In-Discretionary Accounts
Investment performance of popular “Rep-as-Portfolio-Manager" accounts lags direct-sold packaged portfolios, say analysts at Cerulli Associates and Fuse-Research.
_Position: Cover
Are Most Glide Paths Upside Down?
Investing in equities early in the lifecycle, when balances are low, offers little advantage and may even discourage young investors who suffer losses. So says one of the studies...
MetLife launches QLAC as plan distribution option
Participants in plans with MetLife group annuity contracts can put 25% of their qualified savings (up to $125,000) into this new deferred income product, whose premium can be excluded...
A Two-Headed Nightmare: The Robos and the DOL
The Amazon-ification of financial services will eventually disintermediate tens of thousands of financial salespeople. If you didn't get the memo already, consider the conflict-of-interest proposal a final wake-up call.
England Swings (Away from Annuities)
Until April 6, most Britons bought annuities with their DC savings. Now they can do as they wish with those ‘pension pots.’ BlackRock and AllianceBernstein see opportunity. ...
Six Ways to Dress Up QLACs
RIJ spoke with annuity manufacturers and distributors about their strategies for selling qualified longevity annuity contracts, which are deferred income annuities for IRA money. The favorite, but not unanimous,...
Who’s Doing What with QLACs Now
The 'Tax-Free Ninja' is Eric Estrada, a marketer at a Houston-based insurance wholesaler. He's one of the young, social-media savvy entrepreneurs who are enthusiastic about the potential for selling...
FIA: Unofficial MVP of the LIMRA Conference
Fixed indexed annuities will “increase their dominant position in the individual U.S. annuity market” and “approach variable annuity sales levels over the next five years,” predicted actuary Tim...
DOL to Advisors: ‘Take the Pledge’
In the much-anticipated revision of its 2010 proposal to curb conflicted sales to retirement account owners, the Department of Labor asserts that rollover IRAs are within its jurisdiction. It...
In 1799, They Said ‘No’ to Taxes
In March 1799. not far from where I live today, an auctioneer named John Fries led a protest against the first direct tax on American homeowners. Alexander Hamilton wanted...
Who Knew? Actuaries Have Two-Sided Brains
Every other year for the past two decades, the Society of Actuaries has sponsored a 'speculative' fiction-writing contest for actuaries. The winners of this year's contest were announced yesterday.
The Fine Madness of the 401(k) Business
Most of the workshops and discussions at the NAPA Summit in San Diego were devoted not to the pending DoL fiduciary proposal but to potential solutions to the problems...
Vanguard Answers a Retirement Riddle
Why do so many affluent retirees pinch pennies, when could enjoy life more? Sellers of annuities and long-term care insurance may be interested in the answers that Vanguard and...
Value Investing for Retirement
“Purgatory is what I’m calling our set of forecasts,” said Ben Inker, GMO’s co-head of asset allocation, at the Morningstar Institutional Conference in Phoenix last week. “We won’t make...
Live, from NY: Daniel Kahneman
Kahneman, co-recipient of a Nobel Prize for his work on behavioral finance and author of the best-seller, 'Thinking Fast and Slow,' spoke with informative grace and humor at the...
UBS Looks at Longevity and Annuities
For years, wealth managers have paid little attention to longevity risk or annuities. But times are changing, and even wirehouses like UBS are at least talking the longevity talk....
Bird? Plane? No, It’s a New MetLife VA Rider
With the new FlexChoice guaranteed lifetime withdrawal rider on its flagship variable annuities, MetLife is betting that it can provide Boomers with a competitive income vehicle that's light on...
At Second-and-Goal in Retirement, What’s Your Play Call?
Stocks are like a passing offense and bonds, arguably, are more like a running game. In a new article, Morningstar’s David Blanchett writes that most retirees would be better...
Fidelity Sees ‘Robo-Advice’ at Its Heels, and in its Future
'From eMoney they’re getting the retail and advisor aggregation tool and the client portals; that is, the user experience part, where the industry is playing catch-up with the...
Jack of Alternatives
"I believe that alternative investments—in four broad categories—are areas where people should diversify," said former Jackson National Life executive Clifford Jack in an interview with RIJ. His book, 'Generation...
