The Ghost of VA Contracts Past
Insurers and asset managers love managed-vol funds and VA portfolios, whose sales are climbing. But in a low-vol bull market, advisors wonder about their value.
RetiremEntrepreneur: Lou Harvey
Louis S. Harvey is president and CEO of Dalbar, Inc., a Boston-based research firm that performs a variety of evaluations and quality ratings of financial services practices and communications.
VA Issuers Limit Inflows in 3Q: Morningstar
During 3Q 2013, carriers filed 84 annuity product changes. AXA Equitable made a buyout offer, several carriers limited new payments to contracts, and Jackson National made living benefits available on joint life products again, according to Morningstar's quarterly update.
The Hangover
Publicly held annuity issuers could be handicapped in the future by lingering liabilities, and should have foreseen the impact of IRA money flowing into VAs starting in 2002, says one analyst. Others are more upbeat.
Featured
Nationwide Ties New VA Income Rider to Managed-Vol Funds
For its deferral bonus, the "Income Capture" GLWB offers a simple interest rate credit of 3% plus the nominal rate of the monthly 10-year Treasury constant maturity (currently 2.86%).
Deconstructing Warren
In new research, three quants from AQR Capital Management have tried to explain exactly why Warren Buffett has been so successful. They neglect to mention that he made the mother of all market-timing moves in October 1974.
News
“Empathy for Geeks”
Annuity product manager and actuary Lance Poole of Protective Life gives a "TED talk" in which he explains how even actuaries can learn empathy with customers and demonstrates that empathetic companies have higher profits and share prices.
So far, fee disclosure hasn’t moved the fee-awareness dial
Fee disclosure regulations that were established in 2012 brought greater transparency to the retirement industry. But LIMRA finds they’ve had little effect.
Great-West Financial launches low-cost VA with income rider
The contract has two sleeves, one for investment and the other for income. Only money designated for the income sleeve is subject to the lifetime income benefit rider, a Great-West release said.
Everybody wants to be a wealth manager
"Advisers are more likely to set an asset minimum (43%) than to have a definition of their ideal client," according to results of a survey by the Financial Planning Association and Advisor Impact.
