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All-Star Cast Expected for DoL Hearing on In-Plan Income
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.
Industry Views
Annuity Issuers Slowly Enter The Digital Age
Annuity issuers are making a concerted effort to implement and promote paperless document delivery services.
401(k)s: They’re Not (Necessarily) Just for Employees Any More
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.
The Future Of Online Customer Feedback Has Arrived
TIAA-CREF’s TC Listens website is an innovative new medium for obtaining client feedback online.
TIPS for Retirement Investing in the ‘New Normal’
TIPS can preserve purchasing power, provide systematic income and offer the assurance of a government guarantee for retirees depending on income from their investments.
Firms Back Variable Annuity Product Launches With Aggressive Online Marketing Campaigns
With variable annuity sales down, firms are intensifying online product marketing campaigns to reach more prospective investors.
Found in Translation
Annuity issuers are reaching out to non-English-speaking investors through websites written in Spanish and Asian languages, according to Corporate Insight.
Behavioral Economics and Retirement Investing
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.
Annuity Issuers Embracing Social Media One Tweet At A Time
A growing number of annuity issuers are using creative approaches on Twitter to reach new audiences online.
Roth IRA Conversion Promotions Are All The Rage Online
Many firms have launched engaging online sales campaigns focusing on the Roth IRA conversion opportunities that will be available in 2010.
Annuity Firms Turn Their Focus To Online Client Security
Annuity firms introduced enhanced online security measures in 2009, but they remain laggards in the financial service industry.
Should Annuity Firms Care About Social Media?
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."
Marketing Online Education To Advisors
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.
Regulations/Legal
Imperfect Harmony
Wed, Sep 01, 2010
Hundreds of riled-up advisors and brokers, including Harold Evensky, have responded to the SEC's RFI on "harmonizing" their standards of conduct. Here's some of what they wrote.
How to Reduce the Threat of Fiduciary Liability Lawsuits
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.
Most Plan Fiduciaries “Ill-Prepared” to Evaluate Alternatives
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.
Independent Fiduciaries to the Rescue
Wed, Aug 04, 2010
With his National Retirement Security Plan, independent fiduciary Matthew Hutcheson hopes to bring lower fees, better management to small and micro retirement plans.
ASPPA Supports DOL-Mandated Fee Disclosure
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.
D.C. Appeals Court Rules Against 151A
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.
Towers Watson Explains New Pension Relief Law
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."
SEC Proposes More Disclosures for TDFs
Wed, Jun 23, 2010
Under one proposed rule, marketing materials that include a date in a target date fund’s name must also disclose the fund’s asset allocation at the target date.
Montana Senator Nixes 401(k) Fee Disclosure
Thu, Jun 17, 2010
U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) said that the proposed elimination of fee disclosure requirements was “unacceptable.”
Warning on Excess VA Withdrawals Proposed
Wed, Jun 09, 2010
New York insurance regulators propose disclosure of the mechanism of the excess withdrawal aspects of the contract before the contract is issued and at the time of the request for a withdrawal.
The View from the Income Summit
Wed, May 26, 2010
At the Lifetime Income Summit in Washington last week, federal officials and financial industry executives amiably swapped views. But competitive tensions lay not far beneath the surface. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-ND (at left), was a featured speaker.
Consensus Emerges on Derivatives Market Structure: BNY Mellon
Wed, May 26, 2010
Nearly two-thirds of market participants say they have already implemented changes in advance of regulatory reform, with 79% expecting central clearing to become standard.
Regulate Ratings Agencies More or Less?
Wed, May 19, 2010
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), the former "Saturday Night Live" comedy writer, wants an independent panel to assign Wall Street deals to rating companies.
ING Responds to Income RFI
Wed, May 05, 2010
Some of the administrative burdens that come with carrying annuities need to be eased in order to attract more employers to offer these types of products, ING said.
TIAA-CREF Comments on Retirement Income
Wed, May 05, 2010
“One of the disadvantages of in-plan options is that Qualified Joint Survivor and Annuity (QJSA) rules can often be cumbersome, confusing, and difficult to administer," said the TIAA-CREF brief.
Financial Reform Bill Blocked, But Derivative Bill Proceeds
Wed, Apr 28, 2010
Under an Agriculture Committee-backed bill, insurers who use derivatives to hedge against interest rate risk would have to use standardized derivatives contracts listed on exchanges.
What the ABACUS 2007-AC1 Offering Circular Says
Wed, Apr 21, 2010
In the Offering Circular for the CDO at the heart of the SEC lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, the investment bank disclaims any fiduciary responsibility toward other parties in the transaction.
Group Urges Investigation of FINRA
Wed, Apr 14, 2010
'FINRA failed not just in Lehman, but Bear Stearns and AIG as well, yet has not been the subject of any investigative action,' says the Alliance for Economic Stability.
P. Kennedy Proposes Savings Accounts for Children
Wed, Apr 07, 2010
H.R. 4682 would create an account with $500 per year for all children at birth, with a supplement of up to $500 and matching contributions of up to $500 each year for children in families with incomes below the national median.
Vandalism Follows Obama Health Bill Signing
Thu, Mar 25, 2010
On Wednesday, Democratic legislators had reportedly received death threats and been the victims of vandalism because they voted for the health care bill.
Fiduciary Standard Stripped From ‘Dodd Bill’
Thu, Mar 25, 2010
Broker-dealers and life insurance agents want the SEC to continue to regulate them using a standard of care based on suitability, not fiduciary duty.
Financial Execs Invited to Endorse ‘Fiduciary Statement’
Thu, Mar 25, 2010
"No man can serve two masters," said John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group and member of the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard.
Financial Reform Bill Released by Senator Dodd
Wed, Mar 17, 2010
Here are highlights of the controversial financial reform bill, courtesy of OpenCongress.org.
Which Way Out?
Wed, Mar 03, 2010
With the worst of the Crisis apparently over, Fed watchers are wondering about Chairman Bernanke's exit strategy from a low interest rate environment.
So Few Words, So Many Implications
Tue, Mar 02, 2010
The Department of Labor proposes a subtle change in 401(k) advice regulations that may have huge repercussions for fund companies.
FINRA Has “Disastrous Record”: Watchdog Group
Thu, Feb 25, 2010
FINRA and other SROs have “an incestuous relationship with the industry they are tasked with regulating," according to the Project on Government Oversight.
Don’t Tax High-Earners’ Annuity Income, Says ACLI
Thu, Feb 25, 2010
It's counter-productive to finance Medicare at our customers' expense, life insurance lobby tells Obama.
A Regulatory Nudge Is Needed
Wed, Feb 24, 2010
Since current Wall Street risk management methods are in the interest of those who work on Wall Street, they will not be changed except by regulatory means.
White House Tweaks Senate Health Care Bill
Wed, Feb 24, 2010
Obama wants to close the Medicare prescription drug 'donut hole' and regulate 'unreasonable' health insurance premium hikes.
Brokers Are More Than “Blackjack Dealers,” PA Regulators Say
Wed, Feb 24, 2010
“What's at stake here is consumer and investor confidence,” the commissioners wrote to Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey Jr.
In League with the Angel of Death
Wed, Feb 17, 2010
Lawsuits filed in Rhode Island, New York and Illinois shed light on the sinister, multi-million-dollar strategy of using the dying as fronts to exploit variable annuity loopholes.
Correction
Wed, Feb 17, 2010
We erred in reporting that “When a husband in a retired couple (both at least age 62) dies, his widow's Social Security benefit, if lower, rises to match his own.”
The Exploitation of Sherry Pratt
Wed, Feb 17, 2010
Identity theft does not begin to describe the harm done to a quadriplegic woman who died of bedsores in a Chicago nursing home.
CCH Reviews Tax Proposals in Obama Budget
Wed, Feb 10, 2010
“Upper-income taxpayers would actually fare somewhat better under Obama's proposals than they would under current law,” said a CCH tax analyst.
Spotlight on Chairman Schapiro
Wed, Feb 10, 2010
Lawsuits questioning the competence and integrity of the SEC chairman were discussed at a closed-door meeting of the FINRA board of governors in New York February 10.
In Search of Plan C
Wed, Feb 03, 2010
“We have a crisis of confidence regarding retirement,” said assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis C. Borzi at the NIRS conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.
Agencies Seek Public Input on Lifetime Income Options
Wed, Feb 03, 2010
Two government agencies want your advice on how to include lifetime annuities or other income arrangements as distribution options in employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Obama Praises Annuities, In Principle
Wed, Jan 27, 2010
His endorsement thrilled the Insured Retirement Institute, but a conservative talk radio host said the President wants to nationalize Americans' savings.
TARP Recovery Fee Could Affect Insurers
Wed, Jan 20, 2010
If implemented, the proposal would require certain insurers to pay a fee equal to 0.15% of “covered assets.”
Obama Is All Ears About Annuities
Wed, Jan 20, 2010
But there's no clear indication that Washington understands the nuances that make annuity decisions so complex and problematic.
Anglo-American Economy Still Needs ‘Sugar Daddy’—Bill Gross
Wed, Jan 13, 2010
U.S. and U.K. asset markets may suffer from the absence of the nearly $2 trillion of government checks written in 2009, opines PIMCO's founder.
Will “Auto-Enrollment” Kill the Employer Match?
Wed, Jan 13, 2010
By raising participation rates, auto-enrollment will raise the cost of employer-matching efforts and may encourage some employers to reduce or eliminate their match.
Bernanke Blames Crisis on Regulatory Failure
Wed, Jan 06, 2010
The Fed's vice chairman, Donald Kohn, added that the fragile economic recovery would “warrant exceptionally low” interest rates “for an extended period.”
Advocacy Group Campaigns for “CPI-Senior”
Wed, Jan 06, 2010
Anticipated legislation by Rep. John “Jimmy” Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) would direct the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine the “right” CPI-S formula.
Robin Hood or Just Robbin’?
Sat, Jan 02, 2010
Rhode Island attorney Robert Flanders said "stranger-originated annuity transactions" are perfectly legal.
Lawmakers Dilute Fiduciary Standard for Discount Brokers
Wed, Dec 23, 2009
Under proposed law, registered reps would have no “continuing duty of care or loyalty to the customer” after providing advice.
Financial Industry Wants Fed As Its Watchdog
Wed, Dec 16, 2009
The Federal Reserve "is the financial fire department... to which financial institutions and markets naturally turn in time of crisis," say the leaders of MetLife, Goldman Sachs and other large financial services companies.
Proposed Law Would Give Annuity Estimates to 401(k) Participants
Wed, Dec 09, 2009
The measure is patterned on the Social Security Administration's annual statements, which since 1989 have informed working Americans of estimated monthly benefits based on their current earnings.
Allotted $700 Billion, TARP May Cost Far Less
Wed, Dec 09, 2009
Democrats plan to divert about $70 billion from what is left in the bailout fund to construction projects, credit to small businesses and aid to state and local governments.
