AllianceBernstein’s Multi-Insurer In-Plan Annuity

To make sure that the glide paths of plan participants' TDFs lead to a 'safe landing,' asset manager AllianceBernstein has enlisted three insurers--AXA Equitable, Lincoln and Nationwide--to equip them with stand-alone living benefits.

An Entrepreneur Tackles Decumulation, with TIPS

Manish Malhotra’s FIAP platform, set to launch next year, will enable advisors to build retirement income streams out of laddered TIPS, immediate annuities, and withdrawals from balanced portfolios.

The $1.1 Trillion Tax Hike

The "Zero Plan" proposed by the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform last week calls for the end of $1.1 trillion in tax breaks. The co-chairs would save Social Security through a combination of reduced benefits and higher taxes.

Singing from the Fee-Only Song Book

Given their focus on planning rather than sales, fee-only advisors seem well-suited to the labor-intensive process of creating customized retirement income solutions for their clients.
Featured

The Point Person for ‘Secure Retirement Strategies’

Mark N. Fortier, CFA, head of Product and Partner Strategy at AllianceBernstein, has led a team that spent much of the past three years building a multi-insurer platform to provide in-plan income solutions for large DC plan sponsors.

Who Is the Typical SPIA Buyer?

The average age at purchase for an immediate annuity is 73. The average immediate annuity premium was just over $107,000.
News

Deficit Commission’s ‘Moment of Truth’

"After all the talk about debt and deficits, it is long past time for America’s leaders to put up or shut up. The era of debt denial is over, and there can be no turning back," says the preamble to the completed Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which was released today.

Despite reform, retirees face steep health care costs

Some prior estimates have been significantly revised downward as a result of changes to Medicare Part D (prescription drug) cost sharing that will be phased in by 2020 due to the recently enacted health reform law.

EBSA Proposes Broader Fiduciary Definition for Plan Advisors

The proposed rule defines certain advisers as plan fiduciaries even if they do not provide advice “on a regular basis” to an employee benefit plan or to plan participants, according to the posting in the Federal Register yesterday.

Putnam Lowers Fees on Absolute Return Funds

The new total expense caps, which limit recurring costs such as management and service fees, were implemented retroactive to November 1, 2010, to align with the beginning of the new fiscal year of the Absolute Return Funds.

The Bucket

Late-breaking items from the Insured Retirement Institute, Securian Retirement, the American Bankers Association, LifeYield, National Financial, Mass Mutual and the Irish Republic...