A ‘SideCar’ Account for UK Plan Participants
NEST, Britain's public-option defined contribution plan wants to let participants people access some of their retirement money for emergencies more easily.
Two new reports analyze advisor needs and job switching
Advisors are switching firms, Fidelity says, and broker-dealers with more tech and resources are best able to attract them, according to Cerulli.
Voya creates a Chinese brand name for use in US
Although Voya has stopped issuing annuities, it continues to position itself as 'America's retirement company.'
New research on interest rates, bitcoin, etc.
Thrivent's Tanweer Akram on the effects of Fed tightening, Roger Farmer on Milton Friedman and inflation since 1979, plus research on crypto-currency and on the average age of entrepreneurs....
Social Security Started from Scratch–and That’s Its Biggest Problem
You can blame your grandparents for Social Security's looming shortfall. The ghost of their unpaid contributions still haunts us--and will for decades to come.
Allies pay for our nukes by holding US bonds, economists suggest
The countries that benefit most from American military protection are the ones who hold the biggest share of their foreign reserves in US Treasuries, which may lower our borrowing...
‘Excessive fee’ case against Yale to continue
Yale is among more than a dozen universities to be sued over the past 30 months for allegedly failing to reduce the costs of their 401(k) plans and...
Consumer debt undermines personal retirement savings: LIMRA
LIMRA finds that six in 10 American workers with non-mortgage debt say paying down debt negatively impacts their efforts to save for retirement.
Investors keeping selling US equity funds
TrimTabs says U.S. equity funds lost a net $63.3 billion in 1Q2018, the second-highest quarterly outflow on record, while global equity funds received a net $63.9 billion. ...
Alcoa transfers DB risk to Sun Life and others
Sun Life Financial, Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company, and Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. (IAFS) will begin making benefit payments to the affected plan participants by...
Another buffered index annuity, from Great American
The caps for the “growth” versions of the index strategies are 11.5% for the S&P 500, 14.0% for the SPDR Gold Shares and 20% for the iShares U.S. Real...
RIAs will continue to resist indexed annuities: Cerulli
It will be an uphill battle to convince RIAs to sell more fixed indexed annuities, given RIA’s "proven lack of adoption of variable annuities,” Cerulli said.
In UK, Prudential makes risk transfer easier for small pensions
The longevity reinsurance market for smaller pension buy-ins and buy-outs has been plagued by the administrative burden of pricing and executing contracts for many small transactions.
Weatherford announces retirement, IRI looks for new CEO
The IRI intends to interview candidates through the spring, identify finalists by mid-year, and have a new CEO employed this fall.
Fund flows turn negative in February: Morningstar
If one still had any lingering doubt about how bad last month actually was in terms of flows, one only had to look at Vanguard: almost $33 billion in...
Less debt for near-elderly households: EBRI
'Families with a near-elderly head show a pattern of stubbornly higher indebtedness than in past generations—specifically those in the 1990s,' the EBRI said.
Need for annuities is strong but interest still weak: Survey
A new CANNEX/Greenwald survey shows that about four in 10 pre-retirees expect annual income under $50k in retirement; 23% expect $50k-$75k and 16% expect $75k to $99k. Under 20%...
Hueler adds new offering to its Income Solutions platform
Plan sponsors who offer a QJSA option will be able to get qualified annuity quotes from Hueler and purchase annuities for participants in the plan.
Wink CEO Sheryl Moore comments on 2017 dip in annuity sales
'A seven-percent loss in sales is an unmanageable hurdle, given the challenges the DOL’s rule had presented,' Moore said in a news release.
Phoenix issues MYGA annuity
If contract owners can choose to keep the right to take a 10% “free withdrawal” of up to 10% of their premium, their guaranteed interest rate will be 0.25%...
