US insurers’ exposure to CLOs passed $132 billion in 2019: AM Best
The share of collateralized loan obligations in the fixed-income portfolios of life/annuity companies rose to 4.0% in 2019 from 2.7% in 2016, according to the ratings agency.
Life insurers
MassMutual buys Great American Life for $3.5 billion
MassMutual was the sales leader in fixed-rate deferred annuities through the first nine months of 2020, with $5.18 billion in sales. This acquisition makes it an instant player in...
Bermuda Triangle Part IV: The Reinsurance Angle
Publicly-held life insurers are using reinsurance to improve their balance sheets. But at what cost? 'I believe that many of these blocks of business are only being funded in...
Checklist for Buying Cash Value Life
Follow the steps that Steve Parrish of The American College has assembled here when helping a client obtain the right cash value life insurance policy.
Using Cash Value Life Insurance for Retirement Income
Cash value life insurance can be a versatile tool in the hands of a diligent financial advisor, writes our guest columnist, an Adjunct Professor of Advanced Planning at The...
CEO Chris Blunt of F&G Explains It All
In only about three years, Fidelity & Guaranty Life has leveraged the asset management skills of strategic partner Blackstone to become a major fixed indexed annuity provider. Blunt, F&G's...
Drama in Des Moines
Rejecting a takeover bid by Athene and MassMutual, fixed index annuity issuer American Equity will partner with Brookfield Asset Management. The deal releases up to $350m in capital for...
Why American Equity’s Share Price Spiked Today
With new management and a new business model, American Equity Investment Life hopes to climb back onto the FIA sales leaderboard. It's using the strategy that RIJ dubbed 'The...
She’s Got Advice for Life Insurers
'Insurers can't remain wedded to product sales, which are becoming commoditized in a future that trends toward financial advice,' says industry veteran Michelle Richter, who just launched Fiduciary Insurance...
Private-equity firms will keep buying life insurers: Cerulli
'A takeover of general account assets by a PE firm gives the insurer, in effect, an affiliated PE manager and the fee advantages typically seen in co-investing scenarios,' a...
Jackson National Life to go independent
Jackson National experienced a loss of more than $2 billion on its interest rate hedges this year, partly due to the drop in rates and equity prices last March.
Life Insurers’ Bermuda Triangle, Part II
The humble fixed indexed annuity is at the center of the restructuring hurricane that has swept through the life insurance industry in recent years. We bring you the second...
Low rates are ‘key obstacle’ for U.S. life/annuity firms: AM Best
Life insurers have exited, re-priced or de-emphasized their most interest rate-sensitive business lines, including individual and group annuities, the ratings firm said in a new report.
AM Best expects lower annuity sales in 2020
Drag from the low interest rate environment continues to hurt margins and stifle earnings growth, weakening the industry’s investment returns, an AM Best release said.
In private, life insurers express ‘concern’
'About one-third of companies expect a negative 10-year treasury rate at the end of 2020 in their worst case scenario,' according to a high level life insurance industry report.
BlackRock Makes a Bundle (with Annuities)
BlackRock, the giant asset manager, is adding a lifetime income dimension to its LifePath target date funds by partnering with Brighthouse, Equitable and Voya on a service that will...
Insurance companies impacted by equity slide: AM Best
'These losses contributed to capital and surplus declines of 11.9% for property/casualty insurers, 5.6% for life/annuity writers and 7.8% for health insurers,' the ratings agency said.
Stormy Weather for Life Insurers
Life insurers are buffeted by a perfect storm of falling interest rates, falling share prices and falling sales of annuities. But, according to David Paul of ALIRT Insurance Research,...
Life insurers hurt themselves, reader says
'It's hard to imagine a multi-trillion dollar industry that has done more to neuter its own influence over national economic policy,' writes David Macchia (in photo), CEO of Wealth2k,...
IPO reflects ongoing shift at Jackson National
'Jackson’s fixed indexed annuity sales jumped 1,293% in 2019, while their fixed-rate deferred annuity sales climbed 169%,' said the Secure Retirement Institute this week. (Photo: Jackson CEO Michael Falcon)
