Net VA flow ebbs to $1.5 billion in 3Q 2013: Morningstar
“Shifts in market share this year have been massive,” writes Morningstar VA analyst Frank O’Connor in his third quarter and year-to-date sales report, issued yesterday.
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A Fool for a Client?
MassMutual is the latest target of the St. Louis plaintiff's attorney Jerry Schlichter, who has won eight-figure judgments and settlements in a series of "excessive fee" cases against high-profile...
Which Bubbles Will Burst Worst?
The universe of assets whose price will collapse in the next downturn is considerably better populated than the collection of assets whose price won't collapse. If you asked me...
The Uncertain Future of Central Bank Supremacy
"Comforted by the notion of a “central-bank put,” ...many investors have “looked through” countries’ unbalanced economic policies.The result is financial risk-taking that exceeds what would be warranted strictly by...
Driven by VA de-risking, managed-vol funds grow
Assets in funds in this category reached $200.1 billion by mid-2013 after rising to $153.9 billion at year-end 2012 from $30.9 billion at year-end 2006, an annualized growth rate...
A Second Look at the ‘Floor-Leverage Model’
Two weeks ago we reported on new research by Jason Scott and John Watson of Financial Engines about a retirement income strategy that combines 85% safe assets with a...
How the Economic Machine Works
In this informative and entertaining video, hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio explains the U.S. economy as he sees it, in terms that anyone can understand, if not agree with....
Retirement Savings in a Co-Ed Dorm?
The investment industry wants to benefit from the tax-deferral subsidy and charge whatever it likes on the subsidized money in rollover IRAs. That’s asking for a lot. More important,...
Dept. of ‘Say It Ain’t So’
Forbes reporter Ted Siedle alleges that asset managers are using the financial crisis to gain greater control over the billions in troubled public pensions—in this case, Rhode Island’s.
The Four-Sided Chess Game
Today, insurers are invoking fiduciary duty to justify the offering of lifetime income products in 401(k) plans. If the fiduciary standard were applied to the management of money in...
Dynamic Withdrawal Strategies Made Easy
Research from Morningstar's David M. Blanchett introduces two equations for implementing an efficient dynamic withdrawal strategy based on different expected time periods, portfolio equity allocations, the likelihood of achieving...
Securian Offers “MyPath” VA Income Riders
"MyPath is less a statement on interest rates than a reflection of our desire to allow advisers to dial-in what each client needs," said Dan Kruse, second vice president...
Dealing with Auto-Enrollment’s Dilution Effect
By increasing enrollment, auto-enrollment inevitably increases the number of employees eligible for a matching contribution, if any, and in such cases can drive up employer costs. Something’s got to...
New York Life DIA wins innovation award from RIJ and RIIA
At the RIIA annual conference in Austin, Texas, this week, awards were given to New York Life, Jackson National, JP Morgan Chase, Prudential, Shlomo Benartzi, Wade Pfau and Michael...
America’s Endless Budget Battle
At least for now, the rest of the world has confidence in America’s capacity to put its house (of representatives) in order. No one can imagine that a country...
The Crone or the Elegant Lady?
People are entitled to their own opinions but not to their own sets of facts, the scholar-politician Daniel Moynihan famously said. A collision of two versions of the “facts”...
Shedding Light on Shadow Reinsurance
New research from the London Business School and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis adds detail to the use of "shadow reinsurance" by life insurers, a practice that frees up...
How to Take the Federal Budget Debate in Stride
Don't let political disruptions in Washington disrupt your long-term investing strategy, say Vanguard's experts.
Occupy QE
The Fed is relying on the 'wealth effect' – brought about largely by increasing equity and home prices – as its principal transmission mechanism for stabilization policy. There are...
