In-Discretionary Accounts
Investment performance of popular “Rep-as-Portfolio-Manager" accounts lags direct-sold packaged portfolios, say analysts at Cerulli Associates and Fuse-Research.
Are Most Glide Paths Upside Down?
Investing in equities early in the lifecycle, when balances are low, offers little advantage and may even discourage young investors who suffer losses. So says one of the studies in this roundup of recent retirement research.
MetLife launches QLAC as plan distribution option
Participants in plans with MetLife group annuity contracts can put 25% of their qualified savings (up to $125,000) into this new deferred income product, whose premium can be excluded from RMD calculations until age 85. A MetLife QLAC for rollover IRAs will come later.
A Two-Headed Nightmare: The Robos and the DOL
The Amazon-ification of financial services will eventually disintermediate tens of thousands of financial salespeople. If you didn't get the memo already, consider the conflict-of-interest proposal a final wake-up call.
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In FIA Arms Race, Hybrid Indexes are the Arms
Investors in Nationwide's New Heights fixed indexed annuities have a new index option: a globally diversified, multi-asset managed-volatility index from JP Morgan called MOZAIC.
The Quiet Revolution Begins
The chief economic adviser at Allianz analyzes the clash between traditional and "robo" financial service providers, and recommends 'institutional partnerships that combine the more agile existing platforms with exciting new content and approaches.'
News
A Two-Headed Nightmare: The Robos and the DOL
The Amazon-ification of financial services will eventually disintermediate tens of thousands of financial salespeople. If you didn't get the memo already, consider the conflict-of-interest proposal a final wake-up call.
How Vanguard participants save
Vanguard has released its annual almanac on the savings habits of participants in its retirement plans. You can read highlights from "How America Saves 2015" and link to a download of the 106-page report from this article.
Wood you, could you, be my alternative investment?
TIAA-CREF, which announced the close of a new timberland investment vehicle, has been investing in timberland since 1998 and manages a portfolio of over $2 billion in timber assets around the world.
