Editorial Staff, Author at Retirement Income Journal

Published June 26, 2014

Brief or late-breaking items from TrimTabs, E*Trade, Transamerica, Fidelity, Guardian Life, and LPL Financial.

Merrill Lynch overcharged 41,000 small business retirement plans: FINRA

By Editorial Staff Fri, Jun 20, 2014

Merrill Lynch learned in 2006 that its small business retirement plan customers were overpaying, but continued to sell them more costly shares and failed to report the issue to...

Social Security a “screamingly good” deal: Financial Engines

Yet, ironically, there’s little evidence that a majority in Congress would be amenable to the higher payroll taxes that will probably be needed to make those generous, inflation-indexed Social...

Limit participants to three loans: TIAA-CREF

Paying off debt was cited as the top reason for borrowing from retirement plan savings (46%), yet only 26% of respondents said that paying off debt justified a loan.

Connecticut funds the creation of a public IRA by 2016

The Connecticut Retirement Security Board will be expected to report their findings and a plan for implementation to the General Assembly by April 1, 2016.

The Bucket

Brief or late-breaking news items from NFP Advisor Services, Prudential Financial, Northwestern Mutual, Guggenheim Securities, Allianz Life, Barclays, MetLife and Zillner.

With ‘Daily+4,’ Forethought VA gets creative

By Editorial Staff Thu, Jun 12, 2014

With the Daily +4, each day that the contract value reaches a new high, the withdrawal base steps up to capture the new value. At the end of the...

VAs’ negative cash flow exceeds $1 billion in 1Q2014

With sales of $6.4 billion, up from $5.5 billion in 4Q2013, Jackson National was the only major VA issuer whose sales grew in the first quarter, according to Morningstar.

Total U.S. Annuity Sales Up 13% YOY: IRI

The year-over-year sales growth was supported by continued high levels of fixed annuity sales, which totaled $22.6 billion during the first quarter, according to Beacon Research.

Vanguard issues “How America Saves 2014”

By Editorial Staff Wed, Jun 11, 2014

In the 13th edition of its annual statistical report, the defined contribution full-service plan provider shares information on $600 billion in over 3.5 million accounts at more than 3,000...

The Bucket

Brief or late-breaking items from Prudential Financial, MetLife, AIG, Plumvo and Securian.

British pension industry wary of “collective” DC

By Editorial Staff Thu, Jun 5, 2014

The UK's retirement system is a work in progress. With private DB plans expected to vanish in 2016, the government is promoting Danish-style DB/DC hybrids (not US.-style DC) as...

Voya hires Milliman to hedge its closed VA block

In 2010, Voya Financial stopped actively writing new retail variable annuity products with substantial guarantee features and separated its closed block of VA business from its ongoing businesses, according...

Morningstar buys HelloWallet, bolsters participant advice business

HelloWallet allows plan participants to create dashboards on their computers or smartphones where they can monitor all of their financial information in one place.

Hungry for rollover data? This pricey report might help

“Retirement is a significant lifestyle change and it may take many individuals extra time to come to a decision, especially if a spouse is still working," write the authors...

Performance of life insurer stocks cools in 2014: A.M. Best

Repurchase activity doubled in the first quarter of 2014. Life/annuity companies spent $2 billion repurchasing their shares, with Aflac ($405 million), Prudential ($250 million) and Voya ($250 million) accounting...

Ten ‘emerging developments’ in FIAs: Oliver Wyman

Several charts in Oliver Wyman's brief but informative new report on fixed indexed annuities provide useful overviews and snapshots of the evolving FIA market and the companies that populate...