Experts Assess the Latest on ‘QLACs’

By Kerry Pechter
Mark Fortier, Prudential's Srinivas Reddy, ERISA lawyer Fred Reish, Steve Shepherd of Aon EnnisKnupp and Jody Strakosch shared their views with RIJ about recent statements by Treasury official Mark Iwry (above) on in-plan annuities in target date funds.

Two Robo-Advisors, Two Income Strategies

By Kerry Pechter
Two robo-advisors, Betterment.com and SigFig.com, have retirement income generating functionalities. But are they robust enough to put an advisor with retirement income training out of work? Read and judge for yourself.

The Alt-Asset Teams that Reinvent Annuity Companies

By Kerry Pechter
'Insurance Solutions' groups use private assets to boost the returns of life/annuity company investment portfolios. RIJ talks with Todd Fonner of Investcorp Insurance Solutions about this trend.

One Life Insurer’s Pivot to Private Assets

By Kerry Pechter
American Equity Investment Life’s ‘AEL 2.0’ strategy is designed to help it thrive even in a low yield environment. Allocating up to 40% of its money to ‘private assets’ is key to the fixed annuity specialist's plan.

NAIC Eyes ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Strategy

By Kerry Pechter
A document from the NAIC's Financial Stability Task Force reflects the concerns that the NAIC has heard from a variety of sources about the increased ownership of life insurers by private equity firms. (Image from NAIC document.)
Featured

Will a Robo-Advisor Eat Your Lunch?

By Kerry Pechter
"It comes down to this: ‘How much personalized service am I willing to give up to save 75 basis points a year?” said Jack Waymire about the robo-advisors. He runs a client-advisor matchmaking service at iwd.paladinregistry.com.

AIG Offers First Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract

By Kerry Pechter
“ will take a while to get going,” said Stan Haithcock, of Stantheannuityman.com, “but once people realize that it lets them reduce their RMDs, and that it will be good for their spouses, I think they will flock to it.”
News

Eaton Vance gets SEC approval for ‘managed ETFs’

By Editorial Staff
The SEC has just approved a request to list and trade exchange-traded managed funds on NASDAQ, and has issued a notice of intent to grant exemptive relief to permit offering of exchange-traded managed funds.