Concord Coalition blasts Trump budget proposal
'Non-defense appropriations, which make up roughly 16% of the budget, would be reduced by more than $1 trillion over 10 years. Nothing in recent experience would suggest that cuts of this...
Financial industry mobile apps don’t measure up: JD Power
JD Power studied wealth management mobile apps from 15 of the largest financial services companies and found that high net worth investors give them low grades.
Retail investors reach for income when interest rates fall
A one percentage point drop in the federal funds rate is associated, over the following three years, with a five percent increase in the inflows to stock mutual funds...
Honorable Mention
Prudential promotes “sidecar” savings plan for emergencies; Student loan payments are eligible for partial match in Travelers 401(k) plan; Athene attributes losses to adverse interest rate, equity market conditions.
Surrender rates on some FIAs tick higher
While interest rate hikes tend to drive surrenders from fixed indexed annuity contracts, surrenders decline when a contract's lifetime income benefits are 'in the money,' studies by Ruark Consulting...
Investors fond of bonds so far in 2019
'Retail investors remain skeptical of the ferocious stock market rally early this year,' said David Santschi, director of liquidity research for TrimTabs. 'While bond mutual funds are drawing big...
Assets are concentrated among ‘mega’ advisors
“As advisors think more holistically about the nonfinancial, intangible impact they can have on their clients, mega teams well positioned to compete in this experience-centric model,” said...
Envestnet Insurance Exchange aims for June 2019 launch
The Exchange will give advisors access to variable, structured, fixed, and indexed annuities from Allianz Life, Brighthouse Financial, Global Atlantic Financial Group, Jackson National Life Insurance Company, Nationwide, and...
Honorable Mention
Nick Lane becomes president of AXA Equitable Life; MassMutual reports record revenues for 2018; 'Alexa, What's my Principal Flash Briefing?'; eMoney launches Foundational Planning; Ricki Ingalls joins Retirement Clearinghouse.
Record sales for indexed annuities in 2018
For 2018, fixed indexed annuity sales rose 27% to $69.6 billion, compared with 2017. This exceeded the previous annual fixed indexed annuity sales record by $10 billion, according to...
Public pensions suffer in 4Q2018
'For plans in which benefits paid out exceed contributions coming in, (fourth quarter losses are) difficult news, as investment returns are critical to slow the outflow of funding,' a...
Allianz Life and AIG report 2018 results
Allianz Life's fixed indexed annuity (FIA) sales reached $9.2 billion, up 23% over the previous year. AIG's Individual Retirement unit reported $1.68 billion in adjusted pre-tax profit in 2018,...
Ireland to auto-enroll workers into retirement plans
Ireland's plan also calls for auto-escalation. By 2028, the total contribution for each member would be 12% of salary a year. The government will add 2%, for a total...
Risk-sharing brings higher early payouts in Lincoln’s new VA income option
Lincoln IRA Income Plus living benefit gives the contract owner a payout rate of up to seven percent at age 70 with the caveat that the rate will drop...
Why People Should Work Longer, but Don’t
New research from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and the National Bureau of Economic Research looks at the economic and situational factors that affect individual decisions...
Honorable Mention
Murphy succeeds Reynolds at Great-West, Investors flock to emerging market ETFs: TrimTabs, AIG garners DALBAR awards.
DPL Financial to distribute Jackson National no-commission annuities
'Consumers like the fee-based model, but we’re also committed to the brokerage side," said Jackson National's Scott Romine. 'We just want to make sure that we’re in both places.'
Quarterly reports from four annuity issuers
Brighthouse, American Equity, Prudential and Lincoln offer fourth quarter and full-year 2018 earnings reports, including individual annuity and retirement plan results.
Unsure how much to commit to Roth or traditional accounts? This rule might help.
'Higher-income investors have greater exposures to tax-schedule uncertainty, which can be managed using post-tax Roth options,' says a new paper from the Journal of Financial Economics.
Honorable Mention
Sweeping bipartisan retirement bill reintroduced; OneAmerica and Broadridge create Collective Investment Trust data resource; Empower launches Snapchat and Instagram campaigns; Equity funds rebound in January: TrimTabs; Oregon auto-IRA program...
