England Swings (Away from Annuities)
Until April 6, most Britons bought annuities with their DC savings. Now they can do as they wish with those ‘pension pots.’ BlackRock and AllianceBernstein see opportunity.
Six Ways to Dress Up QLACs
RIJ spoke with annuity manufacturers and distributors about their strategies for selling qualified longevity annuity contracts, which are deferred income annuities for IRA money. The favorite, but not unanimous, strategy is to emphasize reductions in RMDs.
Who’s Doing What with QLACs Now
The 'Tax-Free Ninja' is Eric Estrada, a marketer at a Houston-based insurance wholesaler. He's one of the young, social-media savvy entrepreneurs who are enthusiastic about the potential for selling Qualifying Longevity Annuity Contracts (QLACs).
FIA: Unofficial MVP of the LIMRA Conference
Fixed indexed annuities will “increase their dominant position in the individual U.S. annuity market” and “approach variable annuity sales levels over the next five years,” predicted actuary Tim Pfeifer at the Retirement Industry Conference in Arlington, Va., last week.
Featured
Offer Life Annuity and Whole Life in Tandem: Pfau
Retirees might be more willing to buy a life annuity if it’s part of a plan that also includes whole life insurance, says retirement guru Wade Pfau in a paper written for OneAmerica.
The next-gen adviser: Half person, half machine
What will retirement advice look like in the future: Will advisers use the digital advisory channel, or will the digital advisory channel use them? A new report from Celent dives into this issue, and provides a map of the brave new distribution world.
News
Nationwide Life fined $8 million for pricing violations
'For more than a 15-year period, Nationwide intentionally delayed the delivery of untracked mail containing orders from customers and processed them at the next day’s prices in violation of the law,' an SEC official said.
A.M. Best comments on insurer stock buybacks and dividend payments
'In an environment of low interest rates and low industry premium growth, those with substantial cashflow may find they have little other choice of deploying that capital besides returning it to shareholders,' an A.M. Best analyst wrote.
