Zombie 401(k) Accounts

By Kerry Pechter
Who ya gonna call when former participants disappear, but their retirement accounts remain undead and their checks ($735,000, in one case) go uncashed?

Closer to Where You Belong

By Kerry Pechter
Whither the variable annuity business? We asked Bruce Ferris of Prudential, Liz Forget of MetLife, Eric Henderson of Nationwide Financial, Dan Herr of Lincoln Financial Group, Richard Moran, formerly of Symetra, Alison Reed of Jackson National Life Distributors, and Cathy Weatherford of the Insured Retirement Institute.

The Future of Variable Annuities

By Kerry Pechter
Ken Mungan and Casey Malone of Milliman, Chad Slawner and Guillaume de Gantes of McKinsey, Tim Paris of Ruark Consulting, Jerry Golden and Moshe Milevsky share their visions of the future of the variable annuity business.

Where to Get Old Variable Annuities Appraised

By Kerry Pechter
Advisor Mark Cortazzo’s new business, Annuity Review, is aimed at alerting VA owners to the hidden value in contracts that they might otherwise surrender or misuse.
Featured

The Best & Worst TDF Performers

By Editor Test
From an absolute performance standpoint, T. Rowe, TIAA-CREF, Principal, Great West and John Hancock led the 2012 charge. T. Rowe Price, TIAA-CREF and Principal were also among the top performing TDFs over the trailing three-year period calendar period.

Ghost Metropolis

By Editor Test
Detroit, not unlike parts of Baltimore and Philadelphia and many smaller Rustbelt cities, isn’t so much a failed city as an abandoned one.
News

Social Security behavior modification: What works?

By Editor Test
“The share of retirees collecting Social Security at age 62 has fallen 12 percentage points over the past decade,” to about half of women and less than half of men, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.

Great American Life FIAs now sold by Wells Fargo Advisors

By Editor Test
Great American Life is a top five provider of fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the financial institutions market, according to BISRA 2013 first quarter bank channel annuity data report and Beacon Research 2013 first quarter fixed annuity premium study.

S&P 500 companies post record level of pension underfunding

By Editor Test
Data shows that S&P 500 defined pensions reached an underfunding status of $451.7 billion in fiscal 2012, up $97 billion over the $354.7 billion posted in 2011. Other post-employment benefits saw underfunded levels increase to $234.9 billion in 2012 from $223.4 billion in 2011.

Fiduciary crusader gets 17 years for theft from retirement plans

By Editor Test
The U.S. Attorney's office in Boise, Idaho, issued a press release following Matthew Hutcheson's sentencing. A retirement plan fiduciary and at one time a vocal advocate for better fiduciary practices, he was convicted last April of using plan assets to buy a golf course at a bankrupt resort near Boise.