Honorable Mention
At AIG, Solash and Scheinerman move up as Greer retires; Beth Wood named to top marketing role at Principal; Barnabas Capital to distribute Great American annuities; Prudential explains its...
Hazards may lie ahead for life/annuity industry: AM Best
'Life iinsurers have steadily increased their allocations to Class 2 bonds, with BBB rated bonds having the highest exposure. Allocations to collateralized loan obligations and holdings in mortgage and...
Hueler income annuity platform now open to all
Income Solutions, the income annuity purchasing platform formerly reachable primarily through Vanguard, is now operating under its own brand. Its auction-style way of researching and buying income annuities is...
Honorable Mention
RIJ returns from vacation with July 11 issue; Jackson feeds demand for MYGAs; Changes in AXA Equitable’s top VA and IVA announced; What comes first: wellness or a corporate...
Wide but shallow: the impact of auto-enrollment in the UK
In British defined contribution plans, employer and employee contributions average a total of only 5.1% of salary per participant. By contrast, defined benefit (DB) plan members receive contributions totaling...
Honorable Mention
Former Wells Fargo managers take posts at Principal; Frank ‘Chip’ Gillis, Athene Holding’s co-founder, will retire at year-end; Vanguard outsources variable annuity administration to Transamerica.
AIG and CUNA Mutual enhance variable annuities
AIG's Polaris Income Plus Daily Flex and Polaris Income Plus Flex riders will have higher lifetime income rates. CUNA Mutual's Horizon II will have variable and indexed-variable investment...
Honorable Mention
Wink to provide insured product sales data by index; Participants are new to (and naïve about) investing: Schwab; iPipeline partners with Atidot, a data mining firm; Fidelity and asset...
Annuities Need More Positive ‘Positioning’
'Consumer sentiment about annuities also appears to fluctuate based on the prevailing market environment,' according to a new study from CANNEX and Greenwald & Associates.
Integrity Life issues flexible-premium longevity annuity
A 25-year-old who purchased this contract today with a single payment of $10,000 could expect a lifetime income of $2,377 a year for life starting at age 65, according...
SEC Sides with the Brokers
Although there will be no higher standard of conduct for advice on tax-deferred retirement accounts—the essence of the Obama DOL fiduciary rule—the new 'Regulation Best Interest' will apply to...
Variable annuity client behavior revealed in Ruark survey
'On a nominal basis 81% of GLWB exposure is in-the-money, whereas on an actuarial basis only 11% is in-the-money,' writes Ruark CEO Timothy Paris. (It's complicated.)
Protective pays $1.2bn for Great-West’s individual life and annuity business
'This is the fourth acquisition completed since Protective became part of Dai-ichi in 2015. Dai-ichi considers Protective to be its North American growth platform and continues to aim for...
Honorable Mention
Bank of America offers new hybrid advice model; Fidelity adds 150 new ETFs to its no-load ETF supermarket; Pacific Life taps Salesforce for CRM services; RetireUp can now model...
U.S. life/annuity insurers see higher net income in 1Q2019
Net income in the first quarter of 2019 rose sharply over the prior-year period, to $14.9 billion from $3.2 billion, due mainly to a significant decline in total expenses,...
Auto-enrollees don’t ‘borrow to save,’ researchers say
In a departure from their preliminary findings of three years ago, economists found that middle-income government workers didn't increase their debt levels after being auto-enrolled in the Thrift Savings...
Flash: House passes major retirement bill
The Secure Act (H.R. 1994), which provides for "open multiple employer plans" and reduced liability for employers who want to add annuities to their retirement plans, passed by a...
Allianz Life enhances popular FIA contracts
New benefits for people with disabilities, a two-year crediting option, and a new lock-in feature have been added to the best-selling Allianz 222, the Minneapolis-based insurer announced.
Sales of Bonds and Fixed Annuities Soar
'The uptick in fixed annuity sales was bolstered by recent volatile equity markets, which had investors seeking solutions with guarantees,' said Todd Giesing, annuity research director, LIMRA SRI.
AIG enhances index annuities
The enhanced Power Series also offers the Russell 2000, a U.S. small-cap stock index, and the MSCI EAFE, an international stock index, in addition to the existing S&P 500,...
