Total annuity sales to improve through 2019: LIMRA SRI
With interest rates expected to rise over the next two years, LIMRA SRI forecasts sales of fixed rate deferred annuities to increase by 15-20% in 2018 and by 20-25%...
Research
Variable annuity deferral bonuses are working: Ruark
GLWB withdrawal frequencies have increased consistently at normal retirement age and above, with over half of withdrawals now at or near the maximum benefit amount, according to a study...
Annuity wholesalers should be consultants for advisors: Global Atlantic
Many advisors prefer 'a multi-product annuity platform' that allows for 'customizable retirement planning,' the survey by the multi-product annuity provider showed.
Working 9-to-?
'Each one percentage point increase in Social Security's Delayed Retirement Credit is associated with a roughly one percentage point increase in the employment rate of men ages 65 to...
Unequal plan coverage persists, report shows
'In 2016, the participation rate was just 47.3% of family heads with annual family income of $10,000 – $24,999, compared with 89.9% for those with annual...
Undersaved? Work a little longer
A 66-year-old worker who works one year longer and claims Social Security one year later could see a 7.75% rise in his inflation-adjusted retirement income, according to new research....
The link between 401(k) litigation and in-plan annuities
Fear of litigation has made 401(k) plan sponsors leery of innovation, including the adoption of annuities as investment options, these authors suggest.
Fund flows bounce back in March: Morningstar
The Morningstar Categories with the highest inflows in March were foreign large-blend, ultra-short bond, and intermediate bond funds, respectively.
Broker-dealers will need scale or specialization: Cerulli
'As advisors have adopted passive strategies, ETF structures, and institutional share classes, revenue-sharing to B/Ds has decreased,' a Cerulli analyst writes.
Insurers should be wary of sharp rate hike: A.M. Best
Disintermediation risk, increases in hedging costs and capital strain due to reversal of unrealized gains could strain insurers, the rating agency warned.
LIMRA Ponders the Annuity Puzzle
'We can stick with business as usual, or we can work with regulators to remove some of the hurdles to selling annuities,' said Ernst & Young's Doug French at...
People with pensions conserve their savings: EBRI
'Instead of spending down, a large number of retirees are continuing to accumulate assets throughout retirement,' writes Sudipto Banerjee of T. Rowe Price, who prepared the report on decumulation...
Nobody Wins a Trade War
'Sit back, take a deep breath, and try to figure out why the stock market has been reacting so violently,' writes our guest columnist, who blogs about the economy.
New research on interest rates, bitcoin, etc.
Thrivent's Tanweer Akram on the effects of Fed tightening, Roger Farmer on Milton Friedman and inflation since 1979, plus research on crypto-currency and on the average age of entrepreneurs....
Consumer debt undermines personal retirement savings: LIMRA
LIMRA finds that six in 10 American workers with non-mortgage debt say paying down debt negatively impacts their efforts to save for retirement.
Investors keeping selling US equity funds
TrimTabs says U.S. equity funds lost a net $63.3 billion in 1Q2018, the second-highest quarterly outflow on record, while global equity funds received a net $63.9 billion. ...
Fund flows turn negative in February: Morningstar
If one still had any lingering doubt about how bad last month actually was in terms of flows, one only had to look at Vanguard: almost $33 billion in...
Float shrink: US firms continue to buy stock
New cash takeovers have totaled $48.1 billion, and they have would have been $136.9 billion had Broadcom’s bid for Qualcomm succeeded, said TrimTabs research.
Less debt for near-elderly households: EBRI
'Families with a near-elderly head show a pattern of stubbornly higher indebtedness than in past generations—specifically those in the 1990s,' the EBRI said.
Need for annuities is strong but interest still weak: Survey
A new CANNEX/Greenwald survey shows that about four in 10 pre-retirees expect annual income under $50k in retirement; 23% expect $50k-$75k and 16% expect $75k to $99k. Under 20%...
