Fred Reish et al comment on DOL proposal’s impact
Attorneys at the Drinker Biddle law firm note that, under the proposal, commissioned sales of variable annuities to IRA owners would be held to a higher standard of conduct...
Participants still not focused on income: Cerulli
Cerulli also asked asset managers, broker-dealers and insurance companies what income product they thought will appeal most to plan sponsors. Forty-one percent said “asset management-only” products.
Financial Engines, Betterment will leverage new Social Security data
At the White House Conference on Aging this week, the Social Security Administration announced that it would make benefit information available through transferable data files for use in robo-advice...
AXA’s UK pension fund uses longevity swap
Insurers will be subject to additional capital requirements when Solvency II kicks in later this year, requiring companies to shore up longevity within their books and their own pension...
Conversions of pensions to lump sum payments are banned
“If a participant has the ability to accelerate distributions at any time, then the actuarial cost associated with that acceleration right would result in smaller initial benefits," the IRS...
Northwestern Mutual offers dividend-paying QLAC
Northwestern Mutual’s actuaries have reproduced some of the attractive features of the variable-annuity-with-guaranteed-lifetime-withdrawal-benefit rider, but on a fixed income annuity chassis instead of a mutual fund chassis.
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from MassMutual, Prudential, BlackRock and British pension funds.
DOL proposal could “revamp” advisor business practices: Fitch
Fitch analysts suggested in a new report that the DOL proposals “could curb the willingness of agents to promote complex and higher fee products to market,”...
Offshore AUM to exceed US AUM by 2019: Cerulli
Global AUM is expected reach US$106 trillion by 2019, but “managers need to be realistic about the efforts required to win business in high-growth markets,” said a Cerulli release...
New whitepaper attacks DOL conflict-of-interest proposal
“If the rule is enacted as written,” write Jack Marrion and Kim O'Brien, “it will cause a severe disruption for many securities brokers and dealers but will be devastating...
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Cetera, Broadridge, kasina (DST), New York Life and John Hancock, Prudential Financial, Wells Fargo, Raymond James, LPL Financial and Dutch pension funds.
OneAmerica buys BMO’s U.S. retirement business
According to NAPAnet, OneAmerica serves more than 11,000 plans in the mid-sized market and has over $30 billion in retirement assets under administration.
John Hancock and LPL in participant advice pact
Launched by LPL in 2014, the Employee Advice Solution tool can deliver personalized participant advice through an online service that collects financial information about a participant.
Bank of International Settlements expresses doubts about low rates
"Unless the underlying problems are addressed head-on, short-term gain may be purchased at the price of long-term pain," warn the authors of the bank's 85th annual report on the...
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Cerulli, Broadridge, Cogent Research, Transamerica, Willis Towers Watson, and Prudential Annuities.
Public comments on DOL are now available; hearing to start August 10
A portion of the hearing will focus on the Department’s Regulatory Impact Analysis, which addresses the potential or anticipated economic effects of the proposal, and the relative merits of...
“MACS” are poised to lead an active-management comeback: Citi
Sales of bespoke funds will rebound on the wings of new three-pronged “dynamically managed multi-asset class solutions” (MACS), according to Citi’s just published 6th Annual Industry Evolution Survey.
SEC and FINRA publish study of sales to seniors at BDs
With respect to variable annuities, the SEC and FINRA said they found evidence of potentially unsuitable sales to seniors at 34% of the 44 broker-dealers they examined.
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from T. Rowe Price, PIMCO Germany, Charles Schwab, AllianceBernstein, the Retirement Income Industry Association and Fidelity.
Swiss Re’s solution for the macro-economy: Infrastructure
The global reinsurer points out that support for asset prices doesn't produce real growth, and that an aging population doesn't bode well for growth, but that developing a liquid...
