Editorial Staff, Author at Retirement Income Journal

“I know market participants really want to know exactly what’s going to happen,” Fed chair Janet Yellen said in a speech in Philadelphia this week. “There is, as I...

Published June 9, 2016

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff Wed, Jun 8, 2016

Brief or late-breaking items from E*Trade, Personal Capital, MassMutual, Northwestern Mutual, State Street Global Advisors, and Pershing/BNY Mellon.

Published June 9, 2016

To make small advisory accounts cost-efficient, Voya uses white-label technology

By Editorial Staff Thu, Jun 2, 2016

“We’ve been watching assets migrate to the mutual fund complexes and away from our broker dealer. We wanted to create a product to help capture those accounts,” Voya's Andre...

Chinese bid to acquire Fidelity & Guaranty Life delayed

Anbang withdrew its application to acquire the company with the New York State Department of Financial Services, Fidelity & Guaranty said in a filing on Tuesday with the Securities...

Indexed annuity industry sets sales record in 1Q2016: Wink

Allianz Life was the dominant carrier, with an 18.4% share of the indexed market. Its Allianz 222 Annuity was the top-selling indexed annuity for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Pension buy-out volume up 21% in first quarter

At $1.084 billion, first quarter sales exceeded $1 billion for the first time since 2008 on 68 transactions, according to the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute.

Honorable Mention

Brief or late-breaking items from Morningstar, NFP and vWise.

Published April 29, 2016

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By Editorial Staff Thu, May 26, 2016

First quarter annuity sales: Better for fixed than variable

Jackson National was again the top seller of variable annuities, Allianz Life the leader in indexed annuities and New York Life led fixed-annuity sales. But AIG issued the most...

In UK, Aegon shifts focus from annuities to web-mediated advice

In 2010, Aegon decided to start withdrawing from the UK annuity market, believing that annuities wouldn’t meet its long-term risk adjusted return requirements.

Pace of share buybacks, a plus for equity prices, slows

In a research note, TrimTabs reports that stock buyback announcements have totaled $261.5 billion this year through Thursday, May 19. This volume is down 35% from $399.4 billion in...

Former AARP brand strategist moves to Jackson National Life

Emilio Pardo will be based in Nashville, reporting to Barry Stowe, chairman and chief executive officer of Prudential plc’s North American Business Unit.

Changes to reverse mortgage rules proposed

The proposed rule will reinforce and codify recent HECM reforms that FHA has implemented in the past several years, and will also add new consumer protections.

UBS to partner with SigFig, a robo-advisor

By Editorial Staff Thu, May 19, 2016

The technology will allow the advisers to spend more time talking to clients and less time constructing investment portfolios and other activities that can be automated, said Tom Naratil,...

Despite DOL rule, A.M. Best raises outlook for indexed annuity issuer

'Positive rating actions could occur if diversifies its product offerings into more creditworthy product lines, resulting in sales growth in products other than fixed indexed annuities,' A.M. Best...

Platform plays matchmaker between fiduciary advisors and prospects

Participating NAPFA advisors can obtain onboarding services at a discounted rate. These include developing messaging for videos and shooting the videos to be included with the advisor profile, as...

Robos force advisors to step up their games: Cerulli

'Investors desire deeper online, goal-oriented resources, research, and content... but they lack the bandwidth or attention span to dedicate significant time toward their financial well-being,' according to Cerulli.

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