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.
FINRA Talks a Good Game
FINRA's recent report on conflicts of interest at brokerages laid bare some dingy practices. Some say it's a move to burnish FINRA's credentials as a candidate for regulator of all brokers and advisors under a uniform fiduciary rule.
Featured
The Long Short Run
In the world as it is, we are all Japan in the early 1990’s, looking ahead to two or more decades of lost economic growth, observes the economist at U-C Berkeley.
PacLife launches fixed annuity with GLWB and roll-up
The product, which may be unprecedented, merges the most popular annuity options with the most basic annuity chassis. It’s a little like opting for heated leather seats, turbo and a Pandora radio link in a Hyundai Accent.
News
Five fat years may be followed by five lean ones: T. Rowe Price
“The U.S. bull market is aging,” said Bill Stromberg, T. Rowe Price’s head of equity. “International investments, especially in emerging markets, represent the best long-term value from here in fixed income and equity.”
Aegon reduces longevity risk exposure in Netherlands
The risk is assumed by third-party investors and reinsurers, including SCOR, a €32.6 billion reinsurer operating in 31 countries.
Managed-vol funds added to JeffNat’s Monument Advisor VA
The new managed-vol funds include three from American Funds that use the Milliman risk management technique, along with the Federated Managed Tail Risk Fund II and the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust Global Markets Navigator Fund.
Colorado “trader” charged with duping retirees in $4 million Ponzi scheme
Gary Snisky is charged with telling elderly investors that he would invest their money in government-backed agency bonds. Instead, he used $2.8 million of investor funds to pay his salesmen and to make mortgage payments on his own home, the SEC said.
Unions balk at proposal to cut Illinois pension benefits
Chicago's glittering downtown may be stunning, but the Illinois state pension system is underfunded by an estimated $100 billion and the state has the worst credit rating in the nation.
