The Crypto-Capitalist and His Digital Tontine

“This problem needs to be solved,” Dean McClelland, founder of TontineTrust, told RIJ. With the fervor of a convert, he believes that cryptocurrencies, blockchain, smart contracts and tontines are the solution.

Surveying the Damage of Low Interest Rates

By Anders Aslund
'Insurers seem to be doing fine, but that is because they have been cutting benefits to the point that their customers will soon wonder why they bothered to take out policies in the first place,' writes our guest columnist.

Vanguard uses blockchain to share index data

By Editorial Staff
'Investment managers will be able to instantly distribute, receive, and process index data, resulting in better benchmark tracking and significant cost savings,' said a Vanguard principal.

Home equity and purchases of long-term care services

By Editorial Staff
Spikes in house prices significantly increased homeowners' use of both paid home health care and unpaid informal care but did not increase the use of nursing home care, the researchers found.

VA sales drop in 3Q2017 despite equities rally

By Editorial Staff
Ameriprise Financial and Allianz, ranked eighth and ninth in quarterly sales, saw sales increases in 3Q2017. Thanks largely to its Index Advantage structured variable annuity, Allianz enjoyed a 26% increase in new sales from the previous quarter.

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff
Fujitsu settles excessive fee case, Holland debates retirement age hike, T. Rowe Price enhances its financial wellness offerings, Quebec enriches mandatory defined contribution plans, CIT assets reach $2.8 trillion in US, and Wells Fargo surveys retirement optimism.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

December 7, 2017

Cannex Launches Annuity Comparison Tools

By Kerry Pechter
Advisors, brokerages, IMOs and insurers will be able to use the Toronto-based data company's new analytics to make apples-to-apples comparisons of variable and fixed indexed annuity contracts and their riders.
November 30, 2017

Research Roundup

By Kerry Pechter
We summarize five papers: “The Sustainability of U.S. Household Finances," “The Great Debt Boom: 1949-2013,” “Living Below the Line: Economic Insecurity and Older Americans in the States, 2016,” “Building Emergency Savings Through Employer-Sponsored Rainy...
November 23, 2017

The Ambiguity of Tax Deferral

By Kerry Pechter
A failure to agree on whether or not there's 'government money' in tax-deferred savings accounts has complicated our debates over the DOL fiduciary rule, the need for a harmonized fiduciary standard, and the so-called...