Fitch: Puerto Rico’s bond rating (BBB-) depends on reform
Reforms signed into law in Puerto Rico last week aim to reduce future cash flow deficits in the plan both by increasing payments into the plan and reducing future...
Poland denies rumors that it will nationalize ‘second pillar’ assets
In spite of those denials, many observers believe the government will still attempt to access some of the assets, due to the need to reduce its deficit in line...
The Hartford hedges its VA risk in Japan
The company also announced that financial results for the first quarter of 2013 will include a deferred acquisition charge (DAC) of approximately $600 million, after tax.
Vanguard to offer 401(k) services through TPAs
The move represents an expansion of the Vanguard Retirement Plan Access program, which was introduced in October 2011 to offer bundled services to sponsors of small- to mid-size 401(k)...
PBS to critique 401(k) plans
The PBS television series, "Frontline," will focus on 401(k) and IRAs on April 23. Judging by the 30-second preview (click headline to see link), "The Retirement Gamble" will be...
First-quarter flows to U.S. equity funds are largest in nine years: TrimTabs
The big inflows into equities did not come at the expense of bonds. Bond mutual funds and ETFs received $72.3 billion in the first quarter, the seventeenth consecutive...
Phoenix and AltiSure issue ‘Next Generation’ indexed annuities
In contrast to competing contracts, this contract's return-of-premium death benefit doesn’t decrease as the lifetime withdrawal benefits are drawn, Phoenix said in a release.
MetLife now manages a sixth of Romania’s DC assets
At year-end 2012, more than 5.7 million Romanians participated in the "second pillar" with net assets of RON 9.64bn (€2.18bn) in nine funds. Since 2008 the number of funds...
Dementia treatment in U.S. to cost $379 billion to $511 billion a year by 2040
“The total monetary cost of dementia in 2010 was between $157 billion and $215 billion,” said the RAND Corporation study. “Medicare paid approximately $11 billion of this cost.”
Participants Still Wary of Equity Risk: Spectrem Group
In 2012, 401(k) participants held 36% of their assets in diversified equities and another 13% in company stock. In 2006, these investors had 40% of their assets in diversified...
Brand Conscious, But in Different Ways
Affluent investors seem to love direct retirement product providers, but advisors’ favorite brands vary by distribution channel. Everyone seems to like American Funds.
W&S Financial Distributors launches interactive retirement planning tool
Clients using 'Retirement Picture' develop visuals of retirement lifestyle scenarios through a series of interactive screens. Users choose scenarios of interest and gauge their retirement risk preparedness for each.
New sites from Jackson National Life focus on alternatives
The Alternative Investment Learning Center is a LinkedIn group where registered reps with at least a FINRA Series 6 or 7 license can access educational materials on alternatives and...
The Demographics of Wealth and Poverty
The Census Bureau says that 83% of U.S. households had less than $589,000 in non-home wealth in 2011 and 50% had less than $16,942.
Impact of Great Recession lingers, researcher shows
The top wealth (and income) groups saw the percentage increase in their net worth (and non-home wealth and income) rise rapidly from 1983 to 2010. The top one percent...
Trust is a scarce commodity: Hearts & Wallets
People often trust their financial advisors to the extent that they “understand how the advisor and firm earn money,” according to the Boston-area research firm.
Deficits at largest pension funds keep growing: Milliman
The deficit increase and reduced funding ratio in 2012 occurred despite plan sponsors’ efforts to halt the decline through de-risking and despite rising stock prices.
Most middle-income Americans ignore longevity risk: Bankers Life
Middle-income Americans, ages 55 to 75, tend to believe that wisdom arrives at about age 56, but old age doesn’t necessarily start until age 78.
Bloomberg publishes new edition of ERISA: The Law and the Code
The complex is made simple (or as simple as possible) in this handy desktop reference for all your ERISA-related questions.
Customers are people, British asset managers remind themselves
"Our client may be a pension fund, our client may be a life company, but at the end of that chain is a real person that is relying on...
