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...
Income-Generating Annuities Prospered in 2012
Investors are avoiding low-yield, accumulation-style fixed deferred annuities. Meanwhile, babyboomers seem to be flocking to fixed indexed annuities with rich living benefits or to deferred income annuities. Both provide...
The Best Retirement Research of 2012
For the second consecutive year, we bring you the most intriguing, influential and useful retirement-related academic research that came to our attention in the prior year.
Webinar – Insider Insights for Income Planning Professionals – Part 1
Kerry Pechter discusses the different risks for investors in retirement that are not faced in pre-retirement.
Webinar – Insider Insights for Income Planning Professionals – Part 2
In this webinar, Kerry Pechter discusses Advanced Life Deferred Annuities, also known as Deferred Income Annuities.
Jackson National top seller of annuities in 2012
LIMRA has published its quarterly list of top annuity sellers in the U.S. For all of 2012, Jackson National Life was the largest overall seller of annuities, with $20.4...
No surprise: Most Americans still not saving
A new survey shows yet again that most Americans don't save much. Given the trillions that currently sit in 401(k) plans and IRA accounts, this suggests that a minority...
Lump sum DB payouts represent rollover opportunities: Cerulli
Two new publications from Cerulli Associates point out, respectively, that advisors and IRA providers should target the lump-sum distributions of former DB plan participants and that the direct channel...
Institutional investors account for 57% of equity ETF assets
The private bank channel and the RIA channel combined manage over $500 billion in ETFs, according to a new report from Strategic Insight.
Was That a Prohibited Transaction?
We all think we know right from wrong. But in the ERISA world, it’s not always so easy tell the difference. Listen to these war stories and decide for...
America needs, but isn’t getting, more female advisors: Pershing
Women advisors earn just 58% of what their male peers earn, a gap that can cost women an average of $1.25 million each over a 35-year career, according to...
To use more liquid alternatives, advisors need support
Many advisors express limited satisfaction with the performance of alternative investments in 2012, but most believe that alternative asset classes are important in constructing portfolios, according to a new...
Demand for stable value funds is stable: MetLife
More than one in five plan sponsors (22%) that offer stable value funds to their participants did not know what types of stable value contracts back their offering.
Annuity inflows increase in January: DTCC
Five large states accounted for over one third of all annuity flows in January: California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Pennsylvania.
HNW investors more bullish on equities this year: Fidelity
According to a recent Fidelity survey, 76% of high net worth investors worry about inflation; 35% favor fighting inflation with equities and 12% with higher-yielding bonds.
Montana Tax Strikers and Me
While writing a check last week for my 2012 federal income taxes, I couldn’t help remembering a bunch of militant Tax Strikers from Whitefish, Montana. Unlike them, I am...
Morningstar publishes 2012 Global Fund Flows report
"Worldwide, fixed-income funds gathered USD 535 billion in 2012, or nearly 95 % of long-term net inflows,” said Syl Flood, product manager, investment research for Morningstar.
Western & Southern introduces ‘SmartStep’ fixed annuity
SmartStep offers four years of guaranteed rates: an initial rate set by the company followed by three years of stepped-up rates. At the end of the guarantee period, the...
Financial tremors shake Poland’s retirement pillars
To help reduce a general budget deficit, the government has had to divert contributions away from the second pillar, a defined contribution plan whose Polish acronym is OFE, to...
DC fee disclosure has little impact: LIMRA
“The disclosure notices — or the discussion of them — did seem to improve the knowledge of those who believed they didn’t pay any fees or expenses,” said Alison...
