Closer to Where You Belong

By Kerry Pechter
Whither the variable annuity business? We asked Bruce Ferris of Prudential, Liz Forget of MetLife, Eric Henderson of Nationwide Financial, Dan Herr of Lincoln Financial Group, Richard Moran, formerly of Symetra, Alison Reed of Jackson National Life Distributors, and Cathy Weatherford of the Insured Retirement Institute.

The Future of Variable Annuities

By Kerry Pechter
Ken Mungan and Casey Malone of Milliman, Chad Slawner and Guillaume de Gantes of McKinsey, Tim Paris of Ruark Consulting, Jerry Golden and Moshe Milevsky share their visions of the future of the variable annuity business.

Where to Get Old Variable Annuities Appraised

By Kerry Pechter
Advisor Mark Cortazzo’s new business, Annuity Review, is aimed at alerting VA owners to the hidden value in contracts that they might otherwise surrender or misuse.

Measuring You for an ERISA Suit

By David Lindorff
There are “people out there” who are “running algorithms to spot good targets for excessive fees lawsuits,” said Jason Roberts, CEO of Pension Resource Institute in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Featured

SPIAs Are Slow to Pay Off: Kitces and Pfau

By Editor Test
New research from Michael Kitces and Wade Pfau suggests that many people—especially if they don’t live longer than average—would be better off starting out with half their money in stocks and half in bonds, and then gradually reducing their bond allocation over time.

Law Professor Goes Postal

By Editor Test
Yale law professor Ian Ayres sent a provocative letter to thousands of plan sponsors. But his research is more temperate than his mail.
News

UK ponders ‘Defined Ambition,’ a path from DB to DC

By Editor Test
A centrally-managed pool of defined benefit funds would aim for a target participant benefit of 1/80th of salary per year of service, based on a combined employer/employee contribution of 20% of salary. But participants would share some of the investment risk.

Prudential’s challenge to SIFI status heard

By Editor Test
Prudential announced July 2, the deadline, that it would challenge its designation as a SIFI and seek a hearing. That same day, American International Group and GE Capital announced that they had accepted such a designation, the first non-banks to do so.

The Bucket

By Editorial Staff
Brief or late-breaking items from Nationwide, Spain, New York Life, Transamerica and T. Rowe Price.