Eaton Vance gets SEC approval for ‘managed ETFs’
The SEC has just approved a request to list and trade exchange-traded managed funds on NASDAQ, and has issued a notice of intent to grant exemptive relief to permit...
Annuity owners are more confident: LIMRA
Among households with more than $1 million in assets, 44% percent of annuity owners say they are “very confident” of a secure retirement compared to 35% of non-annuity owners,...
Banks Earn Record First-Half Annuity Income
Second-quarter 2014 annuity commissions reached $916.8 million, the second-highest quarterly mark on record, according to the Michael White Bank Annuity Fee Income Report.
American Funds, Vanguard popular among DC asset managers
A new Cogent Report evaluates the competitive positions of 47 leading DC investment managers on a variety of metrics, including identifying those that plan sponsor advisors have recently started...
Symetra adds enhanced death benefit to Edge Pro FIA
The new rider is “designed to provide beneficiaries with a potentially larger death benefit than they would otherwise receive from an annuity contract,” said a Symetra release.
Life insurers grasp for yield, with mixed success: Conning
A new Conning study, “Life Insurance Industry Investments: Added Risk in 2013,” analyzes life industry investments for the period 2009-2013.
MassMutual settles part of excessive fee lawsuit for $9.5 million
MassMutual has settled its lawsuit with Goldenstar retirement plan participants, which accused the retirement plan provider of violating its fiduciary responsibilities when it received revenue-sharing payments from asset managers...
“Neuromarketing” research can improve participant communications
“Rather than warn how important saving for a pension is, we should emphasize how people who save can enjoy their pension later on," said Joyce Vonken, a marketing intelligence...
Fall Issue of The Journal of Retirement Appears
Here's a list of the eight articles in the current issue, along with abstracts of their content. The featured authors include Moshe Milevsky of York University and CANNEX, David...
All skewed up: Most IRA owners hold extreme asset allocations
IRA owners with the largest account balances had the lowest exposure to equities (in equity funds and balanced funds) in 2012, according to a study by the Employee Benefit...
A 23.8-year average retirement for female DB pensioners: SoA
Among males age 65, overall longevity rose 2.0 years from age 84.6 in 2000 to age 86.6 in 2014. For women age 65, overall longevity rose 2.4 years from...
LIMRA links undersaving by Boomers to spending on family cellphone plans
“Parents of Millennials, even those over the age of 22, are providing considerable support to their children at a time in their lives when saving from retirement should be...
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Retirement Clearinghouse, Allianz Life, Prudential Financial and Symetra.
UK keeps pressing for lower retirement plan fees
“Gone are the days when a government will allow a government-approved product to charge 1.5% for 10 years,” said Steve Webb, member of parliament, at the UK National Association...
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan LLP, Prudential, Fidelity, Envestnet, U.S. Bancorp and Athene.
Voya CEO to run firm’s Retirement Solutions group
"We believe we can achieve our 2016 Ongoing Business operating ROE target of 12-13%, as well as our Ongoing Business operating ROC target of 10-11%," Rodney O. Martin Jr....
New York Life’s DIA surpasses total premiums of $2 billion
The current payout rate for a 60 year old male who defers for 10 years is about 12%, so that a $100,000 premium would provide a 60 year old...
A one-person defined benefit plan? Who knew?
Personal DB plans are a potential alternative for physicians, sole practitioners, small businesses and small companies with only a few employees, according to the CEO of a company in...
Wells Fargo to distribute Allianz Life’s ‘Essential Income 7’ FIA
"Essential Income 7 can earn indexed interest through the S&P 500 and Barclays US Dynamic Balance Index allocations. Indexed interest is credited by an annual point-to-point with a cap...
MassMutual relaunches small company 401(k) package
Aviator was initially available through The Hartford’s Retirement Service Group before MassMutual purchased it in 2013, Aviator is being reintroduced with several enhancements, including a new line up...
