One bright spot in first quarter annuity sales
Whatever you call them, indexed variable annuities continue to experience a growth spurt. Jackson National led the industry with almost $5 billion in first-quarter annuity sales.
Prudential (finally) joins structured variable annuity race
Prudential offers FlexGuard, its first entry into the 10-year-old indexed VA market. The contract offers a new twist on the 'step rate' crediting strategy. Also this week, AIG added...
Honorable Mention
DPL Financial Partners will distribute no-commission VA from Transamerica; NextCapital to provide 'managed advice' to MassMutual plan participants; Great American enhances its Index Frontier contracts; Equitable enhances its flagship...
Public pensions are not a drag: Study
Economic growth attributable to public pensions generated approximately $341.4 billion in state and local revenues. Adjusting this figure for taxpayer contribution $162 billion yields pensions’ net positive impact of...
New index options on Allianz Life indexed variable annuity offer high three-year caps
The three-year crediting rate limits are 75% and 80%, respectively, according to a May 4 product rate sheet on the Allianz Index Advantage product. The current rates expire June...
What it means when ETFs deviate from NAVs: Cerulli
'Advisors purchasing a mutual fund as a long-term holding may be overpaying and would be better served in an ETF. Investors who do not need intra-day liquidity but may...
Advisers feel confidence and caution, survey shows
While most advisers say that social-distancing hasn't hampered their ability to serve clients, 'they acknowledge a negative impact on revenues and profitability,' according to a new report from Practical...
Companies with Resistance to COVID-19
The equity crash in March was a living experiment that allowed investigators to see precisely which of a company's characteristics help or hurt its share price during a big...
Honorable Mention
Money market funds win, alternatives lose in Q1 2020: Cerulli; Average tax-deferred retirement balance down 19% in Q1 2020: Fidelity; Lincoln Financial waives retirement plan withdrawal, loan fees; Kevin...
Honorable Mention
Survey: How retirement plan sponsors and providers are coping (SPARK and DCIIA); RetireOne and Halo partner to distribute annuities and structured notes to fee-based advisers online; Social Security funding...
How $240 billion in new COVID-19 money will be spent
The money will fund health care operations, research and development of coronavirus tests and treatments, and guarantees for emergency lending to small business.
Fed easing clobbers fixed annuities
But sales of registered index-linked annuities (RILAs, aka 'structured variable annuities') posted a record high. RILAs offer more upside potential but less downside protection than fixed indexed annuities.
News from RIJ Corporate Subscribers
Public pensions shed $419 billion in Q1: Milliman; SEC awards over $27 million to whistleblower; Silvur: A new app from Kindur, a robo-adviser; Retirement isn’t what most pre-retirees expect:...
Insurance companies impacted by equity slide: AM Best
'These losses contributed to capital and surplus declines of 11.9% for property/casualty insurers, 5.6% for life/annuity writers and 7.8% for health insurers,' the ratings agency said.
News from RIJ subscriber firms
News from Milliman, AM Best, DPL Financial Partners, Great American Life, Allianz Life, MassMutual, Principal Financial, and Envestnet | MoneyGuide.
Industry News
Jackson National to offer LifeYield software to advisers; Public companies need to be transparent about COVID-19 impact; AM Best sets up coronavirus web page; Americans are worried but calm:...
FYI: Legal alerts from the Wagner Law Group
This post reprints the contents of three recent alerts for employers on labor law/retirement provisions of recent federal legislation pertaining to the COVID-19 crisis, provided by attorneys at...
Investors flee to bonds: Morningstar
'As evidence of investors' lack of enthusiasm for U.S. equities, a record $27.8 billion flowed out of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF,' the fund research firm reported.
Dividend futures signal long slowdown: U. of Chicago
'As of March 18, our forecast of annual growth in dividends is down 28% in the US and 25% in the EU, and our forecast of GDP growth is...
For annuities, 2019 was great. 2020 is TBD
Sales of annuities were stellar in calendar 2019--except in 4Q, as WinkIntel and Secure Retirement Institute report. With interest rates ultra-low and investor anxiety high, 2020 sales could go...
