IRI releases its 2013 Fact Book
A wide range of readers—from insurance company executives looking for sales trends as well as individual investors trying to understand the difference between fixed and variable annuities—is likely to...
More advisors use ‘behavioral finance’ techniques: Brinker Capital
How do your clients respond to a loss? How do you help them 'stay the course' during volatile markets? These and other questions were the focus of the latest...
Vanguard issues its annual DC report: “How America Saves”
From the start of 2008 to the end of 2012, the average Vanguard DC account balance rose by cumulative 12% from market performance alone (not counting contributions), according to...
The Ultra-Easy Money Experiment
Mainstream academics and policymakers presume a structurally stable world in which probabilities can be assigned to future outcomes – ignoring uncertainty, stock accumulations, and the financial imbalances of the...
Money managers are bullish on global equities
Asked to project which asset class will perform best this year, the top choice among institutional investors was global equities (27%), followed by domestic stocks (19%) and emerging market...
Advisors’ main goal: More wealthy clients
More than 80% of advisors reported in a Curian Capital poll that they have access to adequate investment products to meet their clients’ retirement income needs.
Emerging market securities can boost a retirement portfolio: BNY Mellon
“If DC plans were constructed more similarly to DB plans, approximately 20% of the DC plan assets would be allocated to non-traditional strategies such as real assets, total emerging...
Pershing launches online ‘practice management center’ for advisors
Resources on the platform will be organized by Pershing's practice management “pillars”: Growth, Human Capital, Operational Efficiency and Managing Risk.
Is $1 Million Too Little to Retire On?
An article in the business section of yesterday's New York Times suggested that $1 million is not enough. Have we redefined retirement to mean "independently wealthy"?
Claiming SS at 62 or 70: A Comparison
If you want to retire at 62 and you want to maximize your bequest, don't claim Social Security benefits at age 62, an American College retirement professor advises. Better...
DIA-monds in a rough patch
“Deferred income annuities were a bright spot in a difficult quarter,” said Jeremy Alexander, CEO of Beacon Research. “Ongoing product development and increasing sales underscore the importance of generating...
GAO criticizes “pervasive marketing” of IRA rollovers
Posing as plan participants about to change jobs, the GAO called IRA rollover counselors at 401(k) providers to see if the recommendations were biased in favor of rollovers and...
VA Sales Lack Clear Trend
Helped by a bull market that pushed the DJIA over 15,000 for the first time, VA assets under management at the end of the first quarter 2013 reached a...
Quote of the Week
"Selfish and contentious people will not cohere, and without coherence nothing can be effected" -- Charles Darwin, Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871).
A retirement boom as far as the eye can see
“Financial services firms should be looking at the retirement market not just for the immediate opportunity offered by Boomers but preparing for the possibility of long-term, sustained growth as...
Quote of the Week
"They say there are two sides to everything. But there is only one side to the stock market; and it is not the bull side or the bear side,...
Employees still not asking about 401(k) fees: Mesirow
“The reality is that many participants need assistance through custom guidance or a more paternalistic, automated solution,” said Chris Reagan, Mesirow Financial senior managing director and practice leader.
86% of 67-year-olds are collecting Social Security: MetLife
"Half of this group may not have achieved their retirement savings goals and are not confident about paying for the next phase of their lives,” said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D.,...
Advisors want more ‘value-add’ support: Practical Perspectives
BlackRock/iShares is by far the most frequently listed provider of useful value-add support, followed by American Funds, JP Morgan, MFS, Jackson, and Fidelity.
Gradual versus Lump-Sum Annuitization: The Jury is Still Out
A study by a unit of Fidelity Investments showed that it is premature to recommend a gradual, fixed percentage-of-assets monthly annuity purchase as an option in retirement plans, because...
