Honorable Mention
SEC commissioners disagree over ‘finders’ exemption; New clients bring $148 billion to Fidelity in 2020; COVID-19 impact on long-term care insurance documented; Rate drought, bull market buffet private pensions:...
Capitalize, a new fintech firm, wants to expedite rollovers
The firm’s platform, according to the release, helps 'Americans easily locate and roll over their legacy 401k accounts… instantly locates former 401k accounts, matches users to individual retirement...
Another asset manager enters the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ fixed annuity business
'Aspida’s three-pronged strategy includes executing new reinsurance contracts, pursuing opportunistic acquisitions of insurance companies and issuing new annuity and life insurance products,' an Ares Asset Management release said.
Honorable Mention
AllianzIM adds two new 'buffered ETFs'; ESG funds, now a political football, haven’t been intercepted; FIDx and Halo partner on annuity/structured product service for advisors; Schwab-TD Ameritrade integration to...
Honorable Mention
Mercer enhances U.S. Pension Buyout Index; CUNA offers new MYGA fixed annuity, ‘MaxProtect’; WINK unveils sales data portal.
Low uptake of HSAs still a mystery: Cerulli
A slight majority of 401(k) participants with >$2 million in investable assets use their health savings accounts (HSAs) for retirement savings, but only one-third of respondents with $500,000 to...
Webinar: FIAs for RIAs
Open this article to view a Youtube video of our webinar last week. RIJ editor and publisher Kerry Pechter interviewed David Lau, CEO of DPL Financial Partners about Lau's...
Who Rules the Top 1%?
Private businesses and partnerships lead most often to the top wealth brackets in the U.S., new research shows. In this edition of Research Roundup, we bring you summaries of...
Honorable Mention
New A-CAP 10-year FIA linked to Credit Suisse Momentum Index; PlanGap Annuity insures against Social Security failure; 80% of older Americans need financial advice: The American College; ‘Mercer Wise...
Private-equity firms will keep buying life insurers: Cerulli
'A takeover of general account assets by a PE firm gives the insurer, in effect, an affiliated PE manager and the fee advantages typically seen in co-investing scenarios,' a...
Honorable Mention
Retirement Income Journal takes a break; Explaining the stock market/real economy disconnect; MetLife Investment Management originates $6.2 billion in private placements; Jackson National creates insurance portal for ‘iRIAs’; DPL...
Annuity sales hurt by low interest rate policy: Wink Inc.
'MYGA sales increased double-digits, while indexed annuity sales declined by double digits. This is a new trend,' said Sheryl Moore, CEO of Wink Inc., the...
Low interest rates shock sales of most annuities
Of major product lines, only registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) saw growth in 2Q2020. RILA sales were $4.5 billion in the second quarter, up 8% from 2Q2019, according to LIMRA...
Honorable Mention
U.S. equity funds on pace for record outflows: Morningstar; Insurers remain vulnerable to bond downgrades: AM Best; 'Schwab Plan' web-based planning tool unveiled; Fidelity retirement accounts keep growing; Prudential...
Jackson National Life to go independent
Jackson National experienced a loss of more than $2 billion on its interest rate hedges this year, partly due to the drop in rates and equity prices last March.
Honorable Mention
Innovator launches ladder of buffered ETFs; Principal continues to integrate acquired Wells Fargo plans; Employees and employers see HSAs differently: Further; Variable annuities can shine in times like these:...
Markets ‘unnervingly detached from economics’: CFAs
'CFAs “are particularly interested in full transparency on whether any affiliate of Congress or executive branch received funding,' said a CFA Institute release.
COVID-19 Will Cause a Drop in AUM: Cerulli
'Around the world, investments into private markets slowed in the first half of 2020, with only US$433.7 billion of capital raised,' said an analyst at the global analytics and...
Low rates are ‘key obstacle’ for U.S. life/annuity firms: AM Best
Life insurers have exited, re-priced or de-emphasized their most interest rate-sensitive business lines, including individual and group annuities, the ratings firm said in a new report.
Virus and low-rates cut deep into Q2 annuity sales: LIMRA SRI
'We believe investors will hold off purchasing income annuity products, hoping interest rates rebound over the next 6–12 months,' said Todd Giesing, senior annuity researcher at LIMRA SRI.
