A Reader Comments on the ARIA CDA
CFP Mark Cortazzo of MACRO Consulting Group says that the fee-assessment mechanism of the ARIA contingent deferred annuity taketh away even as the product's living benefit giveth.
GAO recommends task force to promote micro retirement plans
Only 14% of small employers--for-profit firms that employ 100 or fewer people--sponsor some type of retirement plan, according to a new GAO report.
A well-financed Seattle start-up aims to spread cheap financial advice
“We envision a world where old school financial advisers are obsolete, except for the very wealthy,” said Bo Lu, co-founder of FutureAdvisor.
Fiserv launches ‘Retirement Illustrator’
Retirement Illustrator is intended to help advisors present retirement spending requirements and distribution alternatives, accounting for risk events such as withdrawal, longevity, survivor needs and healthcare risks.
Fitch approves of Hartford’s decision to run-off annuities
“Over the long term, management's decision to exit more volatile businesses such as variable annuities and individual life should help de-risk the company," said Fitch in a release.
Mad Men
The leitmotif of the Retirement/Pension track of the Society of Actuaries Investment Symposium in New York on Monday was that risky assets and pensions mix like, say, metallic sodium...
Will RIAs Sing This ARIA?
ARIA Retirement Solutions and AEGON/Transamerica have created a stand-alone living benefit (SALB) for the $1.3 trillion managed account market.
A.M. Best places Hartford’s ratings under review
The Hartford will place its individual annuity business into run-off effective April 27, 2012, A.M. Best said, and is pursuing other options for certain product lines within its Wealth...
The direct channel is growing: Cerulli
Cerulli predicts the direct market will grow to close to $5 trillion and will control close to 10% of retail managed accounts assets by 2014, equating to $380 billion.
Advisors, investors talk past each other, says Russell report
Advisors say that clients’ return expectations for 2012 are slightly higher than their own: 4.3% for a conservative portfolio, 6.5% for a balanced one and 9.3% for an aggressive...
Uniform fiduciary standard will require new technology: Citi
“Financial advisors can expect significant technological and operational challenges to adhere to any new fiduciary standards,” said a co-author of a new whitepaper.
Millionaire ranks grew by 200,000 in 2011
The total millionaire population in the U.S. has climbed to 8.6 million households, but remains below the pre-recession high in 2007 of 9.2 million.
In Case You Missed the RIIA Conference
This year’s spring conference, held again at Morningstar headquarters in downtown Chicago, may have been RIIA's most substantive, timely and productive to date.
Fidelity identifies a group of older clients averaging $360k in retirement accounts
Fidelity reviewed users of either or both IRAs and 401(k)s within its customer base, and came up with average balances overall and among clients in the 65-69 age bracket.
Few active managers beat indices: S&P
In the two true bear markets the SPIVA Scorecard has tracked over the last decade, most active equity managers failed to beat their benchmarks, Standard & Poor's said.
Jackson reports record net income of $683m in 2011
An indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Britain’s Prudential plc, Jackson generated a record $22.9 billion in total sales and deposits, up 16% over 2010. Retail net flows also increased...
Record sales for income, indexed annuities in Q4 2011: Beacon
Fourth quarter’s fixed annuity sales held up well on a period-to-period basis, declining only 1.7% to $17.3 billion. At $2.2 billion, income annuities were up 17.6%.
Getting into the Heads of RIAs
Data on the views and practices of RIAs are included in a recent study co-authored by Howard Schneider (left), of Practical Perspectives and Dennis Gallant of GDC Research.
Politicized Economist
Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University, a member of the RIJ community, is running for president of the United States on a "purple" platform. But he's hardly middle-of-the-road.
Six Annuities for the Wealthy
Contrary to conventional wisdom, high net worth individuals can benefit from owning annuities. It just has to be the right kind of annuity.
