Groundhog Day (Again) in D.C.
Last Tuesday was Groundhog Day. The event reminded me of the Bill Murray movie, which reminded me of Washington, D.C., where our legislators seem happy to take the same...
How to Solve the World’s Retirement Crisis
Retrofitting 401(k) plans with lifetime income options is one of the thorniest challenges of our time. We describe three possible solutions to that puzzle, from Nobelist Robert Merton and...
Watch now: A ‘Deep Dive on Retirement Drawdown Strategies’
This one-hour video of yesterday's webinar, sponsored by The American College, features retirement income specialists Joe Elsasser and James DiLellio. Some 1,800 advisers attended. Our story summarizes the webinar...
NY Life, Schwab Flex Their Annuity Muscles
New York Life's new IndexFlex VA has a fixed indexed sleeve--the insurer's first index-linked offering. Charles Schwab's Genesis VA (issued by Protective Life) has lots of income optionality. The...
Modeling Variable Annuity Owner Behavior
Americans own almost $900 billion worth of variable annuities with lifetime income guarantees. Uncertainty over the way policyholders and their advisers might use the contracts can keep life insurer...
Why Sammons MYGA Sales Spiked in 2020
'No one predicted the pandemic, but when spreads gapped, we had an opportunity get some attractive yields. So we saw a monstrous increase in sales of fixed multi-year guaranteed...
Trends RIJ Will Track in 2021
When will annuities be loved? After all the creative destruction of the past 10 years, what’s next for the annuity industry? Which trends will persist? Which products will flourish?...
Building a Bridge to Social Security
Middle-class people who retire before age 70 should spend 401(k) assets first and delay taking Social Security, says a leading retirement income expert. In a new research paper, she...
Making Peace with the Tax Man
I’ve adopted a few rationalizations that make it tolerable, if not exactly sweet, to send large checks to Uncle Sam each quarter.
The Catch-22 of In-Plan Annuities
Fixed deferred annuities may be the most promising candidates for inclusion in 401(k) plans. But in order to adapt these contracts to the defined contribution space, they must lose...
Bermuda Triangle Part IV: The Reinsurance Angle
Publicly-held life insurers are using reinsurance to improve their balance sheets. But at what cost? 'I believe that many of these blocks of business are only being funded in...
Treasury Nominee Janet Yellen (the Un-Steve Mnuchin)
Yellen, the first woman nominated for Treasury chief, is an academic economist, not a Wall Streeter. As Fed chief, she was known as an interest rate “dove;” more inclined...
Can Annuities Slow the Cash-Drain from 401(k)s?
The Defined Contribution Institutional Investors Association held its annual Academic Forum virtually this week. The ongoing dilemma for this organization of asset managers and others is: How to keep...
The AAA’s Panel on the SECURE Act
The American Academy of Actuaries hosted a webinar on the implications of the SECURE Act last week. As one of the panelists, I gave a presentation on the Act's...
CEO Chris Blunt of F&G Explains It All
In only about three years, Fidelity & Guaranty Life has leveraged the asset management skills of strategic partner Blackstone to become a major fixed indexed annuity provider. Blunt, F&G's...
A Closer Look at CLOs
New research into collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), which are helping reshape the investment policies of the life/annuity industry, explores whether they have the same vulnerabilities as the 'CDOs' in...
Biden’s Retirement Policy
Biden has made strong promises about fixing Social Security, strengthening labor unions, and helping to finance a green economy. Will he be able to keep those promises? Does he...
The ‘Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020’
The House has introduced a sequel to last year's SECURE Act. Once again, legislators have listened to the retirement industry and tried to remove what the industry considers obstacles...
Now Divesting: AIG, Equitable and Great American
De-risky business: AIG will spin off its Life & Retirement division, Venerable Holdings will reinsure $12bn worth of Equitable's pre-2010 variable annuities with living benefits, and Commonwealth Annuity (part...
Nationwide wants five pieces of the in-plan annuity market
Nationwide, the 10th-largest annuity issuer in the US and a provider of about 34,500 retirement plans, is launching a cluster of in-plan annuities. RIJ talks with Eric Stevenson, president...
