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 new "stacked" offerings from Security Benefit Life and Aviva.

App-ward Mobility

Connecting with investors via full-size computer screens is so last-decade. People now live on their smartphones, and the financial industry has little choice but to follow.

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 Marketing Conference in New York this week.

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 some of their living benefits to immediate variable annuities. Is this the start of a trend?
Featured

One-Time Crusader Breaks Bad

Matthew Hutcheson, who portrayed himself as a champion of fuduciary responsibility, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week in Boise, Idaho, on charges of stealing millions of dollars from a multi-employer retirement plan of which he was the trustee.
News

How much does asset allocation matter to retirees?

“Financial advisers will be of greater help to their clients if they focus on a broad array of tools – including working longer, controlling spending, and taking out a reverse mortgage," says a new paper from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Annuity net flow was flat in March: DTCC

Inflows and net flows have increased in each of the first three months of 2012, breaking a declining trend in 2011, but Inflows and net flows were down in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter of 2011.

The Bucket

Brief or late-breaking items from Prudential Financial, ARIA Retirement Solutions, Lincoln Financial, Ibbotson Associates, MassMutual Retirement Services, and Nationwide Financial.

The Financial World Is Round

I don’t necessarily agree with all the policy recommendations of Modern Monetary Theory proponents. But, for me, MMT helps explain much of what was previously inexplicable about our financial system.