Welcome to RIJAdvisor
On June 18, we launched our first edition of a new twice-monthly supplement to RIJ, RIJAdvisor. You can visit it by clicking the toggle button in the middle of...
How 401(k) Revenue-Sharing Works
This five-minute video from the Government Accountability Office explains the mechanics of revenue sharing between investment fund companies and 401k recordkeepers, a process that many 401k sponsors do not...
“Quote” of the Week
“The whole disclosure bandwagon is insane. Collectively, 401(k) plan fees are not too high now and they have never been too high. These plans are by far the most...
SoA weighs pension provisions in Senate bill
SOA researchers analyzed the bill, "MAP-21," from the perspective of three key principles of funding regulation: the transparency of plan funded status, the solvency of the system, and the...
CFDD seeks members for new custom TDF group
The 'Custom QDIA Association" intends to provide members with competitive intelligence, a website, data feeds, target date fund screens, performance reporting, enhanced CIT reporting and custom solutions workshops.
Longevity swaps attract increasing level of interest in Europe: Aon Hewitt
The Dutch pensions industry is waiting to learn whether plan sponsors can cut benefits to reflect increases in life expectancy. The result is critical in determining whether the country's...
Ernst & Young reports 1Q changes to VA contracts
Great West, Jackson National and Sun America introduced new VAs, while Allianz Life, MetLife and Ohio National introduced new living benefits, according to data from E&Y's Retirement Income Knowledge...
Wells Fargo to sell no-commission VAs
There will be four variable annuities on Wells Fargo’s new Advisory Variable Annuity platform, from Nationwide, Lincoln Financial, Pacific Life, and (later in 2012) Allianz Life.
Welcome to RIJ+Advisor
Welcome to RIJ+Advisor, a twice-monthly supplement to Retirement Income Journal. Our mission is to help financial advisors of all stripes to become specialists in helping Baby Boomers turn their...
The Best Retirement Research of 2011
What were the most significant decumulation research papers published last year? These ten articles can certainly claim to be among them.
Financial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
Millionaires don’t think monolithically: Spectrem
Millionaires and multi-millionaires have a wide range of attitudes regarding taxation and socially responsible investing. For instance, senior executives tend to have different concerns than business owners do.
Let These Tax-wise Algorithms Do Your Calculations
So far, LifeYield’s product has been adopted by Suntrust, Northwestern Mutual, ING, and Cambridge Associates. The firm is now in “serious discussions with seven of the 10 largest firms...
The SEC approves new circuit breakers to control market volatility
Two new mechanisms are intended to update existing attempts to control extreme volatility by tightening trading bands and reducing trigger points. The exchanges and FINRA are slated to install...
Asset allocation is alive and well
While correlations did soar to +1.0 during the market meltdown, advisors say that’s largely due to panicked selling, and any correlation between +.95 and -1.0 still can offer enough...
Pardon Our Dust
During the transition to a bigger, better server, we experienced a service interruption over the weekend. It's just growing pains.
Correction
Last week’s feature article in RIJ, "Prudential Files '2.0' Version of Highest Daily VA Rider," mistakenly described the fee structure as a new development. That fee structure, used in...
Aggressive auto-enrollment practices don’t backfire: NY Life
Plans with less than 4% default contribution rates saw a 14% opt-out rate, vs. a 10% opt-out rate for plans with greater than 3% default contribution rates during the...
MetLife adds more Protected Growth Strategy portfolios
The new portfolios, along with the four original portfolios, are now available to all new and most existing variable annuity customers, regardless of the election of certain optional...
Moody’s and A.M Best disagree on GM-Prudential deal
Differing signals from ratings agencies are feeding speculation about GM's huge pension risk transfer to Prudential Financial, and about the longevity and other risks associated with the unprecedented deal.
