Expect Sharp Drop in VA Sales: LIMRA

By Kerry Pechter
'We are seeing a significant shift in the annuity market,” said Todd Giesing, assistant research director at LIMRA's Secure Retirement Institute. 'We have to go back 20 years—to 1995—to find when the VA market share was 45% or lower.'

No Retirement Account Left Behind

By Kerry Pechter
"Auto-portability" would consolidate a plan participant's old accounts into his or her current account, automatically. Spencer Williams and Tom Johnson of Charlotte-based Retirement Clearinghouse have spent three years trying make it happen on a large scale.

Three Advisor-Friendly Reverse Mortgage Strategies

By Kerry Pechter
In this installment of our HECM series, we review three strategies that should entice advisors: the HECM-for-purchase, the HECM-LOC for liquidity in down markets, and the HECM-LOC created at age 62 but tapped only if all other sources of cash are exhausted.

The ‘Kosher’ Reverse Mortgage (IV)

By Kerry Pechter
A kosher reverse mortgage lender will share what he or she earns when selling the loan by waiving or reducing the borrower's costs, says Wharton emeritus professor Jack Guttentag, aka "the Mortgage Professor." But not all HECM lenders keep kosher.
Featured

Marcia Wagner Explains the DOL Rule

By Kerry Pechter
'It will be hard to design a compensation program that eliminates all incentives to provide improper advice,' said Boston-based ERISA attorney Marcia Wagner during a webinar this week on her interpretation of the DOL fiduciary rule.

Donald Trump Believes What?!

By Kerry Pechter
Trump talked about Treasuries bonds as if they were the dispensable top-timbers on a Jenga pile, when they actually comprise the indispensable bottom tier. No, Treasuries aren't in danger of default. They're not even slightly illiquid.
News

Pace of share buybacks, a plus for equity prices, slows

By Editorial Staff
In a research note, TrimTabs reports that stock buyback announcements have totaled $261.5 billion this year through Thursday, May 19. This volume is down 35% from $399.4 billion in the same period last year.

Changes to reverse mortgage rules proposed

By Editorial Staff
The proposed rule will reinforce and codify recent HECM reforms that FHA has implemented in the past several years, and will also add new consumer protections.