Paint It Black
Investment gurus at the recent Big Picture Conference—the annual financial opinion-fest in New York created by market-maven Barry Ritholtz—took an almost unanimously bleak view of the future of our...
Bond funds on track to receive net $300 billion for 2012
Exchange-traded funds and notes benefited from $36 billion of September net intake, bringing total ETF net inflows (including ETNs) to nearly $130 billion for the first nine months of...
Hedge fund assets down 28.7% from 2008 peak
A majority of 81 hedge fund managers surveyed in late September expected Barack Obama to be re-elected and an even stronger majority expect control of Congress to remain divided,...
It’s the health care, stupid
Twenty-nine percent of Republicans ages 55 to 65 said they would probably become more aggressive if Romney wins, while 30% of similar Democrats would become more conservative.
Wells Fargo reports wagon-load of income
The firm reported $1.2 trillion in retail brokerage assets, $199 billion in wealth management client assets, accounts, $295 billion in IRA assets, and $260 billion in institutional retirement plan...
Nationwide repositions annuities for sale to RIAs
“The growing success of the fee-based market and increased use of alternative investments has us broadening the distribution of our specialty product offerings,” said John Carter, president of distribution...
Fitch releases analysis of U.S. life insurers investment holdings
Fixed-income securities on average accounted for 83% of total invested assets. For most life companies, the bulk of their equity market exposure is in non-guaranteed separate accounts tied to...
Allianz Life re-enhances living benefit rider
The subaccounts offered to those who choose the rider include four Allianz Fund of Funds, five intermediate bond funds, a PIMCO high-yield portfolio, an Allianz cash equivalent fund, and...
The Changing American Family
The 2010 Census revealed that married couples are, for the first time, less than half of U.S. households, according to this article, which appeared recently in the MetLife Mature...
Fee Disclosure: Opportunity or Threat for Plan Advisors?
DoL rules 403(b)(2) and 404(a)(5) are motivating plan sponsors to reevaluate their advisory relationships and, in many cases, send out requests for proposals. Plan advisors tend to either salivate...
Fee disclosure puts thousands of plan advisor jobs in play
For nimble plan sponsor advisors, 408(b)(2) and 404a-5 open new opportunities. For the less nimble, the new regulations mean job insecurity. But will fee transparency reduce fees at the...
Index annuity from Athene offers five rider-benefits
ATHENE Benefit 10 features a 6% premium bonus that vests over a 10-year period. The enhanced benefit rider includes early income bonus of up to 10% if lifetime withdrawals...
22 Vanguard funds switch to FTSE and CRSP benchmarks
Index licensing fees have represented a growing portion of the expenses that investors pay to own index funds and ETFs, said Vanguard chief investment officer Gus Sauter.
DTCC I&RS launches research role in analytic reporting for annuities
Developed by DTCC‘s Insurance & Retirement Services (I&RS), the new research enhancement provides clients with more comprehensive market information based on annuity product transaction data.
The Hartford sells individual life business to Prudential for $615m
The Hartford will continue to sell new life insurance products and riders through the transaction’s 2013 closing and during a defined transition period thereafter.
Northwestern Mutual adds DIA with upside potential
Unlike the mutual insurer's existing Select DIA, where the future income is fixed, the new Select Portfolio DIA allows contract owners to apply Northwestern Mutual dividends to their annuity.
Remember the Alamo… and the Annuities
At the Financial Planning Association conference in San Antonio, it was hard to forget The Alamo, only a few blocks away. But people had amnesia about annuities.
Britain adjusts to universal auto-enrollment
“Many organizations are still in a head-in-sand mode,” said Dean Wetton, a pension consultant. “Auto-enrollment is lost somewhere between payroll, HR and the pensions department."
SunGard enhances system for employer-sponsored plans
The system allows retirement administrators to provide participants with online access to account information and transactions.
New York Life funds doctoral program at The American College
Doctoral scholars will participate in three one-week residencies at The American College’s campus in Bryn Mawr, PA, as well as at least one intensive debrief with faculty prior to...
