Prudential Financial, Raymond James, ING, Fidelity Investments and E*Trade all advertised during the French Open final between Rafael Nadal (above) and Roger Federer on NBC TV last Sunday--all vying...
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Debt?
Not Warren Mosler, bond trader, racecar dabbler, Senatorial candidate and recent author of “The Seven Deadly Innocent Frauds.”
How to End ‘Annuicide’
Compensation-wise, income annuities can backfire for many advisors. An industry committee wants to solve the problem, but it’s not easy.
MassMutual Rediscovers the Immediate Annuity
A few years ago, MassMutual mothballed Jerry Golden’s SPIA tool for advisors. Now, post-crisis, the company has re-embraced SPIAs, and sales are up.
Channel Surfing for Low-Cost SPIAs
Where can you find lowest SPIA prices on the web? RIJ compared prices at Immediateannuites, Income Solutions, Fidelity and (as a benchmark) Cannex. And the winner was...
A $100 Billion Market for SPIAs?
Income annuities aren't a good product fit for every insurance company. But for New York Life, a mutual company with tons of reserves and a big book of life...
Understanding the Black Investor
African Americans in general have fewer assets, less faith in Wall Street and less appetite for risk than whites, but their need for financial guidance is arguably that much...
How To Market to Advisors
Here's a smarter way for retirement income product manufacturers to segment and sell into the advisor market, according to survey analysts Howard Schneider of GDC Research and Dennis Gallant...
Plan Sponsor Group Joins Hueler SPIA Platform
The deal will allow the 1,200 members of the Profit-Sharing Council of America to give their six million plan participants access to a no-load, multi-issuer SPIA platform. (Photo of...
RIIA ‘Gets’ Open Architecture
Few organizations seem to understand the ascendancy of "open architecture" better than the Retirement Income Industry Association, whose mantra is "the view across the silos." Here's a report on...
Take the ‘Gauss’ Work Out of Saving
Using "non-Gaussian" analysis, Jim Otar has created a benchmark for evaluating retirement savings vehicles--and discovered that cautious savers might want to hold fewer equities.
Morningstar’s ‘Secret Sauce’
Speaking at the 2011 Morningstar/Ibbotson Conference in Orlando, Roger Ibbotson (above) described low-liquidity as a largely unrecognized source of alpha in stocks and mutual funds.
Wedding Bells for TIPS and ALDA
Together, PIMCO's TIPS-based managed payout funds and MetLife's longevity insurance mitigate two big retirement risks: inflation risk and the risk of outliving one’s savings.
LPL Taps Five Insurers for New VA Platform
Advisors who use LPL Financial’s new Fee-Based Variable Annuity platform can manage VA subaccounts just like mutual funds. (Photo at LPL’s San Diego office.)
A Guide for the Perplexed Participant
GuidedChoice is the latest 401(k) advice provider to announce a platform that helps participants turn their savings into income—with or without a rollover to an IRA. (Above: CEO Sherrie...
The New ‘Big O’?
The revelation of a novel share class of variable annuities--its working title is "O" shares--was perhaps the most interesting piece of news that emerged from the IRI Marketing conference...
A New Cylinder for Financial Engines
Income+, a process-driven, product-neutral income program for 401(k) managed account clients, could alter the competitive landscape of the retirement industry.
A Death in the Family, Part II
Forget "death panels." Loving, decisive words from a doctor helped this dying pianist decide to let go of her life. The conclusion of a two-part story.
A Death in the Family, Part I
For the very old and their families, preservation of life often competes with preservation of finances. Here's how one California family coped with an elderly mother's death. (The first...
Genworth Exits the VA Race
“They’re editing their lineup,” said Eric Berg, an analyst at Barclays Capital. “They’re getting out of the businesses where they lack meaningful size." (Above, Genworth CEO Mike Fraizer.)