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Cover Stories

Don't Go Overboard with TIPS

by Wade Pfau

Don't Go Overboard with TIPS

Mon, Dec 12, 2011

"TIPS can play an important role in most retirement portfolios," writes this Tokyo-based economics professor. "... Like other assets, "TIPS have risks and do not eliminate the need for broad diversification." This article first appeared in Advisor Perspectives.

Running Lapse around Variable Annuities

by Kerry Pechter

Running Lapse around Variable Annuities

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.

The "Evolution of the Annuity Industry"

by Kerry Pechter

The "Evolution of the Annuity Industry"

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.

Airbag-Equipped Annuities

by Kerry Pechter

Airbag-Equipped Annuities

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.)

Columns : Guest Column

Passive Equity Strategies Are Still Valid

Passive Equity Strategies Are Still Valid

by Philip G. Lubinski

A true passive strategy, history shows, was never meant to be limited to the S&P 500 or to any other single asset class, writes the owner of Strategic Distribution Institute LLC.

News

“Simpson-Bowles” reforms would reduce middle-class Social Security receipts: Urban Institute

Wed, Dec 14, 2011

Projected Social Security benefit reductions under the NCFRR recommendations are closely related to lifetime earnings, with those at the bottom of the lifetime earnings distribution largely shielded and those at the top experiencing significant reductions.

Morningstar announces agenda for institutional conference

Wed, Dec 14, 2011

Thomas Sargent, winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and professor of economics and business at New York University, will deliver the keynote address.

MassMutual introduces Pension Funding Scorecard

Wed, Dec 14, 2011

The Scorecard provides a quarter-by-quarter performance comparison for a liability-driven investing (LDI) portfolio vs. a traditional 60% equity/40% fixed income portfolio against the MassMutual Pension Liability Index (MMPLI).

Barclays Wealth and Securian announce new executives

Wed, Dec 14, 2011

Christopher M. Hilger has been appointed the 16th president of the 131-year-old Securian Financial Group, Inc., and Joseph Danowsky has been hired by Barclays Wealth as a Managing Director and Head of Solutions for the Americas.

Envestnet acquires FundQuest

Wed, Dec 14, 2011

Timothy Clift, formerly chief investment officer and chairman of the investment committee at FundQuest, Inc., will join Envestnet|PMC as chief investment strategist, responsible for the development of investment strategies for client portfolios.