Why ‘Offshoring’ Annuity Risk Is Wrong
Many for-profit US life/annuity companies do not use independent reinsurers. They use an affiliated or captive reinsurer in a jurisdiction like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Vermont, or Arizona. This...
_Position: Cover
Fixed Indexed Annuities: What’s Changed (or Not) in Ten Years
Every year, Wink CEO Sheryl Moore and RIJ analyze a segment of the annuity industry using Wink's proprietary data. This year, we examine FIA sales since 2011: The era...
NAIC Reassures Congress on Private Equity-Led Insurers
Responding to Sen. Sherrod Brown's March inquiry, the association of state insurance commissioners gave high marks to their own oversight of PE-linked life/annuity companies. But the NAIC's 'nothing...
Fixed-Rate Annuities: First Quarter Favorites
“FIA and RILA sales were both slightly down from the prior quarter. That might reflect some investor uneasiness about equity index-linked products,” said Todd Giesing, head of LIMRA Annuity...
Desperately Seeking Alpha (and Getting Caught)
Low rates, demand for yield, financial alchemy, gaudy incentives and a black swan event provided the ingredients for the cataclysm at AGI US. Pictured: SEC chief Gary Gensler.
Who Has ‘Three Legs at Evening’? (The Elderly)
The Pension Research Council's Spring Symposium took place (virtually), which meant no semi-formal dinner with the sphinx at the University of Pennsylvania's museum. But the presentations of research papers...
The ‘Retirement Income Consortium’ is Born
Eight financial giants formed the Retirement Income Consortium to promote income solutions in 401(k) plans and 'develop a vetted due diligence framework' for 'selection and monitoring' of those solutions.
Private Equity in the Life/Annuity Biz
Experts Tim Zawacki of S&P Global Market Intelligence, Rosemarie Mirabella of AM Best, and Jason Kehrberg of PolySystems presented data on “Private Equity and the Life Insurance Industry” at...
It’s Inflation or Recession: Larry Summers
In this research roundup, economist Larry Summers predicts a recession next year. We also review new papers on annuitization habits of TIAA participants, 'tontines' for Chile, shortages of...
A ‘Cashback’ Pension-Building Card, from Germany
'The Vantikcard uses the 1% cashback as a kickstart into retirement savings and for customers to then save on top of the cashback,' a Vantik veteran said. Right: Vantik...
Your Retirement Money Diet
Morningstar's investment gurus put four variations of the "safe withdrawal" method through a simulated retirement scenario involving a 65-year-old man, a $1 million portfolio, and a 30-year time horizon....
Meet Corebridge, AIG’s ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Venture
Corebridge Financial is AIG's Life & Retirement division, spun off and rebranded. It teams up with some of the world's largest asset managers and a reinsurer based in Bermuda....
Europe’s Borderless New DC Plans
After 10 years of preparation, the European Union has created Pan European Personal Pension plans (PEPPs). These will be available to any EU-country citizen working in any EU country....
401(k)s Are a ‘Fraud,’ and Other New Research
Here are five fresh, timely pieces of academic research on retirement-related topics, including the alleged unfairness of the employer-sponsored defined contribution plan savings system.
Meet MassMutual’s Bermuda Reinsurer
MassMutual helped finance Martello Re, the $1.65bn Bermuda reinsurer that just reinsured $14bn worth of MassMutual's in-force fixed-rate and fixed index annuities, and recruited Dennis Ho to be its...
Investment, Pension, or Annuity? This Fund Is a Hybrid
Purpose Financial's Longevity Pension Fund, introduced in Canada last summer, is designed to provide sustainable income for life with liquidity of principal. Getting SEC approval for its sale as...
A Policy Dynamo Touts ‘Dynamic Pensions’
Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, an actuary and retirement policy expert at Canada's National Institute on Aging, claims that a non-guaranteed lifetime income tool could generate more income than any annuities. Tontines,...
RIAs, 401(k)s, and Annuities: Is This the Future?
Managed accounts are one way to build annuities into 401(k) plans. Morningstar is bundling Hueler Income Solutions into its managed accounts, giving participants an easy path to an income...
Origins of the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Strategy
This month's Roundup includes research on regulatory arbitrage by US life insurers; how income and wealth affect longevity; the intersection of pensions, trade and immigration; using home equity to...
A New Alt-Asset Manager Enters the ‘Bermuda Triangle’
Since mid-2021, Sixth Street Partners has done reinsurance and investment deals with Lincoln Financial, Allianz Life and Principal Financial. The asset manager and its affiliates now manage $111 billion...
