Searching for an Oasis
This roundup of investment flow reports from Beacon Research, Strategic Insight, Morningstar and the Insured Retirement Institute suggests that investors are looking for shelter from an economic sandstorm in...
What’s Good for General Motors…
A month after Ford’s pension buyout offer, GM is offering some salaried retirees a choice of a lump sum buyout or lifetime income from Prudential. Both automakers took advantage...
No Fluke: Income Annuity Sales are for Real
Sales of income annuities may soon breach the $10 billion-a-year barrier. We talked to the Numbers 2 through 5 SPIA sellers in the U.S.: MetLife, MassMutual, Pacific Life (whose...
Annuicide Prevention Tool
By establishing a standard for valuing in-force income annuities, an industry task force hopes to reduce fear of "annuicide" and stimulate SPIA sales. "We're taking a thorn out of...
Talking DIAs with Matt Grove of NY Life
New York Life launched its Guaranteed Future Income Annuity, a deferred income product, in mid-2011 and has found traction among pre-retirees who want income about 10 years later. We...
Is This Any Way to Sell SPIAs? You Bet.
Kelli Hueler, creator of the Income Solutions online income annuity sales platform, delivered an academic paper at the Pension Research Council's annual conference at the Wharton School last week,...
Lounging by the (Mortality) Pool
The climate was ideal, but annuities upstaged sunbathing at the 2012 Retirement Industry Conference at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando last week.
The Bucketing Brigade
Pershing LLC, Sovereign Bank, and Securities America have all made Income for Life Model (IFLM) software available to advisors. That represents growth for IFLM, and progress for the income...
The “Stacking” Strategy
Are bond yields awful? Are investors terrified of equities? Then it’s perfect weather for indexed annuities, the unpredictable but often effective knuckleballs of the annuity world. Check out these...
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items regarding Mary Fay, Curian Capital, RIIA, New York Life, Milliman, and Albridge Solutions.
St. Louis Fed president questions U.S. monetary policy
"Monetary policy is a blunt instrument which affects the decision-making of everyone in the economy,” said James Ballard, pointing out that low interest rates hurt savers. Better to address...
‘Pullback from pure DC’ predicted in UK
Current DC arrangements in the UK are so inadequate, one official said, that employers will eventually find their workforce dominated by workers in their 70s or 80s who can't...
DST, LIMRA form alliance that could spur ‘in-plan’ annuities
DST Retirement Solutions recently introduced its Retirement Income Clearing Calculator (RICC) platform, a “middleware” solution that supports guaranteed retirement income products through traditional recordkeeping platforms.
Russell’s “parachute” decumulation strategy
The strategy recognizes that most people don’t want to relinquish a big chunk of their liquidity at age 65 and that the SPIA “mortality credit” isn't attractive until the...
The Crisis Behind the Crisis
A new report from Oliver Wyman examines the dysfunctional state of the global financial services industry. It blames asset-liability mismatching for a lot of the trouble, and suggests a...
Rollups are Back in Style
Guardian Life and Protective Life have both filed prospectuses for variable annuities with 10-year/100% deferral bonuses.
Heat from the Street
At a vulnerable juncture in the evolution of their products, publicly-held VA issuers are feeling unprecedented pressure from Wall Street. That was made clear by speakers at the IRI...
Act V of the VA Drama
In an effort to de-risk its book of GMIB business, Transamerica Life is offering to buy back the benefit. And one firm, Achaean Financial, wants to help insurers convert...
The Weird Math of Charitable Gift Annuities
Here's how the wealthy buy lifetime income while giving zip to insurance companies, a pittance to the IRS and--unless they live a very long time--a sizable gift to charity.
Will RIAs Sing This ARIA?
ARIA Retirement Solutions and AEGON/Transamerica have created a stand-alone living benefit (SALB) for the $1.3 trillion managed account market.
