment to more widespread access to these products," said Spark attorney Larry Goldbrum.
Wed, Aug 04, 2010
A hypothetical 45-year-old couple should save an extra $90,000 before they retire. At age 55, the same couple year-old should begin saving an extra $82,900, suggests economist Laurence Kotlikoff.
Wed, Aug 04, 2010
Lobbyists wish to "drastically erode the modest pensions of millions of public sector workers," said Derek Simpson of Unite, Britain's largest union.
Wed, Aug 04, 2010
Alternative investments could be a trap waiting for unwary or unprepared plan sponsors and fiduciaries, Matthew Hutcheson told members of the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions on July 20.
Sun, Jul 18, 2010
A new scholarly claims that sequence risk demands attention throughout retirement, not just during the years immediately before and after the retirement date.
Sun, Jul 18, 2010
Over time, the fees and expenses charged to DC plan accounts can take a substantial bite out of retirees’ retirement savings, said the CEO of the plan sponsor advisers and actuaries group.
Sun, Jul 18, 2010
The share of all 401(k) plan participants using TDFs increased from 25% in 2007 to 31% in 2008, a new study from the Employee Benefits Research Institute shows.
Sun, Jul 18, 2010
Retirement Income Journal will not be published July 28. The next issue will appear August 4, 2010.
Sun, Jul 18, 2010
"Planning for retirement can involve multitudes of subjects. As individuals gain knowledge on the value of annuities, they will understand the benefit of this product," Quest CE said in a release.
Thu, Jul 15, 2010
Last week, an article in RIJ misdescribed Axa Equitable's Retirement Cornerstone variable annuity.
Thu, Jul 15, 2010
Consumers feel they could make more informed decisions if they had more information on medical procedures and options for care, the SOA found.
Thu, Jul 15, 2010
Over the past decade, LPL has become the largest independent contractor broker-dealer in the industry. In 2000, the firm had 3,569 advisers. It had 12,026 as of March 31.
Thu, Jul 15, 2010
The majority of investors 65-plus (57%) have less than 25% of their portfolios in bonds and/or bond mutual funds, according to a survey of Americans in households with at least $250,000 in investments.
Wed, Jul 14, 2010
Instead of giving the highest weights to countries with the most debt, PIMCO's new indices will give the highest weights to countries with the highest income based on GDP.
Wed, Jul 14, 2010
“Most likely this means that the SEC will drop efforts to regulate this product,” said Eric Marhoun, general counsel of the Old Mutual Insurance Company.
Wed, Jul 07, 2010
Among risk assets, domestic stock funds were down 19% as a proportion of assets held, while foreign stock funds were down 28%, with a correspondingly positive growth in domestic and international bond funds.
Tue, Jul 06, 2010
After studying the genomes of centenarians in New England, two Boston University researchers say they have identified a set of genetic variants that predicts extreme longevity with 77% accuracy.
Tue, Jul 06, 2010
It is the lack of global aggregate demand—resulting from too much debt in parts of the global economy and not enough in others--that is the essence of the problem, PIMCO's CIO wrote in his latest column.
Tue, Jul 06, 2010
Without giving up the investment objectives offered by actively managed funds, participants in 401(k) plans could pay much lower costs on their assets by shifting to ETFs and commingled trusts, a Center for Retirement Research report said.
Tue, Jul 06, 2010
New account openings increased significantly in the first four months of the year, driven by Roth IRA conversion activity and the use of Roth IRAs as a savings vehicle.
Wed, Jun 30, 2010
Although there has been moderate growth in spending at all 27 N.I.H. research centers, the growth is slower at the National Institute on Aging.
Wed, Jun 30, 2010
A Client Alert details the implications of the "Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010."
Wed, Jun 30, 2010
As an inflation hedge, the product’s Annuity Payment Increase Benefit option increases the annuity payment each year by a fixed dollar amount.
Wed, Jun 30, 2010
In Singapore and Hong Kong, millionaire households account for 11.4% and 8.8%, respectively, of all households, according to Boston Consulting Group.
Wed, Jun 30, 2010
“Basically, the OMB Director is a brutal job and subject to quick burnout," commented one political blogger.
Wed, Jun 23, 2010
Plan providers are able to win loyalty in each size-tier to the extent that they meet the needs of that tier, says Cogent Research.
Wed, Jun 23, 2010
To repurchase almost $1 billion in preferred shares, Lincoln Financial Group is selling $335 million worth of common stock and up to $750 million of senior notes.
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RIJ Publishing, 4340 Knollwood Dr., Emmaus, PA 18049, 610-965-3103
Retirement Income Journal is a new 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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