New caps on AllianzIM Buffered Outcome ETFs; Investors Heritage Life offers climate-friendly index on new FIA; AccuMax is launched by Athene.
Honorable Mention
Edward Jones pays $34 million to settle suit by minority advisors; J.P. Morgan to diversify advisor hiring by 2025; HUB launches bundled retirement plan for small to mid-sized employers;...
VAs suffer record outflows, but enjoy record assets
As Morningstar's quarterly VA sales report for 4Q2020 shows, the VA business is complicated, with record-high sales of index-linked VAs, record-high VA assets on the books, but record...
Honorable Mention
Canadian firm buys Ohio National for $1 billion; Net income of life/annuity industry fell almost 50% in 2020; New index annuity income rider from AIG; SIMON adds First Trust...
At the Supreme Court, a stress test of ‘best interest’ promises
'To protect its sterling image, and its share price, Goldman made false statements that it always acted in its clients’ best interest and carefully managed its conflicts,' said...
Millennials lead in ETF adoption: Schwab
Millennials estimate that in five years, 43% of their portfolios will be in ETFs, compared to 39% for Gen X and 29% for Boomers, according to the tenth edition...
Where investors put their money in February: Morningstar
ETFs collected roughly $92 billion, driven by a move into passive equity funds, while open-end mutual funds took in $53 billion, led by flows into actively managed fixed-income strategies,...
Honorable Mention
Retirement assets total $34.9 trillion in 4Q2020: ICI; Jasmine Jirele succeeds Walter White as CEO of Allianz Life; NY Life reports 2020 annuity sales of $13.7 billion; Several C-level...
New products bulletin
Nationwide and Annexus partner on income-generating FIA; Equitable extends RILA feature to variable annuity; Securian offers new IOVA.
Honorable Mention
Biden DOL won't enforce Trump's anti-ESG rule; PEP rally: TAG Advisors launches Pooled Employer Plan; Net income for life/annuity industry fell 55% in first three-quarters of 2020: AM Best;...
Reaching HNW clients in the pandemic era: Cerulli
'Many asset managers have shifted to a channel-agnostic approach distribution model from a channel-specific model,' said Cerulli analyst Asher Cheses.
How the pandemic affected indexed annuity owner behavior
'Given record low interest rates, and disruptions to sales channels, there was no way to know whether past patterns would continue. We’re intrigued by how some changed—and others didn’t,'...
Comfort with CITs has grown: Cerulli
Driven by plan sponsors’ pursuit of lower-cost alternatives, CITs have captured marketshare from mutual funds, says the latest issue of The Cerulli Edge--US Monthly Product Trends report.
Big 4Q rally for US pension risk transfer deals: LIMRA SRI
'Fourth quarter 2020 buy-out sales continue this trend and represented the highest quarterly sales total recorded since fourth quarter 2012,' said Mark Paracer of SRI.
Honorable Mention
SEC suspends trading of securities hyped in social media; Mutual of Omaha aims to get ‘Retirement Right’; Americans feel more financial damage from pandemic than in 2008: Allianz Life;...
‘COVID-19 is not a retirement story’: CRR
'A hot topic these days is how COVID-19 and the ensuing recession have affected retirement. The surprising answer may be: Not very much,' write Alicia Munnell and Anqi Chen...
Meet Laurence Black, Interpreter of Indexes
There's a confusing profusion of new indexes behind ETFs and annuities. Laurence Black of The Index Standard says he can make sense of them. Watch as Tamiko Toland of...
Honorable Mention
Pacific Life offers an investment-only VA; Wells Fargo will sell its asset management business; Philips, MetLife and Principal Financial seal $1.2 bn pension risk transfer deal; Security Benefit receives...
Honorable Mention
Women are skeptical of advisers: Cerulli; Equitable announces $1 billion share buyback.