Why 401(k) Plan Sponsors Remain Wary of Annuities
The SECURE Act of 2019 did too little, too soon, in opening up 401(k) plans to all kinds of annuities. Some big 401(k) plans are ready to offer in-plan...
‘If you’re not talking about it, you’re not winning’
'The topic of retirement income is a relevant discussion for J.P. Morgan to have, even if it doesn’t turn out to be a big asset gatherer for them,' said...
J.P. Morgan Asset Mgt Joins the 401(k) Annuity Race
To educate participants, JPMAM's ‘My Retirement Income Planner,' an online tool for 401(k) participants, will help them decide whether to cover 25% of their plan savings with an...
British regulators scrutinize ‘FundedRe’ in pension deals
The Prudential Regulatory Authority, the Bank of England's financial regulatory arm, told UK life insurers in late July that it has concerns about the use of 'funded reinsurance' (FundedRe)...
RIJ Launches the 401(k) Income Research Center
RIJ intends to give plan sponsors, plan advisors, retirement plan service providers and others an up-to-date, easy-to-access source of curated information and competitive intelligence on products and processes that...
Recurring Idea: Give the ‘Tax Expenditure’ to the Poor
The Penn Wharton Budget Model, a group that assesses new spending programs, calculates that, if the US Treasury eliminated the tax deduction for contributions to retirement plans, it could...
Should Participants Get Lifetime Income By ‘Default’?
The ERISA Advisory Council heard testimony on whether to tweak the rules for Qualified Default Investment Alternatives to accommodate—or exclude—annuities. Advisors to 401(k) plans should read this.
What Recordkeepers Think about 401(k) Annuities
The Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), a Washington, DC-based trade group, recently conducted a survey of recordkeepers to measure their progress toward facilitating income options in 401(k) plans.
DOL Lets Pension Risk Transfer Rules Stand – For Now
But the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration still has concerns about 'insurers’ ownership structures; exposure to risky assets... and use of affiliated and offshore reinsurance.'
The Bermuda Triangle’s 1980s Roots
There are clear similarities between the business scheme that brought down Executive Life Insurance Co. in 1991 and the 'Bermuda Triangle' strategy that many US life/annuity companies use.
An In-Plan Annuity with Three Life Insurers
Asset manager AllianceBernstein and three life insurers—Jackson National, Lincoln National, and Nationwide—are offering their Secure Income Portfolio deferred variable annuity (with income rider) to plan sponsors as a retirement...
A Plan Sponsor’s Guide to In-Plan Annuities
Broadridge, Cannex, The Index Standard, Micruity, and ERISA attorney Fred Reish have co-produced a 39-page guide designed to help 401(k) plan sponsors choose a retirement income tool for their...
Double Trouble in the Bermuda Triangle
What can go wrong with the Bermuda Triangle strategy, with its closely affiliated annuity issuers, reinsurers and asset managers? PHL Variable Insurance, a former unit of Nassau Financial, is...
BlackRock relaunches its “LifePath Paycheck” retirement income tool
'DCIO' asset managers like BlackRock must find ways to retain participant assets post-retirement and enrich the value of their target date funds. They must also make themselves relevant to...
The DOL Should Challenge the Fifth Circuit’s Opinion
When insurance agents encourage IRA owners or rollover candidates to buy fixed indexed annuities, are they like EMTs, who save lives without having to be MDs or carry malpractice...
For Ibexis Life, Cayman Outshines Bermuda
This Missouri-domiciled life insurer epitomizes the asset-manager-driven life/annuity companies that have been disrupting the U.S. life/annuity business since 2010 or so. In its first year selling fixed indexed annuities,...
A ‘Nesting Doll’ of an In-Plan Annuity
ARS, State Street Global Advisors, Nationwide, Athene, Transamerica and Global Trust Company have brought to market the State Street GTC Retirement Income Builder, a target date fund with a...
Here Come the Suits
Close observers of the 'Bermuda Triangle' strategy weren't surprised when class action lawsuits were filed against AT&T, State Street Global Advisors and Lockheed Market for their choice of Athene...
Life Insurers as LEGO Monsters
Michael Gordon, CEO of Axonic Insurance, part of Axonic Capital, sees the future of the life/annuity/asset-management business as an increasingly a la carte affair, where the components of the...
Meet the Newest Platform in the 401(k) Annuity Space
'We’re a product design firm,' ALEXIncome co-founder E. Graham Clark told RIJ. 'We feel we’ve built the best process for integrating annuities into retirement accounts.'
