Security Benefit Life’s Secret Sauce

Joe Wittrock, CIO at Security Benefit Life, explains how the firm's investments outperform. Eldridge Industries, run by ex-Guggenheim president Todd Boehly, owns SBL, Billboard magazine (right, with Billie Eilish on the cover) and lots else.

VAs suffer record outflows, but enjoy record assets

By Editorial Staff
As Morningstar's quarterly VA sales report for 4Q2020 shows, the VA business is complicated, with record-high sales of index-linked VAs, record-high VA assets on the books, but record outflows from VAs overall. Go figure.

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff
Edward Jones pays $34 million to settle suit by minority advisors; J.P. Morgan to diversify advisor hiring by 2025; HUB launches bundled retirement plan for small to mid-sized employers; Allstate Corp. concludes exit from life/annuity business; Prudential adds Invesco and BlackRock ETFs as options on its FlexGuard RILA.
Income Strategies

Hardwired COLA vs. Performance-Based COLA: What’s Best?

By Craig L. Israelsen, Ph.D.
For retirees who don’t mind slight to moderate reductions in their annual income roughly one-third of the time, we recommend withdrawing a fixed percentage of their portfolio’s ending account value each year.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

March 25, 2021

Research Roundup

By Kerry Pechter
Here's new research on tax avoidance among the very rich, the logic that millionaires use when buying equities, considerations for plan sponsors when estimating income from 401(k) balances, and a worst-case scenario for future...
March 18, 2021

Social Security Repair Bills, Compared by Actuaries

By Kerry Pechter
In a webinar this week, a panel of Academy actuaries presented their analysis of three legislative proposals now floating inside the Beltway. One raises taxes, one lowers benefits, and another does some of each.
March 11, 2021

How Biden Might Pay for Expenditures

By Kerry Pechter
Having appropriated $1.9 trillion for pandemic recovery, and with more big ideas in store, the Democrats will be looking to balance their largesse with new revenue. If you're among the "top 2%," they'll be...