News in brief
Researchers probe tie between auto-enrollment and household debt in the UK; Prudential closes $12.5 bn reinsurance deal with Somerset Re; Strong fourth quarter for pension risk transfers: LIMRA; PE-backed...
News
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Mutual fund assets down again, says Cerulli; TIAA calls for infrastructure lending reforms; MassMutual publishes research on Asian Americans; John Hancock hires Infosys for digital modernization; Apple leads all...
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MetLife and Ernst & Young collaborate on financial wellness program; eMoneyAdvisor adds lead-generator to its platform; VALIC and RetireUp partner on Retirement Pathfinder.
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Principal Financial to purchase more shares, Prudential inks longevity transfer deal and publishes financial wellness study, FedEx buys group annuity from MetLife, Piwowar resigns from the SEC, and Nationwide...
Roger Ibbotson embraces indexed annuities over bonds
'Conventional wisdom has most investors de-risking their portfolios by allocating more heavily to bonds as they approach retirement," Ibbotson said. 'Investors should consider other alternatives such as FIAs.'
Conning reports on 2017 insurer M&A activity
'Insurers actively exited underperforming lines and entered specialty segments offering healthier growth and margin prospects,' said a Conning analyst.
Jackson National reports record pre-tax operating income during 2017
An indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Britain’s Prudential plc, Jackson recorded sales and deposits of $21.4 billion in 2017. The insurer recently announced that it would close its Denver...
Convert deferred annuities into long-term care coverage: OneAmerica
People who don’t plan to use their deferred annuities for lifetime income should consider using exchanging their contracts for a hybrid annuity with a long-term care rider, an issuer...
Patterson promoted at Principal Financial
Jerry Patterson will succeed the retiring Greg Burrows as head of the Principal's full service retirement and individual investor businesses.
Babybust? Only 11.7% of financial advisors are under 35: Cerulli
'The industry has been scrambling to find a proactive solution to this demographics problem,' said Marina Shtyrkov, a Cerulli research analyst in a release.
Ireland to adopt auto-enrollment, follow ‘roadmap’ to pension reform
In the next 40 years the ratio of working age people to pensioners in Ireland is expected to fall from 4.5 to one to 2.3 to one, said Taoiseach...
Two providers enter Germany’s new market for hybrid DB/DC plans
Starting in January, Germany has entered into a new workplace retirement plan era, with greater opportunity for hybrid DB/DC plans that feature defined contributions and variable payouts in retirement....
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Marlene Debel to lead MetLife's institutional retirement business; Funded status of S&P 1500 pension plans rose 1% in January; TrimTabs reports that global equities outdrew U.S. equities after the...
Flight to passive funds continued in January: Morningstar
State Street enjoyed a second month of double-digit billion-dollar flows and almost caught up with Vanguard in terms of passive flows. Their flagship ETF, SPDR S&P 500 SPY, attracted...
Ameriprise settles SEC claims that it over-charged retirement clients by $1.78 million
Approximately 1,791 customer accounts paid a total of $1,778,592.31 in unnecessary up-front sales charges, contingent deferred sales charges, and higher ongoing fees and expenses as a result of Ameriprise’s...
Stock buybacks reach $113.4 billion in February: TrimTabs
Despite the $1,000 one-time bonuses reportedly paid to employees at large employers after the passage of the new tax law, the buyback spurt indicates that the corporate tax cut...
U.S. ETF assets top $3.6 trillion: Cerulli
In response to the steady migration to index funds and ETFs, “many asset managers are looking to multi-asset-class investments as a way to reestablish their competitive position,” Cerulli said...
If jobs were more flexible, seniors would work longer: NBER
About 40% of retirees would work at a job that had the same wages and total hours as their last job, but a higher percentage--60%-- would be willing to...
Brighthouse offers new VA rider
FlexChoice Access offers a 5% compounded annual deferral bonus for the first 10 contract years. Contract owners can choose whether to receive level payments for life or higher withdrawals...
Poland unveils retirement system overhaul
Poland is preparing to use auto-enrollment to move workers into a new kind of employer-based defined contribution plan, with mandatory employer and employee contributions. The 20-year-old system of diverting...
