Annuities
If you haven't done so already, t's time to consider how the low interest rate environment has transformed the life/annuity business over the past ten years. And to assess...
One-Stop Shops for Notes and Annuities
Luma Financial Technologies is now among the structured notes platforms that have chosen to add index-linked annuities to the products they support. It joins SIMON Markets and Halo in...
You’ve heard of RILAs, Now Meet FILAs
F&G, a leading issuer of fixed indexed annuities (FIAs), has launched an FIA that gives contract owners the option to reach for higher gains without losing principal protection. They...
(Sheryl) Moore’s Law on Annuities in 2021
RIJ talks with Sheryl Moore of Wink, Inc., the annuity data and consulting firm, about the results of her first-quarter 2021 survey of annuity sales. She shares her opinion...
Top-Selling Annuity Contracts, First Qtr 2021
Wink's first-quarter sales data showed that Perspective II from Jackson National, the Allianz Benefit Control Annuity, and Prudential's FlexGuard contract were the best-sellers in their respective product categories.
AM Best’s outlook for the annuity industry: Negative
'The negative market segment outlook is due to the persistent low interest rate environment, operating margin pressure and organic growth challenges,' a new AM Best report said.
Seeking ‘An Index that Moves’
'I didn’t like the blended or hybrid indexes in annuities at first because I thought they were too complex,' said Bryan Anderson, founder of Annuity Straight Talk. 'But over...
‘Sometimes the Market Swings Your Way’
'On average, there will be no double-digit returns,” said Don Dady, co-founder of Annexus. 'But once in a while there will be. We have definitely seen some phenomenal returns...
Too Much ‘Hocus Pocus’
David Lau of DPL Financial Partners, the fee-based annuity platform, likes indexed annuities but doubts the value of the 'volatility-controlled' indexes often featured in them.
Structured annuity (RILA) sales volume up 89% in 1Q2021: LIMRA SRI
'RILAs offer better pricing than indexed annuities to investors looking to mitigate downside risk and enjoy potential investment growth as the bull market continues,' said Todd Giesing of LIMRA...
Get a Downside Buffer with Your Variable Annuity
Delaware Life executives Tom Seitz and Dale Uthoff explain their new variable annuity, Accelerator Prime, with RIJ. Like hot-selling registered index-linked annuities, it offers a downside "buffer."
Did QLACs Get a Last-Minute Haircut?
The Ways and Means Committee considered raising the limit on pre-tax contributions to a deferred income annuity to $200,000, but then, apparently for budget reasons, let the current limit...
Secure 2.0: A Booster Shot for Qualified Savings Industry
The proposed bill would allow ETFs in variable annuities and remove the 25% limit on the share of IRA money that can be used to buy a Qualified Longevity...
Expect RILAs to outsell FIAs by 2024: Wink
'At the current pace, sales of structured annuities (aka registered index-linked annuities or RILAs) will have climbed higher than those of indexed annuities at a comparable point in the...
ALI announces new research chair, ties with CANNEX
The Alliance for Lifetime Income said economist Jason Fichtner will chair its Retirement Income Institute and that it would partner with CANNEX to produce new research on annuities.
Security Benefit Life’s Secret Sauce
Joe Wittrock, CIO at Security Benefit Life, explains how the firm's investments outperform. Eldridge Industries, run by ex-Guggenheim president Todd Boehly, owns SBL, Billboard magazine (right, with Billie Eilish...
Updates from Allianz Life, Athene and Investors Heritage
New caps on AllianzIM Buffered Outcome ETFs; Investors Heritage Life offers climate-friendly index on new FIA; AccuMax is launched by Athene.
VAs suffer record outflows, but enjoy record assets
As Morningstar's quarterly VA sales report for 4Q2020 shows, the VA business is complicated, with record-high sales of index-linked VAs, record-high VA assets on the books, but record...
Research Roundup
Here's new research on tax avoidance among the very rich, the logic that millionaires use when buying equities, considerations for plan sponsors when estimating income from 401(k) balances, and...
Pandemic Hurt Annuity Sales in 2020
Annuity sales were buoyed in 2020 by a spike in purchases of registered index-linked annuities (up 38%) and fixed annuities (up 10%). Income annuity sales are north of $10...