Halfway Back to Prosperity?
Carmen Reinhart, co-author with Kenneth Rogoff of the best-selling "This Time Is Different," spoke at the IMCA conference in New York this week. We're five years into a 10-year recovery from the credit binge, she said.
Sounds Like a Plan
A directory of 27 software tools accompanies this overview of the rapidly evolving financial planning technology industry.
Lion’s Share
ING U.S. Retirement will combine its own target date funds with the AllianceBernstein three-insurer annuity platform to offer a lifetime income option to its 52,000 small and mid-sized plans.
The Outer Limits of Outsourcing
Advisors can’t do everything themselves. But they need to be careful in choosing what to hand off to a software tool, a vendor or an assistant.
Featured
Keynes vs. Hayek: The Rap Video
This hip-hop bout between "Keynes" and his nemesis "Hayek" was screened at the IMCA conference Tuesday. If you're not among the millions who've seen it on YouTube, prepare for highbrow humor with a back beat (you can't lose it).
News
Allianz Life launches new indexed annuity
Only field marketing organizations and agents associated with the Allianz Preferred distribution model will distribute the Allianz 365i Annuity, whose income rider costs 1.2% per year.
SunAmerica expands lifetime income options
SunAmerica has also introduced a new investment portfolio – the SunAmerica Dynamic Allocation Portfolio –as an underlying investment in their variable annuity products.
BlackRock launches ‘Multi-Asset Income Fund’
"We want to help clients employ different strategies that go beyond the simple, 60/40 equity-and-fixed income portfolio rule of the past,” said the head of BlackRock’s U.S. retail business.
Deloitte Consumer Spending Index ends 2011 on “low note”; contraction predicted in 2012
Job losses in higher-income industries like government and financial services have apparently added to the weakness in household earnings and hurt overall spending.
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Prudential Retirement, John Hancock Annuities, John Hancock Financial Network, TD Ameritrade, TIAA-CREF, Northwestern Mutual Life, Securian Retirement, and Great-West Life & Annuity.
The World of Retirement Research
We’re making retirement income research RIJ’s main topic for February.
