Reinsurance once again available to VA issuers: Fitch
But “it is unclear how much of an impact this will have on the risk profile of VA writers,” a Fitch release said.
Investors rotate from growth to value; REITs outperformed the S&P
“Fund flows have shifted dramatically beneath the market’s calm surface,” said TrimTabs CEO David Santschi, in a release. 'Investors showed an overwhelming preference for value over growth.”
Retirement Clearinghouse to help find missing participants
An estimated 9.5 million defined contribution plan participants change jobs each year, and many leave their accounts behind in former employers' retirement plans.
One source of rising inequality: Power couples
Some researchers believe that the rise of professional couples with two high-powered salaries as a result of 'positive assortative matching" has helped fuel the wealth-concentration that pundits so often...
Rollover IRA contributions reached $321.3 billion in 2012: Cerulli
In a new report, Cerulli examines the size and segmentation of public and private U.S. retirement markets, including defined benefit (DB), DC, and IRA. The report is the eleventh...
Initial funding granted for Connecticut’s public IRA plan
'The Board, chaired by the State Treasurer and State Comptroller, is expected to report back to the General Assembly their findings and a plan for implementation by 2016,' said...
Detroit municipal retirees to take 4.5% pension cut
Retirees were also promised a “meaningful voice” in governance of the planned General Retirement System and of a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) that is to be established.
The “income message” isn’t getting through: EBRI/MetLife survey
In a survey, the provision of income projections to 401(k) participants was not enough of a "nudge" to motivate many workers to contribute more to their accounts--perhaps because many...
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Prudential Financial, Jefferson National, and T. Rowe Price.
Correction
Our story two weeks ago about Nationwide's New Heights fixed indexed annuity contained an error in the explanation of the crediting method.
In 2013, Jackson National Broke Sales Records; VA Industry Broke Even
Lincoln, SunAmerica, and Aegon notched 36.9%, 39.3%, and 59.3% sales gains in 2013, respectively, according to Morningstar's quarterly Variable Annuity Sales and Assets Survey. Prudential and MetLife ended...
Prudential adds an accumulation VA
The new Premier Investment VA contract will be offered in B-shares and no-surrender-period C shares, with insurance charges of 110 and 135 basis points, respectively. Contract owners can choose...
New issue of The Journal of Retirement appears
The Journal of Retirement, the year-old academic quarterly produced by Institutional Investor Journals, underwritten by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and edited by George A. (Sandy) Mackenzie, announced the...
New York Life paid out more than $1 billion to SPIA owners in 2013
The average monthly payout was $682, or about half the average monthly Social Security benefit of $1,294, the company said in a release.
Quote of the Week
"When the rate of return on capital significantly exceeds the growth rate of the economy (as it did through much of history until the 19th century and as is...
AIG and nine IMOs launch income-oriented FIA
The "Power Select Plus Income" fixed indexed annuity's income rider allows contract owners to receive roll-up credits even if they take withdrawals during the deferral period. The initiative is...
Symetra doubles its YOY sales of deferred and immediate annuities in 1Q2014
Higher interest rates and wider distribution of Symetra Financial's annuity products through banks and broker-dealers helped improve sales of fixed index and traditional fixed annuities, the company said in...
Only 6% of DC plan participants contribute the max: GAO
An update of a GAO report shows that few retirement plan participants defer as much salary as they can, and that higher limits on contributions in recent years have...
Growth of Fidelity’s ETF partnership with BlackRock described
The BlackRock Diversified Income Portfolio is an ETF managed account that will be available to all eligible retail investors through Fidelity’s managed accounts service beginning May 1.
Vanguard answers RIJ questions about HFT
For answers to our questions about the impact of high-frequency trading, we turned to Vanguard. The no-load index fund specialist seems to think HTF does more good than harm....
