Why Prudential Sells the Most VAs
Constant proportion portfolio insurance, or CPPI, has helped Prudential attract crowds to its Highest Daily VA. Now other insurers are wondering if they should employ CPPI.
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.
Featured
Prices Rise, Benefits Shrink for America’s Most Popular VA
For the second time since the financial crisis, Prudential has reduced the richness of the living benefit riders on its popular Highest Daily series of variable annuities.
News
Details of the tax compromise revealed
The package would cost about $900 billion over the next two years, to be financed entirely by adding to the national debt, according to The New York Times.
Investment fees represent bulk of plan fees
Costs on a 100-participant plan with a $50,000 average account balance range from .57% to 1.76%, according to the 11th edition of the 401k Averages Book.
Treasury to sell last of its stake in Citigroup
A person briefed on the transaction said it would be priced at $4.35 a share, a 2% percent discount. At that price, taxpayers could profit by $12 billion on the Treasury’s investment in Citigroup.
St. Louis Fed president rebuts criticisms of QE2
James Bullard argued that QE has no impact on the longer-run U.S. fiscal outlook and that this outlook remains very poor no matter what the Fed does.
UK pensioners brace for new retirement drawdown rules
Retirees will probably be allowed to spend their savings at the rate they wish as long as they have at least enough guaranteed income to keep themselves from needing public support in retirement.
The Bucket
Late-breaking items about Sun Life, Genworth, J.P. Morgan, MetLife, the SPARK Institute, Fred Reish and Bosnia-Herzogovina.
The Tax Deal Feels Wrong
Over the weekend, retirees may have lost the first battle of the generational war.
