Better than Throwing Darts

'We have all these insurance agents selling billions of dollars of fixed indexed annuities. But they have few clues about how the crediting rates have performed,'' says Kent Jacquay. With his Indexalyzer software, he proposes a solution.

DOL Has Discouraging Words for ESG Funds

By Kerry Pechter
The DOL has never suggested that fiduciaries should pick a fund that subordinates financial performance to activism. But this proposal lacks the nuance or flexibility that the DOL has expressed in the past.
Join the 'PEP' rally

DOL requests input on ‘pooled’ 401(k)s

By Editorial Staff
Are regulations needed to limit the potential for conflicts of interest and self-dealing among non-employer sponsors of "pooled employer" 401(k) plans, or PEPs? The Department of Labor seeks feedback.

AM Best expects lower annuity sales in 2020

By Editorial Staff
Drag from the low interest rate environment continues to hurt margins and stifle earnings growth, weakening the industry’s investment returns, an AM Best release said.

Your Safest Retirement Asset

By Kerry Pechter
Already, I hear legislators refer to an approaching Social Security "train wreck." There is no approaching train wreck. When people want to fool you, they show you half of a balance sheet.
News from RIJ Group Subscribers

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff
After the big deal, AM Best affirms ratings of Jackson National and Athene; Not many people talk to advisers about decumulation: Allianz Life; TIAA and Savi partner for student debt resolution; Fidelity nears settlement with its own plan participants; MetLife inks first U.K. longevity reinsurance deal.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

June 18, 2020

A New Kind of Income Annuity

By Kerry Pechter
Achaean Financial and Ash Brokerage, a large Fort Wayne, Ind., BGA, are partnering on a potential retirement game-changer: Achaean's immediate indexed income annuity, couched in Ash's JourneyGuide planning software. The underwriter has yet to...
June 11, 2020

These Hedges (Probably) Won’t Clip You

By Kerry Pechter
Listen to an actuary who put $50k into a five-year indexed variable annuity four years ago as an alternative to CDs. We explain how IVAs are priced, and we tell you how his investment...
June 4, 2020

Does Your Suffering Need Buffering?

By Kerry Pechter
Buffered or structured variable annuities 'are the new shining star of the annuity market,' said Sheryl Moore, CEO of Wink, Inc., which tracks annuity sales. 'This is where life insurers will start focusing their...