Life Insurers as LEGO Monsters

By Kerry Pechter
Michael Gordon, CEO of Axonic Insurance, part of Axonic Capital, sees the future of the life/annuity/asset-management business as an increasingly a la carte affair, where the components of the business are like interchangeable Lego blocks and where platform providers help clients snap them together.

NAIC Urged to Limit ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Strategy

By Kerry Pechter
'The ability of insurers to significantly lower the total asset requirement for long-duration blocks of business that rely heavily on asset returns appears to be one of the drivers of the significant increase in reinsurance transactions,” wrote a New Jersey and an Iowa insurance regulator. 'A stunning development,' said one federal official.
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The Stakes in the Romney-Obama Contest

By Knowledge@Wharton
Expect big changes next January? Think again. While the candidates' economic philosophies and positions are dramatically different, divided government will prevent either from bringing his version of Morning to America, predicts a Wharton School professor.

To De-Risk or Re-Risk, That Is The Question

By Ashish Kapur
Pension fund managers across the Pond are feeling boxed-in. The author, European head of institutional solutions at SEI, feels their pain in an essay that first appeared in IPE.com.
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NAIC Urged to Limit ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Strategy

By Kerry Pechter
'The ability of insurers to significantly lower the total asset requirement for long-duration blocks of business that rely heavily on asset returns appears to be one of the drivers of the significant increase in reinsurance transactions,” wrote a New Jersey and an Iowa insurance regulator. 'A stunning development,' said one federal official.

Britain adjusts to universal auto-enrollment

By Editor Test
“Many organizations are still in a head-in-sand mode,” said Dean Wetton, a pension consultant. “Auto-enrollment is lost somewhere between payroll, HR and the pensions department."

DALBAR validates Pacific Life funds as QDIAs

By Editor Test
The PL Portfolio Optimization Funds are five target-risk fund-of-funds, ranging from conservative to aggressive, that are designed to offer investors one-step diversification.