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...
IPO reflects ongoing shift at Jackson National
'Jackson’s fixed indexed annuity sales jumped 1,293% in 2019, while their fixed-rate deferred annuity sales climbed 169%,' said the Secure Retirement Institute this week. (Photo: Jackson CEO Michael Falcon)
How Annuity Owners Behave in a Storm
A new report from actuaries at Ruark Consulting considers how factors like 'moneyness,' crediting rates, adverse selection, and the heightened vulnerability of seniors to COVID-19 might affect the way...
Shocks loom for U.S. life insurers, annuity issuers: A.M. Best
The ratings agency identified three big headwinds facing the life/annuity industry, but also identified some strengths.
IPO Signals Strategic Shift at Jackson National
Jackson's UK parent, Prudential plc, seeks an equity capital infusion--to fuel its diversified growth strategy and to mollify mega-shareholder Dan Loeb.
Vanguard reboots a managed income fund
Instead of monthly payments, the Vanguard Managed Allocation Fund will aim for annual payments. A highly diversified fund-of-funds, it will have a 0.32% expense ratio.
Bonuses enhance yield in Allianz Life’s new indexed annuity
Low interest rates send players in different niches of the retirement business in different directions toward different solutions for different types of customers. Here's how the leading FIA issuer...
“Buffered” ETFs for sensitive stomachs
Like registered index-linked annuities (aka structured annuities), Innovator's Defined Outcome ETFs use options to generate a customized range of returns based on the movement of an equity index.
Lifetime income withdrawals from FIAs up 39%: Ruark
'Lifetime income commencement increases sharply when policies are in the money, that is, when the benefit base exceeds the account value,' writes Tim Paris, CEO of Ruark Consulting.
